Fact: Since the Sonoma, Calif. road race on June 23, Kurt Busch has accumulated more points than any other Chase driver. During this 12-race stretch, he has earned 418 points. Second is Busch’s brother Kyle with 402 points and third is Matt Kenseth with 399.
DENVER (Sept. 18, 2013) – Though Chase driver Kurt Busch is enjoying a successful season with the single-car Furniture Row Racing team, the former NASCAR champion says there’s still a void with nine races remaining in the 2013 Sprint Cup Series schedule.
“We haven’t won yet,” noted Busch. “We’ve been close and let some races slip away.”
The one race that rightfully sticks in the craw of the Denver-based team is the July event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where Busch was dominant. He qualified second and led a race high 102 laps. But an accident on Lap 226 of 302 ruined his day with a 31st-place finish.
“No doubt, we had the car to beat at New Hampshire,” said Busch. “We led the most laps and it appeared we were going to have a strong showing and a real good shot at winning. But I got tangled with some other cars and the incident sent our Furniture Row Chevy to the garage for repairs. Instead of the possibility of winning the race we ended up somewhere in the 30s.”
Busch, who finished fourth in the Chase opener at Chicagoland Speedway and vaulted four spots to sixth in the point standings, is looking to resume his strong New Hampshire performance in Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at the 1.058-mile New England facility.
“We have good notes about how to set up our car for this weekend’s race,” stated Busch, a 24-time Cup winner. “We have momentum heading into New Hampshire with top-fives in the last three races. You need to have top-fives to compete in the Chase. We got off to a good start in Chicago and it’s one down and nine to go.”
One of Busch’s victories at New Hampshire’s Magic Mile was in the fall of 2004, which was the first race under the newly-created Chase playoff format. That win triggered Busch’s charge to the Cup championship.
“I’ve always enjoyed racing at New Hampshire,” said Busch. “I won three times there in Cup and once in the trucks. The key to New Hampshire is usually how well you can roll the center of the corners.”
While a win at New Hampshire would check off another objective, the focus will continue to be on consistency, which Busch has accomplished with nine top-fives and 14 top-10s in the first 27 races of the season.
“We just have to keep knocking off those top-fives and hopefully we can eventually seal the deal with a win,” stated Busch. “We’re 95-percent strong and searching for the other five percent. We’re not giving up until we find that five percent.”
