(For each of the 36 races during the 2011 Sprint Cup season, TUMS will provide a glimpse of a previous event at that track, one that could easily be described as A TUMS Moment. This week, the focus is on Phoenix International Raceway).
KURT BUSCH LEADS THE MOST LAPS, BUT DOESN’T WIN AT PHOENIX
The date was Nov. 10, 2002. Kurt Busch, driving the No. 97 Roush Racing Ford, kept his team’s colors out front for 117 of the race’s 312 laps.
NOTE: TUMS is the sponsor of the TUMS Fast Relief 500, the seventh race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, at Martinsville Speedway on October 30.
The Las Vegas native started 13thand steadily worked his way into the lead from lap 134 to 219. He gained the lead again for 30 more laps – 229 to 259 – when late pit stops changed the dynamic of the race.
A caution on lap 259 for a crash by Christian Fittipaldi sent the leaders to pit road. Busch and his crew decided on four tires, while Roush teammate Matt Kenseth elected to take two. The decision proved costly. Kenseth held on to win while Busch finished sixth.
Now, that was a TUMS moment.
