Kurt Busch to make 350th Sprint Cup start

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Aug. 4, 2010)  – Kurt Busch will make his 350th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on Sunday in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips At The Glen, at Watkins Glen International.

Busch, who won the first series championship under the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup format in 2004, has tallied 22 wins, 78 top fives and 148 top 10s over his 10-plus seasons.

The Las Vegas native’s career began in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2000 before joining NASCAR Sprint Cup competition full-time in 2001 with Roush Fenway Racing. Busch moved to his current team, Penske Racing, to start the 2006 season.

Below is a timeline of Busch’s career highlights on his way to 350 starts:
1 – Sept. 24, 2000, he made his first series start at Dover International Speedway, finishing 18th. Busch made seven starts in 2000, with a best finish of 13th at Charlotte on Oct. 8, 2000.
8 – In his first Daytona 500, on Feb. 18, 2001, Busch finished 41st.
48 – On March 24, 2002 at Bristol Motor Speedway, Busch nabbed his first career victory. It was Busch’s first of five career wins at Bristol, his most prolific track.
75 – On Oct. 27, 2002, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch won consecutive races for the first – and thus far only – time in his career. The previous week, he won at Martinsville Speedway.
133 – Busch reached double digits in career wins with a victory at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on July 25, 2004.
150 – At Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 21, 2004, Busch finished fifth to win the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship by eight points over Jimmie Johnson, the closest championship margin in series history.
326 – Busch grabbed milestone victory No. 20, on Nov. 8, 2009 at Texas Motor Speedway. The margin of victory that race – 25.686 seconds – is the largest since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993.
341 – On May 30, 2010, he grabbed his most recent victory, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, becoming the seventh driver to win the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same season.

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Photo: Kurt Busch, right, and crew chief Steve Addington in the garage during practice at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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Busch vs. Busch: Chicagoland

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Kyle Busch had one of his roller coaster weekends in the Nationwide series at Chicagoland Speedway. Finishing first and 13th in practices, he qualified eighth. Busch led four times for 110 laps, bringing his total laps led in 2010 to 1,009 laps. This is a milestone for the Las Vegas native, making this the fifth time in his career he has led more than 1,000 laps in a season. Throughout the race, Busch thought he had no chance of winning, especially when he received two penalties on lap 56 for speeding while exiting and entering pit road. On lap 172, running second to teammate Joey Logano, he said “It's over. There ain't going to be another caution. The freakin' race is over.” Busch caught a break just 13 laps later when there was a caution for debris and he took four fresh tires. This allowed him to take the lead on the next caution and eventually the win. The win marked his 37th in NNS (in 188 starts), passing Kevin Harvick for second position in the NNS all-time win list and is now 11 wins behind Mark Martin for first place. Busch joins Harvick as the only repeat winner at Chicagoland, earned the 51st victory for Joe Gibbs racing (25 solely from Busch), and has won four of his last five races. He leaves Chicagoland third in points, moving up one spot from last week.

Cup: While Busch had a great late run in the Nationwide series, his Cup race was underwhelming. He finished 31st and 29th in practices and qualified 33rd. Running out of the top-20 for most of the race, Busch eventually finished the race 17th. He leaves the race sixth in points, the same position he came to Chicagoland in.


Kurt Busch

Unlike last week, Kurt Busch did not have such a good night...

The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Busch vs. Busch: Daytona (July)

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: No one could compare to Dale Earnhardt Jr. and the weekend he was having but Kyle Busch tried during the Subway Jalapeño 250 at Daytona. During the rain-soaked weekend, Busch got in two of the three practices, finishing seventh and 22nd. Qualifying fifth, he led four times for a total of 19 laps and finished seventh. Having missed three races, Busch is still fourth in points.

Cup: Busch's Cup weekend started off the way it ended: with a crash. In the first practice he was 11th but in the final practice, he was side-by-side with teammate Denny Hamlin and they got together (Busch took blame for the accident … see quote below). Luckily for Busch, he did not need to go to a back up car and qualified third. Busch overcame a loose wheel on lap 28, contact with the No. 43 of A.J. Allmendinger on lap 67 and was able to lead three times for 23 laps. However, in a similar situation to his crash with Hamlin, Busch crashed after contact with the No. 42 of Juan Pablo Montoya. Unfortunately, the damage was too much to fix and the No. 18 finished in the 40th position. Busch leaves Daytona sixth in points, falling three spots from last week.

