Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), rallied for a 12th-place finish in Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 after battling a loose-handling racecar from the start all the way to the checkered flag at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn.
Photo: Stewarthaasracing.com
It was the 18th top-12 finish in 24 races this season for Busch and the Monster Energy/Haas Automation team, and it came thanks to a strong green-flag run to the finish after a restart on lap 191 of Sunday’s 200-lap event on the 2-mile oval.
The 2004 Sprint Cup champion had his strongest racecar of the day for that final nine-lap run. He restarted 15th after quick pit work by the No. 41 crew, and he quickly worked his way up to 11th in the first three laps of the run. The loose condition he fought all day reappeared shortly thereafter to hinder any chance of moving into the top-10, and he battled over the final five laps before crossing the finish line in 12th place.
“We gave it a battle,” said Busch, who was seeking his fourth career Michigan victory Sunday after scoring his third in June 2015 from the 24th starting position. “We were just lucky with where the yellows fell to maintain our position. Overall we just couldn’t attack because we were way too loose today.”
Busch started 19th and quickly began reporting the loose condition, as did most of the drivers in the 40-car field. He stayed in that relative position until the final restart of the race, holding in the top-20 after pit stops on lap 21 under caution, laps 67 and 108 under green, and lap 118 under caution. Crew chief Tony Gibson called for subtle tire-pressure and wedge adjustments during each of those stops, but none of the adjustments served to alleviate the loose-handling condition over green-flag runs. Busch reported improvement after a significant adjustment to the right-rear shock absorber on the lap-118 stop, but after just a handful of laps the car returned to its loose condition.
“It was unfortunate that we just couldn’t solve the loose condition, but everything fell our way at the end to get a nice 12th-place finish,” Busch said. “We’ve got some things we need to iron out and other things that we need to focus on for the Chase (for the Sprint Cup Championship playoffs). We’ve got a couple of weeks here, and we will be at our best come Chase time.”
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. Two races remain before the Chase begins Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the 67th running of the Southern 500 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The second-to-last race before the Chase starts at 6 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 4, with live coverage provided by NBC.
