Sunday evening Kurt Busch was able to give Stewart-Haas Racing its first Daytona 500 victory. Kurt Busch took the lead on the final lap of Nascar’s most prestigious race and was able to hold off Ryan Blaney to win the 2017 Daytona 500 for his new manufacturer Ford and SHR.
Tony Stewart who co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing had this to say about his first 500 victory as an owner, ”Couldn’t be more proud to be up here with these three guys. To go back to when we joined with Gene and his group, made it Stewart-Haas Racing and bringing Tony Gibson and his crew and then hiring Kurt, it’s neat to say how this has all gelled, come about.”
Stewart-Haas Racing was probably the most talked about team over the offseason after switching to Ford for 2017. Thus far Ford and SHR seem to be a fitting combination.
Gene Haas, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing is thankful he got to experience what few people have experienced before with a Daytona 500 victory.
”It’s a real feeling of satisfaction I think for both of us to say we accomplished something that so few people can accomplish in the racing world,” Haas said.
Tony Gibson, crew chief of the No. 41, says his win with Stewart-Haas at the Daytona 500 is his most memorable one.
”It doesn’t get any better than this,” Gibson stated. “I’ve been fortunate enough to win it before. To win it with this guy beside me right here, Gene and Tony Stewart, Smoke, those guys support us. It’s just a different feel.”
2004 Monster Energy Cup champion Kurt Busch, after 17 years of trying, finally won his first Harley J. Earl trophy with the manufacturer he started with back in 2000.
Busch is thankful that he got to win his first 500 with the manufacture that he started with 17 years ago.
“Seventeen years of heartache can be erased,” Busch said. ”It’s erased tonight. Having the chance to win as a team, with all of these sponsors, this new Ford partnership, it flashes through your mind of all the people that have helped you get to this point in life.”
After 17 years of hard work and heartbreak Kurt Busch is now able to call himself a Daytona 500 champion. With a career that expands those 17 years, Busch’s accomplishments now include both a Daytona 500 victory and a 2004 Monster Energy Cup championship.
Stewart-Haas Racing results from the 2017 Daytona 500: Kurt Busch took the 2017 Daytona 500 victory, Kevin Harvick who won segment 2 finished in the 22nd position, Clint Bowyer finished 32nd, and Danica Patrick finished in the 33rd position.