Busch explained in his interview after the crash his take of what happened: “He [Montoya] was too close to my side and he started turning me sideways down the straightaway without even touching me just like I did to Denny [Hamlin]. He started turning before I even got over the No. 6 [David Ragan] in practice. When you have no grip on these tires...I was two laps away from pitting...the thing started rear steering me down the straightaway and I had no control over it. I didn’t turn across the nose of the No. 42. Why would I do that? Why would I wreck myself?”


Kurt Busch

The elder Busch had just as bad a night, if not worse, as his brother...

The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

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Busch vs. Busch: Infineon

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Brad Coleman again was in the seat of No. 18. He finished sixth after qualifying fourth. He finished third, third and first in three of the four practices and led one time for seven laps.

Cup: Busch had a horrible weekend at Sonoma, one he probably wants to forget. After finishing ninth, 11th and 24th in practices, he started 27th. On the 11th lap, he was involved in an accident with Jamie McMurray, A.J. Allmendinger, Elliot Sadler and Clint Bowyer. While the others were able to get back on the track, Busch wasn't so lucky and went behind the wall for 33 laps. Upon returning, he received a penalty on lap 87 for pulling up to pit. The race finally ended and Busch finished 39th, 34 laps down. He lost the second spot in the standings, falling to third, being replaced by race winner Jimmie Johnson.




Kurt Busch

The elder Busch was on track to have a great race...



The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Busch vs. Busch: Michigan

Kyle Busch

Trucks: Kyle Busch took back the wheel of his truck this weekend at Michigan. He was sixth in practice and started eighth. After leading five times for a total 25 laps, he finished third to Aric Almirola. This is Busch's fifth top 10 in fives races at Michigan International Speedway and he leaves MIS 13th in points, two spots up from last week.

Nationwide: This weekend the Nationwide series was in Kentucky. Brad Coleman drove Busch's No. 18, qualifying second, finishing 13th and leading one time for two laps.

Cup: Busch's Cup weekend can be summed up in one word: frustrating. Finishing fourth, 10th and 32nd in practices, he had to start in the rear of the pack after qualifying 15th for an engine change. After making his way up to fourth by lap 140, he wound up on pit road with damage to the spoiler and finished the race in 20th. Busch still remains second in points, 22 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.



Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch is having a great season ...

The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Busch vs. Busch: Pocono

Kyle Busch

Truck: Busch shut down operations of his No. 56 truck this week and with the trucks in Texas and Cup in Pocono, had Johnny Benson in the driver's seat. Benson brought the truck home 10th.

Nationwide: Busch announced several weeks ago he would not run the entire Nationwide season, especially on split weekends. This weekend, Brad Coleman took over the wheel of the No. 18 and finished sixth.

Cup: Busch had a great weekend at Pocono, where he was making his 200th start. He finished sixth, fifth and fourteenth in practices. He topped that off by qualifying on the pole next to Clint Bowyer. He led four times for 32 laps, although at one point fell to around 14th position. However, he stayed in the top five for most of the race and came to the checkered flag 2nd, behind teammate Denny Hamlin. This is his third top 10 in 11 races at Pocono and his ninth top 10 of 2010. Busch remains second in the point standings, now only 19 behind leader Kevin Harvick.


Kurt Busch

The elder Busch had a roller coaster of a weekend. In practices, he finished 10th, 10th and 20th and qualified fourth.

The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo Courtesy: Drew Hallowell/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Busch vs. Busch: Charlotte

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch's weekend started off less-than-stellar in Busch standards. He was third and second in practices but started sixth. During the first round of green flag pit stops, he pitted earlier than everyone else and received a speeding penalty, putting him two laps down. He eventually made his way up to the front of pack, eventually taking over first place on lap 139 after a race off pit road. After 3 attempts at a finish, Busch held of Brad Keselowski to take the checkered flag after leading a total of only 30 laps of the race. This is Busch's fifth win of the season and sixth win at Charlotte, tying Mark Martin's record of Nationwide wins at the track. He leaves the race second in the points standings, but will not be racing next week and is not running for the championship.

