There are five races left before the Chase for the Sprint Cup gets underway in Chicago but Penske Racing wouldn’t mind if it started this weekend.
Their two drivers, Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski, are climbing through the point standings and charging for the win every weekend. Keselowski scored his second win last Sunday in Pocono and Busch has also been in victory lane this season.
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[/media-credit]Just a few weeks ago it appeared Busch would be the only Penske driver in the Chase but Keselowski has come on strong and now has a chance at the wildcard. Saturday morning in Watkins Glen Busch had kind words about his teammates turnaround.
“I felt like Brad’s intensity for that Nationwide car really kept him back a little bit last year,” said Busch. “But that was the focus, to bring that championship home and continue to build on the Cup side. So to see him settle in with Paul [Wolfe] and where they are as a team is great.”
Keselowski and Wolfe won the NNS championship last season for Penske Racing, but on the Cup Series side Keselowski struggled. He finished 25th in points with crew chief Jay Guy and the No. 12 team. Team owner Roger Penske made changes, cutting down his organization to just to two teams from three.
Sam Hornish Jr. was the odd man out due to lack of sponsorship. Keselowski moved into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge that had been driven by Busch and Wolfe was promoted to the Cup Series. Busch moved into the No. 22 Shell / Pennzoil Dodge and wit that the company set out for Daytona.
Busch won two of the three races during Speedweeks, missing out on the points-paying Daytona 500. Keselowski won a fuel mileage race in Kansas followed by a Busch victory in Sonoma. Keselowski’s triumph in Pocono moved him to 18th in points while Busch moved to fourth after finishing third.
Lately, it’s been all about Busch and Keselowski as Penske has both teams running and succeeding equally. Except for one area where Keselowski’s team has the advantage.
“Their pit crew on the No. 2 car is hands down faster than the No. 22 this year,” said Busch. “Those guys have that desire, youthful exuberance, to go out and to try different things and find it. Right now they’re putting it together. My team needs to feed off of that and find the groove the next few weeks to be that championship leader within the Penske team.”
This weekend at the Glen Busch will be attempting to sweep the road course events. Keselowski, while trying to win his third race of the year, will be working to remain in the top 20 in points in order to be eligible for the wildcard. Keselowski won’t be racing in Saturday’s NNS race as he still heals his broken ankle.
Busch though is already looking forward to the Chase and the likelihood that Keselowski will be apart of it. With the newly reformed Penske Racing it would mean the organization put both their cars in the Chase and best part is that they are both competitive.
Something that’s hard to do as Hendrick Motorsports found in 2009 when their cars finished 1-3 in points and the other finished 25th. The same has happened to Roush Fenway and Richard Childress Racing. Every NASCAR organization has fought the battle of trying to make sure every driver and team is running to par.
“It’s just more hard work from those fabricators in the shop,” Busch said about multiple cars in the Chase. “Last year we made the Chase, Brad didn’t. If there was a car that was built off of new specs and went to the wind tunnel and showed brand new numbers, obviously it would go to the championship running team.”
Or another example, “If you have a new car that is built and it spits out these great numbers and you have to have it this next week at Charlotte, we need to have two now,” said Busch. “Maybe if I was going to run my car at Charlotte, then he would get that car and I would get the new one based off of where we are in points.”
In 2004-2005 when Busch was still driving for Roush Fenway there was a year where they had all five cars in the Chase. Busch revealed it became almost chaotic about which drivers were getting which cars as everyone tired to get their team the best parts.
“We had cars going everywhere,” Busch said. “We had people pulling ropes like it was tug-o-war trying to get the best pieces for them. I remember winning the Loudon race the year that I won the championship and Mark Martin wanted that car for Phoenix. Where do we stand?”
Busch was torn because while he was running higher in the point standings, he felt Martin as the veteran was supposed to be running at championship level. “It gets very difficult when you have a lot of cars in the Chase,” he said.
Penske Racing shouldn’t have the same problem. First though, Busch and Keselowski must make it to the Chase before the company has to start worrying about news cars and parts, which Busch doesn’t see happening.
“Luckily at Penske Racing we have the facility and the people to crank out good new equipment if something comes up,” he said.
