Kurt Busch ready to be the ‘bride’ of Daytona
By Charles Krall - Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
Friday, July 04, 2008
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David Griffin / NASCAR Scene
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch makes a practice lap around Daytona International Speedway on Thursday.
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After Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 in February, he called teammate Kurt Busch's selfless move that led to Newman's victory a "push from heaven."
Faced with the choice of helping his teammate or going for the win, Busch hung with Newman and provided him with the drafting help he needed to win the race. Busch finished second in the 500 for the third time.
“Maybe this is my time at Daytona,” Busch said this week, leading up to Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. “I’ve always believed that if you put yourself in a position to win long enough, you’re bound to win one sooner or later.”
In addition to the three second-place results, Busch has four other top-five finishes in Sprint Cup races at the track.
“We’ve certainly played the bridesmaid’s role for our fair share of times,” Busch said. “Sooner or later, you have to be the bride. We finished third at Daytona last July and second there in February.”
Since the great start at Daytona, little went right for Busch until last week, when he won a rain-shortened race at New Hampshire. It was only his second top five of the season. The win moved him from 22nd to 18th in the standings, but he’s still 222 points out of the top 12 with nine races left to race his way into the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup.
“Maybe there’s some kind of karma involved,” Busch said. “We’re heading in the right direction to finally win, especially if you consider the numbers.”
Things have been only moderately better for Newman, who hasn’t been a threat to win since he broke his 82-race winless streak in the season opener. Newman is 15th in the standings, 111 points behind No. 12 Kevin Harvick.
Because the Daytona 500 winner’s car is put on display for a year at the track, Newman’s No. 12 team is starting over for the Coke Zero 400.
“We had a brand new car down there for that race, and they took it away from us and put it in the Daytona 500 Experience,” Newman said. “The guys at the shop went back to work and built us another car, and I don’t see any reason we can’t go back to Daytona this weekend and try to win again.”
That said, Newman admitted his approach to Saturday’s race will be different. “Our goal is to just have a good weekend and make up points,” he said.
Jeff Gordon doesn’t need to make up points – he’s sixth in the standings – but he hasn’t won in 22 races. Gordon is the all-time leader in restrictor plate wins with 12 – six of which have come at Daytona.
Although he wasn’t a factor in the 500, Gordon expects to be stout this weekend.
“Daytona is much more of a handling track (in July),” Gordon said. “While the fans will see the usual two- and three-wide racing early in the runs, the better handling cars will make their way to the front later in the runs. We were strong during the (500). The car handled well, and we were fast. We’ll arrive with that base setup for this weekend’s race.”
Gordon’s’ teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. has a totally different take on the race. He’s not thinking setups or points.
“It’s a points race, buts it’s probably the least-pressured points race,” Earnhardt said. “It’s halfway through the season so you can afford mistakes and taking chances.”
Cue the soundtrack of the Atlantic Ocean, gently breaking on the beach as the sun sets.
“But it’s Daytona -- it’s the beach and the summer,” Earnhardt said, “so the attitude and the temperament all the way around the race track are really laid back.
“I just like going down there. It means a lot for me personally and for my family. The track itself has a lot of history. It’s kind of like the grandfather of the series when it comes to race tracks. It demands to be respected and appreciated.”
Fast facts
What: Coke Zero 400.
Where: Daytona International Speedway; Daytona Beach, Fla.
When: 8 p.m. ET Saturday.
TV: TNT, 7:30 p.m. ET.
Radio: MRN/Sirius Satellite Ch. 128.
Track layout: 2.5-mile tri-oval.
Race distance: 160 laps/400 miles.
2007 Winner: Jamie McMurray.
2007 Polesitter: Jeff Gordon.
Points leaders: 1. Kyle Busch, 2,496; 2. Jeff Burton, 2,432; 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2,352; 4. Carl Edwards, 2,262; 5. Jimmie Johnson, 2,220; 6. Jeff Gordon, 2,171; 7. Denny Hamlin, 2,150; 8. Greg Biffle, 2,119; 9. Tony Stewart, 2,042; 10. Kasey Kahne, 2,031; 11. Clint Bowyer, 2,021; 12. Kevin Harvick, 2,016.
- Mentioned Drivers:
- Kurt Busch
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