Cup: Busch's Cup weekend started off terrible. He was 14th, 22nd and 20th in practices and started ninth. The first one hundred laps seemed to be going Busch's way, as he worked his way to the lead on lap 130. From there, his race went back to how his weekend started. While pitting during a caution, Busch got in an accident with Brad Keselowski on pit road, causing damage to both cars. On top of the damage, Busch also received a speeding penalty, leaving him in 24th place. The damage was too much for Busch to continue driving so he pitted twice, leaving him in 26th. After a caution with 123 laps left, he had only moved up to 24th. But he fought back and made it to 13th with 100 laps to go and after the next caution, with the two-tire strategy, moved up to sixth. He remained there and with 24 to go, after another caution, Busch had a miscue in the pits and ran over his own crew member yet came out fifth (his crew member is okay). Going three wide with Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, he and Burton got together, cutting down Burton's tire and ruining any chance Burton had at contending for the win. After Busch came to the checkered flag third and having led the race twice for a total of 36 laps, the two exchanged words on pit road. Busch leaves the race second in points, gaining two spots, but 29 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.


Kurt Busch

The elder Busch had a roller coaster start to the weekend, with finishes of 11th, second and 17th in practices and qualified on the outside of the front row next to Ryan Newman. After the start of the race, he took over the lead from Newman on lap 12.

The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.


Photo Courtesy: Jason Smith/Getty Image for NASCAR

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Busch vs. Busch: All-Star Edition

The walls are yellow. There are no points. The drivers race for pride and $1 million.

The field is made up of the best-of-the-best. Former Champions, previous year race winners, All-Star Race winners, two transfers from the 20-lap showdown and the Sprint Fan Vote winner.

The whole week is special, from the Pit Crew Challenge (Denny Hamlin's No. 11 crew won this year), a burnout challenge, long driver introductions with their crews … it's truly an all-star event.

But this year, it changed from the All-Star Race to the Busch Brother Showdown. For around 40 laps, Kurt and Kyle ran right next to each other, fighting for the lead during segment one. Kurt took the segment before losing the second and third segments to Jimmie Johnson.

The younger Busch was coming back and vying for the lead against his teammate Denny Hamlin when Hamlin didn't give Busch enough room and he got into the wall. This eventually ended Busch's day and had them both in a meeting with Joe and J.D. Gibbs after the race was over.


The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.

Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo Credit: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Showdown, All-Star qualifying rained out

The qualifying sessions for Saturday's Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race were rained out Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The starting lineup for each event was determined by qualifying order.

Kurt Busch was scheduled to qualify first for the All-Star Race, so he was awarded the pole position. Joey Logano will start on the outside pole.

David Ragan was awarded the pole for the Showdown. Max Papis will start beside Ragan on the front row.

Denny Hamlin's No. 11 pit crew won the Pit Crew Challenge on Wednesday, giving the team the first choice of pit stalls for the All-Star Race. But Hamlin blew an engine during practice Friday. He will start 12th, but will have to go to the rear of the field due to the engine change.

Red Bull Racing received approval from NASCAR to have Casey Mears drive the No. 83 car at the All-Star Race in place of Brian Vickers, who was diagnosed with blood clots last week. Vickers announced Friday that he will miss the remainder of the 2010 season while he undergoes treatment.

The Sprint Showdown and Sprint All-Star Race will be broadcast Saturday on FOX starting at 7 p.m. ET. Sprint Showdown is set to start at 7:30 p.m. ET and the All-Star Race at around 9 p.m. ET.

