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Kurt Busch endures problematic outing
Monday, August 14, 2006
JEFF VELTE
NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Kurt Busch took the long road to his 19th-place finish in the AMD at the Glen Sunday.
The Penske Racing South driver ran well all weekend at Watkins Glen International, winning Saturday's Busch Series race and the pole for the Cup event. Sunday seemed to offer more of the same until Busch was nabbed for pitting too soon during a caution period
While crew chief Roy McCauley argued the call - and the ensuing penalty that left Busch as the last car on the lead lap - NASCAR officials said the caution and the light closing pit road happened 2 seconds before the driver headed past the commitment line for a stop.
"We put ourselves in position for NASCAR to make a call, and it didn't end up in our favor," Busch said after the race. "Bottom line. We're going to stand here and discuss it, but it doesn't do any good because now we're [19th]."
His problems didn't stop with that call. Busch was deep in the field, allowing him to be snared in a seven-car crash late in the race, and then he also spun on the final lap trying to avoid a crash and thought NASCAR would freeze the field. Unfortunately, no caution came out, and Busch lost positions once more.
"We were 10th going into the last lap," he said. "There was a yellow back in the inner loop, and we spun to avoid it, but they didn't freeze the field like they did last week. Each week it's a new call, and when you put yourself in position for them to make a call, they're not going to make it. There was no commitment line. I was on pit road when the green light was on when I made it."
Busch voluntarily dropped to the back of the field on the restart after the controversial call. After the race, he and McCauley discussed the call with NASCAR officials.
"That was just to police myself because they said to drop to the back of the field, so to keep from getting black-flagged and having to go all the way to the back and lose time, being a half a lap behind, we policed ourselves," he said. "If you don't, they're just going to go and double the penalty because they have control to do that."
The double hit didn't do Busch any favors in his quest to make the Chase For The Nextel Cup, either. While he did somehow climb a spot to 12th in the standings, Busch is now 172 points out of 10th and a spot in the field with four races remaining before the championship showdown begins.
Mentioned Drivers: Kurt Busch
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