Penske Racing's Kurt Busch has victory at New Hampshire on his radar
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch is fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings heading into Sunday's race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
// David Griffin, NASCAR Scene
LOUDON, N.H. – When Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch won the championship in 2004, he kicked the Chase off with a victory at New Hampshire.
The names have changed since then, from the team he was with (Roush Racing to Roush Fenway Racing) to the track (New Hampshire International Speedway to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to the Chase itself (Chase For The Nextel Cup to Chase For The Sprint Cup).
But in Busch’s mind, the importance of the 1.058-mile track remains the same.
“I think this is a very important race,” Busch said of Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301. “This starts the Chase when we come back here in September. That’s how I looked at it in 2004 and that helped, at the time, give the team a big jump. We moved from seventh all the way up to second in points by starting off strong.
“It’s always important when you go around to the race tracks for the second time. Even though California is the second race of the year, you know in the back of your mind that it’s a Chase race when you go back there in October. So it fits with all the other tracks that we’ve been to thus far that fit into the Chase.”
The team’s plan this weekend was affected the track’s place as the first race in this year’s Chase. On Friday, when rain was approaching, crew chief Pat Tryson put Busch’s No. 2 Dodge in qualifying trim for one run, even though the team figured qualifying would get rained out.
“We stayed in race trim to get those things ironed out,” Busch said. “I thought that it was important for us to at least get one qualifying run in. That way when we come back here in September, we know where that’s going to shake out for us. You always have to plan ahead when it’s a Chase race.”
That’s about the only experimenting the team can afford, Tryson said. Though Busch is fourth in the Sprint Cup points standings after 16 races, he’s not far enough ahead of 13th-place Kasey Kahne for the team to start trying too many things.
Busch is 170 points ahead of Kahne, and with 10 races to go before the Chase start, things don’t have to go terribly wrong for Busch to slip out of the top 12.
“I think some guys might try something different to try to make themselves better for September, but where we’re at, we have to run good to get some more breathing room, to get some space between us and 13th,” Tryson said. “You want to get as much space as you can before you try experimental stuff.”
A 300-point cushion would be enough for Tryson, so it may be a few races – if ever – before the teams tries experimental setups.
Not that Busch would need much of that, for he’s had a solid season to date. With one win, four top-five and eight top-10 finishes, Busch has been consistently better this season than last.
“I feel like our cars are faster this year,” Tryson said. “This type of track is pretty good for our program that we have right now. I feel like we have a pretty good shot here.”
Busch won this race a year ago, but that came in a rain-shortened race when Tryson kept Busch on the track when others pitted.
Busch has a much better chance to win without such a gamble this year, for his cars have been better. He comes into today’s race on a 15th-place finish last weekend at Infineon Raceway – and a bear-hunting trip.
“We come back this week after a road-course run and get back into the swing of things at an oval,” Busch said. “It helps when you won the race the year before and that’s obvious the goal here this weekend – to try and back up what we did last year and bring our Miller Lite Dodge to victory lane. So far in practice, things have gone well.
“The reality for me is that I was actually on a bear-hunting trip this weekend. It was quite a bit of fun to go out into the wilderness. I didn’t kill anything; it felt more like a camping trip than anything. That helps get your mind clear and recharged and it definitely feels different coming back seeing the crew and seeing the guys. I’m ready to hit the race track.”
