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[h=2]Ford and Kurt Busch wins wild Daytona 500 on last lap[/h]

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Everyone Runs Out Of Gas, Kurt Busch Wins Daytona 500

Fred Smith,Road & Track

From Road & Track
This year's Daytona 500 was stacked with contenders, with superteams Stewart-Haas Racing, Joe Gibbs Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, and Penske Racing supplying the grid with no fewer than 17 cars driven by good restrictor plate racers. After a gaggle of mid-race incidents, only four found themselves in contention with ten to go. When all was said and done, only two had the fuel to actually finish the race.

In a race that marked the debut of NASCAR's new segment-based format, the race neatly organized itself into a fitting three-act structure. In Act One, the story of the race was Joe Gibbs racing and their unique strategy of pitting all six of their affiliated cars off-cycle, with the express goal of running them all together and staying on the lead lap after every stop. The gamble payed off twice, even when the plan's execution was sloppy. When they stopped on lap sixteen of segment one, two cars had to stop again with flat-spotted tires and the team was left with just a pack of four ahead of the leaders, but a well-time caution still fell before the leading pack could catch that group, allowing Kyle Busch to grab the lead and hang on to win Segment 1.

They tried the system again with four cars in Segment 2, and while they weren't fast enough to stay ahead of the lead pack, they had the numbers to lead that pack once they joined it. It looked like the system was set to work again, and Kyle Busch looked to be in position to win the race, but just as the plan came together, Busch's car blew a rear tire, he spun into the field, and the wreck would eliminate him, race leader Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Toyota program teammates Erik Jones and Matt Kenseth.

When the race resumed after a short red flag, a series of mid-sized wrecks within the pack followed. Kevin Harvick won Segment 2, but just a few laps into Segment 3, would be a victim himself. He'd be collected in a wreck that started when Jamie McMurray bumped into Jimmie Johnson, pushing Johnson into Trevor Bayne in an ill-advised middle lane, and ending the days of a group including Johnson, Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Danica Patrick.

A few laps after the race resumed, Elliott Sadler would be caught between a slowing Ryan Blaney and a not at all slowing Jeffrey Earnhardt, causing him to spin into two other cars. Just a few laps after that, the would-be Big One came, as Jamie McMurray pushed Chase Elliott and caused a wreck that collected McMurray, Daniel Suarez, Brad Keselowski, and Ryan Newman. An incident involving Joey Gase and Chase Elliott, who sustained minor damage a few times but always had a healthy enough car to contend, would bring out a fourth caution in quick succession, but once the race resumed, it finally entered its final rhythm.


In that third act, a group of about twelve drivers found themselves jostling for position up front, with Joey Logano and Kyle Larson leading the majority of the laps until Chase Elliott found himself at the front of a single-file group with ten to go. The field, now well removed from the final stops of the race did everything they could to save fuel, but the moves began with six to go.

First it was the trio of Joey Logano, Austin Dillon, and Ryan Blaney, but Logano never got the help he needed and didn't get a chance to fight among the leaders.
Chase Elliott, who led for a long time and didn't really have a chance to save anything, ran out of fuel with three to go, and the chaos began. Kyle Larson made a few quick moves, sliding out of the pack to just pass one car each time, and found himself the beneficiary of Elliott's issue, while an impatient Martin Truex Jr. drove back down to the inside to work with Logano. Ryan Blaney worked his way past everyone around him into third, and when Larson ran out of fuel with half a lap to go, he looked like he had a chance to run down the leader and win the race. Kurt Busch had the fuel and the space over Blaney to make it to the flag, however, and while he might have lost a 201 lap race, he would hang on for that half a lap to win the race for the first time in his career.
Though Kurt Busch has long been regarded as an elite restrictor plate racer, this win marks his first at Daytona or Talladega in a championship points-paying race. The win also marks the first in the Daytona 500 for Stewart-Haas Racing, the first win for the Tony Stewart co-owned team since his retirement last season.
NASCAR's regular season continues next weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and an always-dense schedule means all 35 remaining rounds to be held in the next 38 weeks.