Starting lineup for the Sprint Showdown:

1. David Ragan
2. Max Papis
3. Sam Hornish Jr.
4. Kevin Conway
5. Greg Biffle
6. Reed Sorenson
7. Bill Elliott
8. A.J. Allmendinger
9. Clint Bowyer
10. Robby Gordon
11. Regan Smith
12. Paul Menard
13. Michael Waltrip
14. Juan Montoya
15. Norm Benning
16. Elliott Sadler
17. Jeff Burton
18. Scott Speed
19. Marcos Ambrose
20. Martin Truex Jr.
21. Todd Bodine Toyota
22. Robert Richardson Jr.
23. J.J. Yeley
24. Travis Kvapil
25. Joe Nemechek
26. Carl Edwards
27. Tony Raines
28. Derrike Cope
29. David Gilliland

Starting lineup for the Sprint All-Star Race:

1. Kurt Busch
2. Joey Logano
3. Brad Keselowski
4. Jamie McMurray
5. Kyle Busch
6. David Reutimann
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Jeff Gordon
9. Casey Mears
10. Ryan Newman
11. Tony Stewart
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Kevin Harvick
14. Matt Kenseth
15. Mark Martin
16. Kasey Kahne
17. Bobby Labonte
18. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

PHOTOS FROM NASCAR MEDIA

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Busch vs. Busch: Dover

Kyle Busch

CWTS: It was expected Busch would win the Dover 200 from the very beginning of the weekend. He finished first in both practices and qualified first. He led four times for 172 of 204 laps (a late-race caution put the race into “overdrive”). However, while coming to the end of the race, it appeared Busch ran out of gas and went in to the pits while the leaders continued on with green-flag racing. He finished 16th and the official reason for his pit stop is listed as “fuel pump.” Running only a partial season, Busch is 17th in point standings.

Nationwide: Busch was dominant all weekend in the Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway. He was second in the final practice and qualified on the pole. He went on to lead 191 out of 205 laps (there was a crash on lap 198 which led to a green-white-checkered finish, making it five extra laps) and brought his Combos Toyota to Victory Lane. This win was Busch's fourth of the season and eighth top 10. It was also his second at Dover and he left second in points (11 behind leader Brad Keselowski).

Cup: Busch was consistent all weekend in the Autism Speaks 400 presented by Hershey's Milk & Milkshakes. In the three practices, he finished fifth, second and first. He qualified fourth and stayed up front for most of the race. Busch led six times for a total of 131 laps. However, it seemed he was going to be second to Jimmie Johnson, who led the most laps (225) until Johnson got a speeding penalty on the last round of pit stops, putting Busch in first and Johnson a lap down. From there, Busch was unstoppable and took the checkered flag, his second of the season and second at Dover. This win gives Busch his 18th of his career (out of 198 starts). It also moves him up one spot in the standings to second behind leader Kevin Harvick (-69).


Kurt Busch

Read the remainder of this article at examiner.com.

This article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.

Photo Source: Nick Laham/Getty Images

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Busch vs. Busch: Darlington

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch finished seventh in final practice and qualified second to teammate Denny Hamlin. In matching Z-Line cars, they took the front row. However, Busch couldn't keep up with Hamlin. Although he never dropped out of the top 10, he did drop down to eighth around lap 40. He came back and led the race for 17 laps and eventually finished second. This would give Busch his third top-10 finish in seven races at Darlington and his seventh top-10 finish of the season.

Cup: The Cup race was a roller coaster for Busch. He finished sixth and 15th in practices. He then qualified 39th but had to start at the rear of the field (43rd) after going to a backup car. Busch turned his night around, quickly moving through the field. He led twice for 29 laps and at one point was fighting for position with his brother. After the final pit stop, they made adjustments to the car which made it fall back. He ended the race seventh, leaving him third in points.


Kurt Busch

The remainder of this article can be found out examiner.com.

This article was originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission from the author.

Photo courtesy of: John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

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Exciting Nationwide Race at Darlington

They call Darlington Raceway "The Lady in Black." It is a very difficult racetrack that many drivers say is too tough to tame.

Last night's Nationwide race at Darlington was exciting from start to finish. It lead with a lot of cautions and interesting racing. The pole sitter for last night's race at Darlington was Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin lead a total of 111 laps and his teammate Kyle Busch lead 17.

