Busch Would Treasure a Victory in Brickyard 400
July 27, 2011
Photo Courtesy of Autostock
Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch and his Steve Addington-led "Double-Deuce" crew will be racing their "PRS-757" Dodge Charger in this weekend's Brickyard 400. "We're taking a ‘757' to Indy and that sounds pretty cool," chuckled crew chief Addington, alluding to the popular passenger airplane with the same number. "As stiff as the competition is out there these days, we know we'll need it. It's another one of the new Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Chargers to come out of our Penske shop and Kurt just loves having these new cars under him. We want to be the first to bring home that big Brickyard 400 winner's trophy to Penske Racing." (A side note: The Boeing 757 was known for its advanced technology and exceptional fuel efficiency. Could this be an omen in case this weekend's race becomes a fuel-mileage battle? Stay tuned...) The "PRS-749" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge (Richmond car) will serve as the backup.
--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch enters Sunday's Brickyard 400 third in points and in a pretty safe position as far as making the Chase for 2011, but the 2004 champ knows it is not a "sure thing." "We're coming in there after our final off weekend of the season looking to keep our strong performances going," said Busch. "It's most important that we keep the big picture as the primary goal and that's making the Chase and hopefully winning the first Cup championship for Penske Racing. We're pretty comfortable right now where we are in the standings and with the amount of points we have over the guys at the back end of the top. The big win that we enjoyed out at Sonoma certainly adds to that comfort factor. We're definitely hoping to be competitive at Indy and build a little more on our confidence level and pad our ‘comfort zone.'
--Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch enters Sunday's Brickyard 400 third in points and in a pretty safe position as far as making the Chase for 2011, but the 2004 champ knows it is not a "sure thing." "We're coming in there after our final off weekend of the season looking to keep our strong performances going," said Busch. "It's most important that we keep the big picture as the primary goal and that's making the Chase and hopefully winning the first Cup championship for Penske Racing. We're pretty comfortable right now where we are in the standings and with the amount of points we have over the guys at the back end of the top. The big win that we enjoyed out at Sonoma certainly adds to that comfort factor. We're definitely hoping to be competitive at Indy and build a little more on our confidence level and pad our ‘comfort zone.'
INDIANAPOLIS (July 26, 2011) - Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch enters this weekend's prestigious Brickyard 400 ranked third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings and only 11 points out of the lead. With a 71-point "buffer" to 11th-place in the standings and a victory adding to his "Chase security," does that mean Busch will go all-out to win Sunday's battle at Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
"We're coming in there after our final off weekend of the season looking to keep our strong performances going," said Busch, who enters this weekend's race with one win, four top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in the first 19 races race of the season. "It's most important that we keep the big picture as the primary goal and that's making the Chase and hopefully winning the first Cup championship for Penske Racing.
"We're pretty comfortable right now where we are in the standings and with the amount of points we have over the guys at the back end of the top 10," said Busch. "The big win that we enjoyed out at Sonoma certainly adds to that comfort factor. We're definitely hoping to be competitive at Indy and build a little more on our confidence level and pad our ‘comfort zone.'
"With seven races to go before the Chase kicks in, we're hoping to survive and prosper this weekend at Indy," said Busch. "Then we have Pocono, Watkins Glen and Michigan. We need to run consistently strong enough in those races to have enough of a lead where we can really go on the offensive trying to win races and pick up more bonus points heading into the Chase. I really feel like we can run really strong in the races before the Chase starts - the races back at Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond - and if we can pick up another win or two at those tracks, that would be additional bonus points that would come along with us into the Chase."
While Busch is looking at the big picture and the importance of making the Chase again this season, he also realizes the impact that winning this weekend's race at the Brickyard would present, especially for team owner Roger Penske.
"At the same time, it's only natural to have in the back of your mind what it would mean if we can win the race - the really big picture of the significance of a Brickyard 400 win for Roger and Penske Racing," said Busch, who'll be making his sixth Indy appearance for Penske on Sunday. "With Roger's success in the open wheel ranks at Indianapolis - with an incredible 15 wins and 16 poles in the Indy 500 -- the significance of putting a win there in the NASCAR record book is certainly magnified. It would be a major accomplishment to be the first Penske Racing NASCAR driver to score that victory.
"When you look at all of ‘the Captain's' accomplishments and the records for Penske Racing, the significant major voids in stock car racing are a win in the Brickyard 400 and a NASCAR Sprint Cup points title," continued Busch, who has won nine races in his 199 starts as driver of Penske Racing Dodges entering Sunday's return to the historical facility. "I know those are major goals for Roger and I want to be the driver who delivers the goods to him. I felt like I contributed somewhat to Roger winning the 2008 Daytona 500 in that I did push (Ryan) Newman across the line to take the win. So, winning the Brickyard 400 and winning a Cup championship are huge goals of ours.
"Everyone remembers just how close that Rusty came to winning at Indy," Busch said of Rusty Wallace, who competed in 12 races at the Brickyard for Penske Racing before retiring at the end of the 2005 season and turning over the reins to the famous blue No. 2 car to Busch, who made the similar exchange to Brad Keselowski for the 2011 season. "Rusty finished second three times and nearly notched that big win in the record book. So the desire and incentive to win in NASCAR at Indy for Roger Penske is so obvious that it shouldn't call for much explanation.
"A win there on Sunday would be as prominent and important of a feat that's possible," Busch added. "For me personally, it would be a thrilling experience I'd always remember and hold at the top of the list of my accomplishments."
In 10 career editions of the Brickyard 400, Busch is still looking for his first win, but he does have one top-five finish and four top-10s to his credit. He has a 20.0 average start and an 18.1 average finish. He has been running at the finish in nine of the races and finished on the lead lap in seven races.
