Kurt Busch - NASCAR Cup Series Preview for Darlington
May 6, 2008
In that race, Busch and Ricky Craven staged the closest finish in the history of electronic scoring and timing along the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, with Craven taking the exciting victory by a mere 0.002 seconds over Busch.
You could call it Busch's abstract racing version of the "Theory of Relativity."
"As odd as that may sound, yes it could very well happen there on Saturday night," said Busch, hoping to regroup at Darlington Raceway this weekend after enduring two consecutive disastrous races at Talladega and Richmond. "It's like taking two completely different sets of ingredients or circumstances and coming up with the same results. That has certainly been the nature of our sport, especially over the last few years.
"When Ricky and I staged that nail-biter at Darlington back in 2003, we were racing the smaller cars on old asphalt with softer tires," said Busch. "This time around, the elements are totally different. We have the bigger and boxier cars. We'll have the brand new fresh asphalt. And yeah, we'll have the rock-hard Goodyear Tires there this weekend.
"When you stop and think about it, it's very much possible that we could have another close finish like we did in 2003. I certainly don't think that we'll be running side-by-side and that close all night long; it would be absolutely absurd to think that could happen. But if we were to get a late-race caution, it really could set up another race that close to the finish.
"The new track will have a ton of grip, but the rock-hard tires will probably see us slipping and sliding all over the place," Busch explained. "If the cars are all bunched up for the finish of Saturday night's race, you'll likely see some of the brave and daring young souls out there pushing it to the limit and doing whatever it takes to win. The key to it all, however, would probably be a late caution with less than 10 laps remaining. We'd start single-file with the leaders up front and all the lapped cars completely out of the way and running behind them.
"Darlington is such a tight and narrow track all the way around and when you look back at the video from the shootout that Ricky and I had, you'd have to label it a miracle that we didn't crash each other out that day. As big and bulky as these new cars are, you could still wedge two guys running side-by-side on that narrow little strip of asphalt. It would be another mind-blowing finish, that's for sure. We'd definitely welcome the opportunity to be involved in another classic finish like that."
Busch took time out on Monday night to detail the historical finish in his battle with Craven in the racing classic, even divulging information he hasn't revealed until now.
"The fact was that my power steering went out late in that race and by the time it got down to those last couple of laps, I had no power steering at all," said Busch. "The TV and radio guys were reporting that I'd just abused my stuff so badly that I'd used everything up; I had just had burned the tires slap off the thing.
"It made for such a great story that I never bothered to mention that if I'd still had my power steering and didn't have to manhandle the car like I was, I probably could have held Ricky off. Regardless, it was a historical race and I was so proud and excited to have been part of it. Ricky has always been such a first class guy and I have had the utmost respect for him then and through today.
"Over the years, I've been privileged to have had the opportunity to do TV and radio shows with Ricky and we inevitably get around to discussing the 2003 Darlington spring race," said Busch. "In my mind, that race displayed the ultimate example of two drivers battling their hearts and guts out till the very end, yet having and maintaining so much respect for each other. Ricky and I were both in the same state of mind in that we both wanted to win, but neither of us was going to wreck the other guy. I think it was the supreme example of two guys racing as hard as they could to win a race. If that same situation played out again a hundred times, 99 of them would probably end with a big crash before they got to the finish line.
"I can remember it just like it was yesterday," said Busch of the amazing final few yards of his battle with Craven. "I went into turn three trying to give Ricky the impression that I was gonna go high, yet I cut the wheel down low. I was trying to make sure I made it as wide as I could getting in, so he couldn't commit to a line. When you commit to a line quicker, obviously, you can generate speed through the corner. So I went into (Turn) three low and there was no way I could hold it down like I needed to.
"The car pushed up a little bit and I knew he'd go low, so I didn't want to come back across his nose because I would have spun out and finished as the last car on the lead lap. So I had to just carry the momentum towards the high side and get as much throttle-on time as I could. He started rubbing the left-rear, the door, the A-post, and as soon as he got up to my front tire, it jerked the wheel out of my hand and yanked my car completely into his. That killed my momentum and then we stayed locked from there on. I grabbed as much of the wheel as I could and finally tugged it back to the right to get off of him by the time we got to the start-finish line, but my momentum had been killed after that. It was just a hard-fought battle and one that they'll probably be talking about forever."
This weekend's Darlington action gets under way on Thursday with practice scheduled from 7:00 p.m. till 8:00 p.m. Friday's schedule features practice sessions at 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. Friday's 5:15 p.m. single round of qualifying will establish Saturday's 43-car starting field. Saturday's Dodge Challenger 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles) has a 7:20 p.m. EDT starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio.
--Call it Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch's racing version of the "Theory of Relativity"... As incredible and perhaps unbelievable as it might sound, Kurt says that Saturday night's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway could produce a finish even closer than that of the March 16, 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. In that race, Kurt and Ricky Craven staged the closest finish in the history of electronic scoring and timing along the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit, with Craven taking the exciting victory by a mere 0.002 seconds over Busch.
--Review the exciting finish of the 3/16/03 race, the closest in NASCAR history here:
(Link to the video of the finish of the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400-- 3:01:00 of unbelievable action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV7hAz-75UA )
--Much more on this subject in this week's Darlington race advance that follows and is attached...
--The "Grand Opening" of the new Kurt Busch Superdome at the Victory Junction Gang Camp is set for Tuesday, May 20 at 2:00 p.m. The project was announced in May 2006, with Kurt announcing the donation of the initial $1 million in support of the project. The facility will provide opportunities for indoor sports in a climate-controlled environment. "It'll be like seeing a dream come true to finally get the doors open and see all the kids enjoying themselves," said Kurt. "It's been a labor of love for all of the people involved and I'm so proud and grateful to have the opportunity to make a contribution in this manner to the Petty camp." Officials are still ironing out all the final details. Several entertainment and sports figures are expected to attend in