Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), finished seventh in the attrition-filled Sprint Unlimited non-points NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
Photo Credit: stewarthaasracing.com
Busch earned entry into the exhibition race by being a previous winner (2011) of the Sprint Unlimited, which used to be known as the Budweiser Shootout. Only 2015 pole winners, drivers who were a part of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, previous pole winners for the Daytona 500 and past winners of the Sprint Unlimited earned entry into the race.
Busch started 21st in the 25-car field after a random draw determined the starting lineup Friday afternoon. He worked the draft to advance to the 15th position by the time the first caution flag of the race waved on lap 13. Happy with the handling of Busch’s Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet, crew chief Tony Gibson called for routine service of four tires and fuel. After restarting 16th, Busch held position until a lap-23 incident in which Brian Vickers, interim driver of SHR’s No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS for the injured Tony Stewart, suffered a cut right-rear tire and spun. Busch became one of several drivers that could not avoid getting caught up in Vickers’ spin, resulting in damage to the right rear of his racecar. He made four trips to pit road for damage repairs and was able to rejoin the field.
With the No. 41 having enough fuel to make it to the end of the scheduled distance, Gibson elected to leave Busch on the racetrack after many of the leaders came to pit road under the third caution period of the race. The call paid off as Busch was able to advance as high as fifth, but he was forced out of line and unable to find a drafting partner, which dropped him back to 14th.
As Busch rode at the back of the pack, he suffered a tire failure on lap 72, resulting in contact with the outside wall. Moments later, the leaders were involved in an incident that eliminated a number of contenders, giving Busch a chance to salvage a decent finish. He again pitted multiple times for repairs, and the efforts of the Monster Energy/Haas Automation team were rewarded when Busch was able to rally to finish seventh.
“We were just dodging wrecks, and we ended up with a flat right-rear (tire) at one point, probably from some debris,” Busch said. “We just never really got into the rhythm to break through to get to the top-four. We got up as high as fifth, and then on one of the restarts when you have damage on the rear of your car it’s basically a ‘don’t follow me’ sign and everybody went the other way. I needed to be more on defense. Thanks to Monster Energy/Haas Automation it was a good debut to see everybody work together, get the pit crew out there and work in the draft. We have a much better car and the way that everything shakes up for the Daytona 500.”
There were six caution periods for 24 laps, with 10 drivers failing to complete the 79-lap race, which went into overtime and finished four laps beyond its scheduled distance.