Hamlin lead the final 63 laps of the race. He was also battling Busch for the race win. Busch had a strong car all night but couldn't pass Hamlin for the race win. On the final lap Hamlin took the checkers and won the race.

Hamlin and Busch were racing Friday night for charities: Hamlin for Operation Helmet and Busch for Racing 4 Kids. They ended up donating money to both charities. Hamlin posted his third victory at Darlington in his first five starts and all three came from the pole.

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Busch vs. Busch: Richmond

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch was third in final practice and took the pole for the Bubba Burger 250. This was also Busch's first Nationwide pole of 2010 and third at Richmond. Busch led until lap 59, when Brad Keselowski passed him. During the caution on lap 96, Busch lost four spots when the crew had trouble with a lug nut. With 90 to go, he was stuck in fifth place. With 61 laps left, a caution came out and his crew stepped it up, bringing him out second. Busch took the lead after a caution with six laps left but having not gone on to pit road, he couldn't beat Keselowski and his new tires. He finished fourth.

Cup: Busch was in the top five in both practices, placing fifth and first. He kept his momentum going into qualifying, first with the Nationwide pole followed by the Cup pole. He started next to fellow Toyota driver David Reutimann. Busch quickly pulled away from the rest of the pack at the drop of the green flag. He kept his lead through the first caution and kept going, lapping cars and making his lead even bigger. On lap 171 he lost the lead to Ryan Newman after a caution for debris but he took it back quickly since Newman was on two tires while Busch was on four. On lap 230, he lost the lead to Jeff Burton, who was hungry for a win. On lap 242, Busch fell further back to third place, being passed by the other Jeff (Gordon). He still didn't know what was wrong with his car. With 100 laps left, he was in fourth place. With 25 to go, Busch was in sixth after a caution. After two more cautions and 12 to go, he was in second. On the restart, Busch got a jump on Gordon and took the checkered flag.


Kurt Busch

To read the remainder of the article, visit examiner.com

This article originally appeared on LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of the author.

Photo courtesy of Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR)

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Busch vs. Busch: Talladega

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Coming off of his win at Texas and trying to decide whether or not to run a full season, Busch had a decent weekend before it even began. He was ninth and second in practices and qualified 11th. As most drivers believe, he said qualifying at 'Dega doesn't matter. Because of the rain, the Nationwide race was directly after the Cup race, just like at Texas last weekend. He led a total of four times for 16 laps but kept having overheating problems. He got clipped by a car while trying to come in for a green-flag pit stop, causing major damage to his right rear side, which caused him to have to come in again, falling behind. In the end it wouldn't matter any way, as he was taken out of the race on lap 113 in a small version of “the big one.” He finished 37th, seven laps down.

Cup: Busch seemed to struggle a bit with his Cup car, finishing 20th and 16th in practices. With rain washing out qualifying, he started sixth. Busch was involved in a small “big one” on lap 84, but sustained only minor damage to his car. He led the race 8 times for a total of 22 laps (the third highest number of laps led for a leader). He went back and forth with all the leaders but couldn't quite get to the front at the end. He finished right behind his brother in ninth place.


Kurt Busch

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This article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission from the author.

Photo Courtesy: Farrah Kaye

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Shell/Pennzoil moves to Penske

Shell/Pennzoil, currently a primary sponsor of the No. 29 Sprint Cup Series entry of Richard Childress Racing with driver Kevin Harvick announced on Wednesday that it would be taking its primary sponsorship dollars elsewhere -- to Penske Racing.

Beginning in 2011, Shell and Pennzoil we provide the primary colors on a No. 22 Sprint Cup Series car at Penske, and Kurt Busch, who currently drives the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske will move over to that No. 22.

"Kurt is a champion, a great driver, and has been an enthusiastic ambassador for Miller Lite over the past four years," MillerCoors Chief Marketing Officer Andy England said. "We want to thank him for that, and we look forward to chasing the 2010 Sprint Cup championship with Kurt and the whole team at Penske Racing."

To read the rest of this article, go to Cup Series News & Notes.

Photo of Kurt Busch courtesy of NASCAR Media.

