Fast Times
A NASCAR BLOG BY Kris Johnson
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So much for predicting Kurt Busch as champion
Jun
30
Kurt Busch "won" yesterday at New Hampshire. But I'm still losing.
I need a do-over, a mulligan, a second chance.
My preseason prediction of Busch capturing the Sprint Cup Series title looks solid only if you change his first name to Kyle.
Yeah, I went out on a limb; now beat me with it.
As the midway mark of the 2008 season looms this weekend at Daytona, it's hard to imagine a driver more disappointed with his team's year-to-date performance. A campaign that started out in grand fashion at Daytona - a second-place finish for Busch in the 500 behind Penske teammate Ryan Newman - had dissolved into a hopeless, winless, downward spiral until yesterday's "victory."
But you know what? Good for Busch. After all the setbacks he's endured this year, and coming out on the short end of rain-shortened, fuel-determined wins in the past, he deserves a bit of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy season.
Still, barring a monumental, Matt Kenseth-like charge back into Chase contention a la 2005, NASCAR's 2008 playoff will take place without Busch.
Kenseth is proving again this year that you can be down early and not out of it altogether (he's 15 points out of the Chase; Busch is 222 shy right now), but Busch has failed to respond with a successful surge entering the middle portion of the schedule.
Who knows? The New Hampshire "win" could be just the catalyst he needs.
I need a do-over, a mulligan, a second chance.
My preseason prediction of Busch capturing the Sprint Cup Series title looks solid only if you change his first name to Kyle.
Yeah, I went out on a limb; now beat me with it.
As the midway mark of the 2008 season looms this weekend at Daytona, it's hard to imagine a driver more disappointed with his team's year-to-date performance. A campaign that started out in grand fashion at Daytona - a second-place finish for Busch in the 500 behind Penske teammate Ryan Newman - had dissolved into a hopeless, winless, downward spiral until yesterday's "victory."
But you know what? Good for Busch. After all the setbacks he's endured this year, and coming out on the short end of rain-shortened, fuel-determined wins in the past, he deserves a bit of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy season.
Still, barring a monumental, Matt Kenseth-like charge back into Chase contention a la 2005, NASCAR's 2008 playoff will take place without Busch.
Kenseth is proving again this year that you can be down early and not out of it altogether (he's 15 points out of the Chase; Busch is 222 shy right now), but Busch has failed to respond with a successful surge entering the middle portion of the schedule.
Who knows? The New Hampshire "win" could be just the catalyst he needs.
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