Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), finished 10th in Monday’s rain-delayed, rain-shortened Pennsylvania 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. By completing all 138 laps of the event, Busch has now set a NASCAR record for 100-percent lap completion at 21 races, eclipsing the 20-race streak that Dale Earnhardt Jr. posted in 2012.
Photo: Stewarthaasracing.com
“It’s nice to be in position to have completed all the laps,” Busch said. “That is done with a lot of teamwork. It’s not just one person. It starts at the shop with the quality of cars, and congratulations to everybody that has helped be part of this sequence. All in all, we are finishing on the lead lap, we are finishing top-10 every week. We just know that we need to find a little bit more to be competitive once the Chase starts. I can’t say thank you enough to everybody on the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet.”
Busch had qualified to start 15th in the 40-car field but had to drop to the rear of the field before the green flag due to an unapproved body adjustment. Despite the setback, Busch quickly made up ground as he advanced to 28th on the first lap. Despite a tight-handling condition due to being mired in traffic, Busch continued to gain positions as the laps clicked off.
Crew chief Tony Gibson called for chassis and air pressure adjustments throughout the race, which saw Busch steadily climb his way toward the front of the pack. By the halfway point, the Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet was scored in the 15th position. After making his final scheduled pit stop of the day at lap 124, Busch was scored 10th, a position he held when heavy fog forced NASCAR to red flag the race. When the weather conditions did not improve, NASCAR was forced to call the race 22 laps short of its scheduled distance.
“I felt like we were making all the right calls and all the right sequences on when to pit, and we just had one adjustment go astray,” Busch said. “We tried to loosen up the car with a left-rear wedge change and we ended up getting tighter. Sometimes that has happened to us this year, and we just need to not fall into that pitfall and make sure we steer clear of wrong adjustments or adjustments that are questionable until we have a better handle on it.”
Harvick, Busch and Stewart are all eligible to compete in the 16-driver, 10-race Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which begins after the Sept. 10 race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway. All have won a race this season and are among the top-30 in points, the two requirements necessary to secure a spot in the Chase. Patrick can also earn a Chase berth by winning a race and staying inside the top-30. Five races remain before the Chase begins Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Cheez-It 355k at The Glen on Sunday, Aug. 7, at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The race begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by USA.