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Busch vs. Busch: Texas

Kyle Busch fans have something to rejoice about this week.

Not only was the Las Vegas native honored by the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame as Racer of the Year, but he won his fifth consecutive Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway. In the last five races, he has led 810 of the 1000 laps raced.

This makes Busch the third driver in the series’ history to win five consecutive races at one track. The other two drivers are Dale Earnhardt Sr. (Daytona) and Jack Ingram (South Boston Speedway in Virginia).

Also, thanks to Busch’s win, along with fellow JGR teammate Denny Hamlin’s Sprint Cup win earlier in the day, it is the first time a team has one a Nationwide and Cup win in the same day.

BUSCH BROTHER RECAPS

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch has four NNS wins in a row and was hoping to make history by making it five in a row with a win at TMS this weekend. In the first practice, Busch posted the fifth fastest time. He took third in qualifying, behind pole-sitter and teammate Joey Logano and Clint Bowyer. He led more than half of the race, for a total of 153 of the 200 laps, clinching his “drive for five.” In usual form, Busch and teammate Joey Logano finished 1-2, despite Busch coming out of the pits third before the last restart.

Cup: After qualifying seventh in the Cup race, Busch was honored as Racer of the Year by the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame. He held his own, staying in sixth until the competition yellow after lap 25. He had a great pit stop and came off pit road third. On the restart, he moved up to second immediately. By lap 57, something had begun to go wrong and he had fallen to seventh. Just four laps later he had fallen further back to 12th. After a caution on lap 76, he was 17th. He improved after the next caution on lap 100, coming off pit road 13th. 25 laps later he as in eighth, flip flopping between being in and out of the top 10. On lap 165, the team discussed taking the car to the garage to fix whatever seemed to be wrong with it but kept it on the track and made adjustments on the green flag stops. With 117 laps to go, he came in with a very loose car during green flag pit stops. On lap 231, he was ninth. With 36 to go, and after a cycle of green flag pit stops, he was 14th. On lap 310, he came out of the pits sixth, his highest position since early on in the race. After the big wreck on lap 317, he was fourth. He crossed the finish line third after being passed by Jimmie Johnson with two laps to go.

Kurt Busch

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This article originally published at examiner.com and republished with permission from the author.

Photo courtesy of Chris Graythen/Getty Images via nascarmedia.com.

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Busch vs. Busch: Phoenix

Kyle Busch

Nationwide: Busch ran the Combos scheme on his No. 18 Toyota in Phoenix. He has never lost while running the Combos car, which was a stat he wished to keep. He started on the outside of row one to pole-sitter Carl Edwards so he wouldn't have to go far to get the checkered flag. He took the lead on lap one and pretty much stayed there the entire race. He ran in to some trouble on a late-race restart and was black-flagged when he jumped the restart, losing the lead to Brad Keselowski. With seven laps to go he was 10th, with five to go he was second and eventually he took the checkered flag for the 32nd time in his Nationwide career.

Cup: Busch started 17th and led 113 laps. He made his way to the front slowly and was in the top 10 for most of the day. On lap 296 he finally took the lead away from Jimmie Johnson who had been leading for 113 laps. On lap 372, with six laps left, a caution came out. When most of the other drivers took two tires, Busch took four, causing him to come out of the pits eighth. He never recovered and finished the race in the same place.


Kurt Busch

The older Busch had a hard day in the desert. He started 19th and on lap 15, after getting loose and getting into Kasey Kahne he was then hit by Denny Hamlin. He spent much of the next several laps on Pit Road. He finished in 35th place, 12 laps down.

Photo courtesy: Farrah Kaye

This article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with author's permission.

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Busch vs. Busch: Martinsvile

Kyle Busch

Truck: Busch turned over the reigns of his truck to Brian Ickler this weekend.

Nationwide: There was no Nationwide race this weekend.

