One that got away: Third-place finish equals bitter defeat for Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch had the car to beat today at Bristol, but the Penske Racing driver settled for a third-place finish.
// LaDon George, NASCAR Illustrated
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kurt Busch has been the man to beat at Bristol Motor Speedway for years, but he wanted to win this year’s Food City 500 more than others.
Why?
Because he knew four-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson would be his strongest challenger, and he desperately wanted to beat Johnson at the track Busch has owned at times over the years.
But the wrong pit call and what Busch called “the luck of the draw” left him with a disappointing third-place finish in a race he dominated.
Busch, a five-time winner at Bristol, led a race-high 278 laps and appeared to be on his way to his second straight victory until a caution flag flew for debris on lap 484.
When the leaders hit pit road for the final time, Busch and Johnson both took four tires while Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart each took just two new tires, handing Biffle the lead.
Busch lined up fifth on the restart, on the inside lane, with Johnson on his outside.
Edwards, who was in front of Busch, spun his tires on the restart, bottling up Busch behind him while Johnson got a run on Kenseth and Stewart in the outside lane.
While Stewart and Biffle battled for the lead, Johnson charged to their outside and passed Stewart for the lead on lap 494.
He sped away to beat Stewart by 0.89 second while Busch settled for third.
For Busch, it was one of the most disappointing losses of his career.
“Losing to the 48 sucks,” Busch said. “I would rather lose to any of the other 41 cars out there than this 48.
“I poured my heart and soul into this race to try to beat that 48 car. I feel exhausted and I feel disappointed.”
Busch held a comfortable lead on Johnson until the final caution flag flew.
When Biffle and the others took two tires, inheriting the top four spots, that left Busch in a precarious position.
“The only weak area we had was on the restarts, and that bit us at the end,” he said.
“We just got bottled up by the 99 [Edwards] on the inside lane. The outside seemed to prevail all day long. That’s where the 48 was able to restart. When luck shines your way, it shines your way. It’s tough to overcome it all.”
Fox’s TV analysts reported that crew chief Steve Addington called for two tires, but Busch overruled him. Busch said that was “false.”
“It was four tires all the way,” Busch said. “Ask Jimmie Johnson how many tires he had.”
Addington agreed that four tires was the right call.
“We were 70 laps into a run,” he said. “Four tires won the race.
“We were down on the inside on a restart there, got pinned and the [99] spun his tires. What are you going to do? The 48 got around us and beat us. It was track position in a 10-lap race, bottom line.”
Busch said he had a game plan on the final restart, but found himself in the wrong spot.
“I was hoping that the 99 would have gotten a better restart,” he said. “I had a plan to go underneath him going into Turn 2, but I was on the high side by the time I got to Turn 1, so the game plan changed right away.
“My game plan was to rough up the 99 as quick as I could and get by him, but it didn’t work out. You’ve got to make those split-second decisions, and it didn’t go my way.”
The loss was one of the most frustrating Busch has experienced, especially at his best track.
“We had the car to beat,” he said. “We just got beat by the luck of the draw on restarts. It’s just random luck on which lane is going to go.”
“It’s aggravating and frustrating that the guys work their tails off to win races and we had this race won and somehow we had a piece of debris down on the apron and a caution comes out,” Addington said.
“I don’t know what you guys want me to say about leading as many laps and dominating this race again and not getting the trophy.”
