Busch Finishes Fourth at Kentucky
Event: Kentucky 400 (Round 18 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 3rd/4th (Running, completed 267 of 267 laps)
Point Standing: 3rd (583 points, 16 out of first)
Winner: Brad Keselowski of Team Penske (Ford)Kurt
Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), fought hard to earn a fourth-place finish Saturday night in the Kentucky 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta. Driving a backup car, Busch was able to overcome a night filled with handling issues and cautions to score his first top-five finish in six career Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval.“It’s tough to put words into it other than just teamwork,” Busch said. “Everybody believed in each other, we all said that this was a day that would challenge our effort to see if we were championship worthy. To have a backup car, to do it on fuel mileage – thanks to Monster Energy, Haas Automation, everybody that puts their thumb and their effort on this No. 41 car, I’m very thankful for it.”Busch was forced to the backup car after wrecking with just minutes remaining during Friday’s final practice session. As such, the first laps that Busch turned in the car were during Saturday night’s race. Forced to start at the back of the field, Busch was able to gain 10 positions by the time the first caution of the night waved on lap 10.Despite the forward progress, the handling on the No. 41 Chevrolet wasn’t what Busch needed to continue to gain positions. Crew chief Tony Gibson called for adjustments on each pit stop and was able to correct a tight-handling condition on corner exit. The efforts paid off, enabling Busch to race his way into the top-10 in the closing laps.“Well, we started with our backs against the wall and kind of on our heels with a backup car and just ill-handling all the way through,” Busch said. “As we worked our way toward the end of the race, we had four sets of sticker tires left. Those seemed to be better than the scuffs. Goodyear brought a very hard tire, a very conservative tire, but we had to manage it. Then we had the fuel to manage at the end. I’m really happy we brought home a top-five for Monster Energy, Haas Automation, everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing. This was an effort where we never gave up; we had our backs against the wall and wow, fourth place, we will take it.”
With the finish, Busch has now earned top-five finishes at each racetrack the Sprint Cup Series visits.
“That is a nice feather in the cap,” Busch said. “It’s special to have raced for good teams over the years to give me winning cars. Top-fives are special everywhere. As a driver it feels like you got something at each of the places to be competitive, give to the team, to give feedback and then the team can give better feedback to me on how we can win. Today, we persevered.
“I have never seen such an effort from everybody to dig deep and to just be back on their heels the whole time and just start to lean forward, lean forward and then right at the end to turn into fuel mileage, and our car just came to us at the end. It was a perfect day for us to get a top-five. We had to sweat it all weekend.”
Busch’s teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished fifth to earn his second top-five and fourth top-10 finish this season and his first top-five in six career Sprint Cup starts at Kentucky.
Stewart maintained his position in the top-30 in the driver standings by a 31-point margin over 31st-place Brian Scott. If Stewart can remain in the top-30 through the 26th race of the season, he will secure his spot in the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup playoff by virtue of his victory at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
To compete for the series championship, Stewart had to win at least one race and must be within the top-30 of the championship standings by the 26th race of the season Sept. 10 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. With his victory at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway, Stewart checked one box on his way toward Chase eligibility.
Kevin Harvick, driving the No. 4 Busch Light Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished ninth.
Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 Nature’s Bakery Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 17th.
Brad Keselowski won the Kentucky 400 to score his fourth victory of the season, his third at Kentucky and the 21st of his career.
Carl Edwards finished .175 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Ryan Newman, Busch and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Greg Biffle, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth, Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were 11 caution periods for 53 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race. The 11 cautions tied the track record, set last year.
With round 18 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR and the series in the championship standings. He is first with 599 points, four ahead of second-place Keselowski. Busch remained in third with 583 points, 16 behind leader Harvick.
Harvick earned a spot in the Chase via his win March 13 at Phoenix International Raceway, and Busch secured his position via his win June 6 at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. Patrick is 24th with 327 points, 110 ahead of 31st-place Scott. Like Stewart, if Patrick can win a race and finish among the top-30 in points following the 26th race of the season, she will earn a Chase berth.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the New Hampshire 301 on Sunday, July 17, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon. NBCSN will broadcast the race starting at 1:30 p.m. EDT.