Cup: Running a slick silver Snickers paint scheme, he was 17th at the halfway mark through first practice. He finished 32nd in the first practice. He improved in the second practice, moving up to 25th and dropped two spots to 27th during Happy Hour. Due to rain washing out qualifying, he will start 10th. When the race finally came on Monday due to a rained out Sunday start, he struggled with his car and was nearly lapped until a caution came out on lap 39. He came out 31st from the pits. By lap 86, he moved up to 24th but was still struggling. At the 100 lap mark, he had made his way up to 19th. On lap 115 he was at 15th, slowly making his way to the front and finally was happy with his car. When a caution came out on lap 127, he had made his way into the top 10 (10th place). Quietly, he made his way to sixth at the 200 lap mark. 34 laps later he was in fifth, where he had been for about 25 laps, when a caution came out. Coming off of pit road, he moved up to third. At the halfway mark, he was in fourth. With 200 to go, he was in fifth. On lap 372, after a caution, Busch restarted third. When Kevin Conway spun on lap 420, Busch kept his third place spot coming off of pit road. Busch caught a break when second place Jeff Burton had a right front go down and put Busch in second place with teammate Denny Hamlin leading. When Burton's tire blew, Hamlin and Busch were the only leaders to pit and Busch restarted eighth. Falling back to 19th, Paul Menard got into Busch and sent him into the wall. He took 22nd place at the checkered, one place ahead of his brother.



Kurt Busch


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Photo courtesy of Farrah Kaye.

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Busch vs. Busch: Bristol

Kyle Busch

Nationwide

Busch started sixth and by lap 19, he was battling teammate Joey Logano for the lead. By lap 23, he achieved his goal and held on to the lead. A caution came out around lap 30 when Brian Keselowski had a solo crash and upon the restart on lap 36, Busch had a great restart, jumping out about four car lengths. On lap 53 a caution came out for debris and Busch did not pit, keeping his lead. He lost the lead on lap 82 to Kasey Kahne, after getting caught up in lead traffic at the half-mile track. On lap 93, the race was red-flagged after a horrible wreck between Colin Braun and Steven Wallace (both were okay). When the race went back to yellow, Busch beat Kahne off pit road but four cars didn't pit so he restarted fifth. With the four cars in front of him on old tires, he would have to work hard to regain his lead. He caught a break when Kahne's car overheated and stayed on pit road during a caution but Busch still hadn't regained his lead by lap 133 (started fourth). On lap 146, Busch got into Kelly Bires, spinning him into the wall bringing out a caution. He remained in the top 10 for most of the race. With 90 laps left, he was in 7th place. Busch moved up to third with 25 laps to go. He stayed there until the checkered flag.


Cup

Busch, the defending champion of the race, crashed five minutes into the first practice due to a problem with the right rear tire and could never seem to get it fixed. He started 38th and wasn't making much noise, except for trying not to be lapped. On the second caution of the day, brought out by Clint Bowyer's engine blowing up, he radioed about his car being very tight. He continued to have a bad day, with no grip and bad tires. Coming off of the third caution (lap 113), he was 25th. On lap 237, after complaining all day of no grip and other issues, his tire blew and hit the wall rather hard (the same problem his teammate Denny Hamlin had earlier in the race). After “the big one” on lap 342, Busch restarted 17th. With 60 laps to go, the moved up to 11th. When the late-race caution came out for teammate Joey Logano with 18 to go, he pitted and came out 7th. With 10 to go, he finished 9th.

Kurt Busch


Read the entire article at the LV NASCAR Examiner.


Photo courtesy: Farrah Kaye

This post also appears on examiner.com and has been republished with permission from the author.

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Kurt Busch Makes NHRA Debut

Kurt Busch made his NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) debut this weekend in Gainsville, FL.

His debut didn't last long, as he made one qualifying run and was eliminated in the first round in the Super Gas division of the Sportsman class at the NHRA Gatornationals during a rare NASCAR off weekend.

Busch raced in a 1970 Dodge Challenger, which he helped rebuild himself, and took 10.10 seconds to get across the 1,000 foot drag strip. He was in the 9.90 second division, thus eliminating him this past Sunday.

Busch will be back behind the wheel of his No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge for Penske Racing this weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Photo courtesy of: nascarmedia.com

This post also appears on examiner.com and has been republished with permission from the author.

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