Minor damage not enough to deny Kurt Busch fifth-place finish at Daytona

By Lee Montgomery - Associate Editor
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch finished fifth in Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. (LaDon George / NASCAR Scene)

Penske Racing's Kurt Busch finished fifth in Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint Cup Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

LaDon George
NASCAR Scene

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Kurt Busch’s Coke Zero 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race went from good to bad to surprising. And it ended with a fifth-place finish.

Busch’s No. 2 Dodge was decent for most of the race, but on lap 123, Roush Fenway Racing driver David Ragan swerved in front of Busch and slammed the wall for the race’s fifth caution.

Busch’s car was slightly damaged, and the goals for the race then changed.

“We definitely had a strong car,” Busch said. “Our Dodge was steady, and we bounced back from those mid-race troubles. We were not in contention for the lead. We were about a fifth- or sixth-place car. We had some damage, so we were just looking for a top-10.

“We definitely needed a solid run tonight just to give us that confidence we’re going to be OK, but we still have some work to do heading down this stretch run."

Busch remained fourth in the Sprint Cup standings, but he fell 111 points behind third-place Jimmie Johnson.

After the wreck with Ragan, Busch said his car went from “OK to bad right there.”

“We came in and made some changes to make the car looser,” Busch said. "You just have to let it hang out and let ‘er rip. I was just hoping to hang on for a top-10. We got fifth tonight and that was more than we expected.”

Comments

4 responses to "Minor damage not enough to deny Kurt Busch fifth-place finish at Daytona". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    dale-jr-is-the-greatest-driver-alive said:
    Jul 5, 2009 at 1:38 PM

    this guy right here is good

  2. 2
    br0412 said:
    Jul 5, 2009 at 2:18 PM

    Kurt, I am so glad you are doing better than your cry baby brother. You probably hate to admit he is your brother. It's hard to think you have the same parents.

  3. 3
    Werner said:
    Jul 5, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    that was one wicked car he had...surprised he made it to the end...#2...you must have forgotten or weren't around for the early Kurt years...

  4. 4
    Dragonfly said:
    Jul 5, 2009 at 9:14 PM

    Kurt & crew did a fantastic job!! Kurt was AWESOME wheelin that car around, back 2 front..... and 5th was much better than it could have been!!

    GO BLUE 2

Post a Comment

Disclaimer: All comments are subject to filtering for language, and libelous content. Comments are intended to encourage spirited debate and discussion about the subject matter contained within the articles and ARE NOT intended for personal or demeaning attacks directed at other users. We reserve the right to remove any comments deemed inappropriate. Users who violate this policy may be banned from posting comments on the site.

Comment Preview

Mar 15, 2010 at 7:07 AM
You said:

You must login before you can post comments or rate content.

If you don't have an account you can create a free one here.

#

NASCAR Schedules

fox

Food City 500

Bristol Motor Speedway
01:00 PM, 03/21/2010
Check out the SPEED Calendar

Poll PositionView All

How should NASCAR penalize Carl Edwards?

Promotions

  • Tweet your thoughts about each race and join the conversation with other fans.

  • Drive an authentic NASCAR Sprint Cup car at the NASCAR Racing Experience.