Kurt Busch had a strong run going in the Irwin Tools Night Race Saturday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The driver of the Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) appeared to be in contention for a top-five finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, but contact with David Ragan and the outside wall on lap 336 saw those chances evaporate, and Busch was able to do little more than “just hold on” for the remaining laps.
Photo Credit: stewarthaasracing.com
Busch started 11th in the 43-car field and held his position despite fighting a loose-handling condition on corner exit. He pitted three times in the first half of the race, with crew chief Tony Gibson calling for myriad of wedge and air pressure adjustments on each stop. The changes were what Busch needed, and he raced his way to the fifth position on lap 264.
Busch maintained the fifth spot for 72 laps before Ragan closed in on the rear end of the Haas Automation Chevrolet on lap 336. He made contact with the left rear of Busch’s red-and-black Chevrolet, sending it sliding through the corner and into the outside wall, damaging the right rear. Busch reported that he felt as if something in the rear end was bent, but he was able to remain on the racetrack until the caution flag waved on lap 358. When he brought his wounded racecar to pit road, his Gibson-led crew determined that making repairs would be too time-consuming and take them out of contention for a decent finish.
Busch did what he could over the final quarter of the race to achieve the best-possible finish, which was 14th when the checkered flag waved.
“That was unfortunate,” Busch said. “We were making progress with our Haas Automation Chevrolet. We didn’t start out too strong, but once we got the Haas Automation Chevrolet adjusted and had decent track position, I felt like we had a chance to come out of it with a good finish. I don’t know what happened there with the No. 55 car (of Ragan). He got into us going off into the corner, and the next thing you know, I’m in the wall. We salvaged what we could of it. It’s unfortunate, but we can’t do anything about it now.”
There were eight caution periods for 52 laps with four drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race around the .533-mile oval.
With round 24 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 908 points, 43 ahead of second-place Logano. Kurt Busch is eighth with 713 points, 195 out of first. With two wins apiece, Harvick and Busch are locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Patrick is 21st with 525 points, 95 out of 16th, the cutoff position to make the 16-driver Chase field on points. Stewart is 26th with 466 points, 154 out of 16th.
The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action Sept. 6 with the 66th annual Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The second-to-last race before the Chase starts at 7 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC.
