Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), showed a strong effort Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, overcoming a pit-road penalty to finish fifth in the Cheez-It 355k at The Glen NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.
“It was a great effort,” Busch said. “We had to overcome a pit-road penalty and just being stuck in the back, I wasn’t quite making the right decisions on some of the restarts. I was trying to be cool and be smooth and work our way back up with a nice pace, knowing some of the frontrunners couldn’t make it on fuel. For us on the Haas Automation Chevy, I wanted to finish what we started at Sonoma. I wanted to win it today. A top-five is a great effort. Thanks to Monster Energy, Chevy, Haas Automation and all the Haas employees that were down there in turn one rooting us on, I felt it each lap through there.”
Photo Credit: stewarthaasracing.com
Busch started 14th in the 43-car field and, despite struggling with a Haas Automation Chevrolet that was loose on the left-hand turns and tight on the rights, was able to advance to eighth by the time of the first caution on lap 25. With the No. 41 on the edge of the team’s pit window, crew chief Tony Gibson called Busch to pit road for fresh tires, fuel and wedge and air pressure adjustments. Unfortunately, NASCAR cited the team for having crewmembers over the wall too soon, and the pit-road penalty sent Busch to the tail of the field for the restart.
Mired in traffic, Busch tried to make passes early and often to regain his lost track position. While attempting to pass the No. 13 of Casey Mears, Busch made contact, damaging the left-front fender of his red-and-black racecar. He still managed to continue his forward progress, finding himself in 16th by lap 45 and inside the top-10 on lap 73. As the laps came to a close, Busch was able to take advantage of a strong Haas Automation Chevrolet to score his eighth top-five finish of the season.
“It was a great battle,” Busch said. “It was a lot of fun. I don’t know that we had the right brake combination and gear ratio, and maybe I was just out of whack. I felt like we could capitalize after how well we did in Sonoma. But we were able to get a top-five here at Watkins Glen.”
There were five caution periods for 16 laps.
With round 22 of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 823 points, 42 ahead of second-place Logano. Busch is eighth with 659 points, 164 out of first. With two wins apiece, Harvick and Busch are locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Patrick is 22nd with 489 points, 73 out of 16th, the cutoff position to make the 16-driver Chase field on points. Stewart is 26th with 418 points, 144 out of 16th.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Pure Michigan 400 on Sunday, Aug. 16 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC Sports Network.