Busch started 14th and finished 10th in last year's Brickyard 400. He had a strong top-five run going before getting the nose of his Dodge Charger damaged on a restart with 19 laps to go.
"We really had to grin and bear that one," Busch recalled. "The car was good early on and we came up through the pack. We got some damage on one of the restarts (second to last). The double-file restarts are so tough there. I didn't know how bad the damage was. We might have finished better, but under the circumstances, that's all we had there that day."
Busch and his Steve Addington-led "Double-Deuce" crew will be racing their "PRS-757" Dodge Charger in this weekend's Brickyard 400. This is a brand new Shell-Pennzoil Dodge. The "PRS-749" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge (Richmond car) will serve as the backup.
This weekend's action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets under way on Friday with practice scheduled from 1:00 p.m. till 2:15 p.m. (live on ESPN2) and from 3:15 p.m. till 4:30 p.m. (live on SPEED). The unique Indy schedule features another round of practice on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. (live on ESPN2), prior to the single round of qualifying on Saturday beginning at 2:10 p.m. (live on ESPN2 and IMS Radio Network) that will establish Sunday's entire 43-car starting field. Sunday's Brickyard 400 (400 miles, 160 laps around 2
"We're coming in there after our final off weekend of the season looking to keep our strong performances going," said Busch, who enters this weekend's race with one win, four top-five finishes and 11 top-10s in the first 19 races race of the season. "It's most important that we keep the big picture as the primary goal and that's making the Chase and hopefully winning the first Cup championship for Penske Racing.
"We're pretty comfortable right now where we are in the standings and with the amount of points we have over the guys at the back end of the top 10," said Busch. "The big win that we enjoyed out at Sonoma certainly adds to that comfort factor. We're definitely hoping to be competitive at Indy and build a little more on our confidence level and pad our ‘comfort zone.'
"With seven races to go before the Chase kicks in, we're hoping to survive and prosper this weekend at Indy," said Busch. "Then we have Pocono, Watkins Glen and Michigan. We need to run consistently strong enough in those races to have enough of a lead where we can really go on the offensive trying to win races and pick up more bonus points heading into the Chase. I really feel like we can run really strong in the races before the Chase starts - the races back at Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond - and if we can pick up another win or two at those tracks, that would be additional bonus points that would come along with us into the Chase."
While Busch is looking at the big picture and the importance of making the Chase again this season, he also realizes the impact that winning this weekend's race at the Brickyard would present, especially for team owner Roger Penske.
"At the same time, it's only natural to have in the back of your mind what it would mean if we can win the race - the really big picture of the significance of a Brickyard 400 win for Roger and Penske Racing," said Busch, who'll be making his sixth Indy appearance for Penske on Sunday. "With Roger's success in the open wheel ranks at Indianapolis - with an incredible 15 wins and 16 poles in the Indy 500 -- the significance of putting a win there in the NASCAR record book is certainly magnified. It would be a major accomplishment to be the first Penske Racing NASCAR driver to score that victory.
"When you look at all of ‘the Captain's' accomplishments and the records for Penske Racing, the significant major voids in stock car racing are a win in the Brickyard 400 and a NASCAR Sprint Cup points title," continued Busch, who has won nine races in his 199 starts as driver of Penske Racing Dodges entering Sunday's return to the historical facility. "I know those are major goals for Roger and I want to be the driver who delivers the goods to him. I felt like I contributed somewhat to Roger winning the 2008 Daytona 500 in that I did push (Ryan) Newman across the line to take the win. So, winning the Brickyard 400 and winning a Cup championship are huge goals of ours.
"Everyone remembers just how close that Rusty came to winning at Indy," Busch said of Rusty Wallace, who competed in 12 races at the Brickyard for Penske Racing before retiring at the end of the 2005 season and turning over the reins to the famous blue No. 2 car to Busch, who made the similar exchange to Brad Keselowski for the 2011 season. "Rusty finished second three times and nearly notched that big win in the record book. So the desire and incentive to win in NASCAR at Indy for Roger Penske is so obvious that it shouldn't call for much explanation.
"A win there on Sunday would be as prominent and important of a feat that's possible," Busch added. "For me personally, it would be a thrilling experience I'd always remember and hold at the top of the list of my accomplishments."
In 10 career editions of the Brickyard 400, Busch is still looking for his first win, but he does have one top-five finish and four top-10s to his credit. He has a 20.0 average start and an 18.1 average finish. He has been running at the finish in nine of the races and finished on the lead lap in seven races.
Busch started 14th and finished 10th in last year's Brickyard 400. He had a strong top-five run going before getting the nose of his Dodge Charger damaged on a restart with 19 laps to go.
"We really had to grin and bear that one," Busch recalled. "The car was good early on and we came up through the pack. We got some damage on one of the restarts (second to last). The double-file restarts are so tough there. I didn't know how bad the damage was. We might have finished better, but under the circumstances, that's all we had there that day."
Busch and his Steve Addington-led "Double-Deuce" crew will be racing their "PRS-757" Dodge Charger in this weekend's Brickyard 400. This is a brand new Shell-Pennzoil Dodge. The "PRS-749" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge (Richmond car) will serve as the backup.
This weekend's action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway gets under way on Friday with practice scheduled from 1:00 p.m. till 2:15 p.m. (live on ESPN2) and from 3:15 p.m. till 4:30 p.m. (live on SPEED). The unique Indy schedule features another round of practice on Saturday from 10:00 a.m. till 11:30 a.m. (live on ESPN2), prior to the single round of qualifying on Saturday beginning at 2:10 p.m. (live on ESPN2 and IMS Radio Network) that will establish Sunday's entire 43-car starting field. Sunday's Brickyard 400 (400 miles, 160 laps around 2