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[h=2]'I have more of an appreciation for everything' - Busch[/h] Wednesday, 01 March 2017


By Eric Johnson / Images by LAT

As he continues to bask in the satisfaction of finally claiming a Daytona 500 victory, Kurt Busch (above, with his Stewart-Haas Racing crew chief Tony Gibson), has admitted he has come to appreciate the dedication of teammates and crew that goes into NASCAR success more than he did earlier in his career.
"I was in tunnel vision before," said Busch. "I came up through all the ranks of NASCAR's ladder, all of the feeder series. When I got to Cup. I didn't stop that mentality. I was go-go-go, but I didn't know where I was going. I didn't have F1 as aspirations, but I didn't know how to stop once I got the top."
Busch concedes his abrasive style got him into trouble both with Jack Roush's team – despite his Cup title with that team in 2004 – and following his subsequent move to Penske.
"I didn't say the right things, I wasn't appreciative of people around me. I was just young and naive," Busch said. "The pattern that I used – or that I didn't even know that I was using because I was so young – was brash. It was like I was in this one series this year, then in the next series the next year. I never had time to even build enemies or friendships with people because I kept moving so quick.
"When I got to Cup, I didn't realize this was the final destination and I wasn't making friends and I wasn't blending in as smoothly as I should have. Did it lead to controversy? Yes. Did it lead to a championship? Yes. Was I confused on what I was supposed to do next? Yes.
"And that's when Roger Penske was calling, right after I won that championship at Roush. I was like, 'Roger knows how to run motorsports. I'm going to try and help him win a championship in Cup.' Well, I said it right there: I was still so brash and naive that I thought I was the reason why the championship happened at Roush. I didn't respect the team atmosphere enough.
"So that's the difference today – understanding and respecting the team, the personnel, more of a sponsorship value and the return on investment that sponsors want. Ultimately, it's all about doing the same thing – and that is winning and getting those trophies in victory lane.
"But I have more of an appreciation for everything. I love to give back and to help young crew guys develop and help new engineers develop into stars they can be one day. When I first started, I thought it was all me doing it, but it really comes down to the people."



RACER's NASCAR coverage is presented by Auto Club Speedway. Celebrating 20 years of flat out and five w

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Kyle Busch, brother to Kurt Busch....

Kyle Busch is ready to win. | Chris Trotman/Getty Images

2016 Total earnings: $15.0 million
Kyle Busch is easily one of the biggest names in the sport. In 2016, the man who sold the fourth most merchandise in racing raked in $1.5 million in endorsement money and another $13.5 million in salary and winnings. At just 31 years old, don’t be surprised to see Busch’s continual presence on this particular list.

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[h=2]Reality: You are only as good as your last race.

Won the 2017 Daytona 500, and 6 months later
No SHR contract renewal for Kurt Busch[/h] Tuesday, 01 August 2017


By Kelly Crandall / Image by Nigel Kinrade/LAT


Stewart-Haas Racing has reportedly declined to pick up its option on Kurt Busch’s contract, but expects this year’s Daytona 500 winner to return to the organization in 2018.
SHR had until Midnight on August 1 to inform the 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion whether it intended to activate its option on Busch’s deal. The organization has decided not to, meaning that Busch is now technically a free agent.

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[h=2]Kurt Busch: 'The sport is definitely going through a changing of the guard'[/h] Monday, 05 February 2018


Eric Johnson / Images by Kinrade, Cantrell/LAT



As the clocks ticks down to this year's Daytona 500, defending race winner Kurt Busch spoke to RACER.com about his expectations heading into his 18th season of Cup competition, and how the sport is changing.



Q: You're about to line up for your 18th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup season. How do you feel?
KURT BUSCH: I'm all pumped up. We made a crew swap on the No.41 car, so I'm with a new crew chief this year with Billy Scott, so it'll be fun working with a new guy, a young guy. He's got a whole group of new engineers to learn ideas from, and I'll be teaching them things and they'll be teaching me things. It doesn't matter how many years I've been in it, it's still fun to get all pumped up before the season and head to Daytona.


This year kind of seems like an all-in sort of year. There is no reason to hold back; there's no reason to look too far ahead; each week it's give it your best and go through everything with a fine-toothed comb and really have a solid game plan on how to gain the most points, be up front and lead some laps. [Being] back at SHR, I know all the people there and it's just a good environment all the way around. I feel like a refreshed, energized kid going to the races and racing against all these new kids. It's a strong youth movement in our sport and I feel up to the task of just continuing on as a strong veteran and showing these kids how it's done.


Q: Nearly two decades of race experience and seat time goes a long way in your line of work...
KB: It does, because track time is limited, and we're getting less and less practice sessions, and you've got to have those real-life situations of what happens out on track to bank off of, and I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I've got a lot of years under my belt, and guys like Dale Junior are done racing now. Tony Stewart hung it up a couple years ago. The sport is definitely going through a changing of the guard. It's the cycle of life. That's how it works. When I came in, my rookie class had Kevin Harvick. The next year was Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman. Guys that were even after me when they came were Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. Kasey Kahne now is in a unique and different situation too. The sport is changing around and is moving, and I still have more that I want to do.


Q: When you go to the race track, do you kind of know which teams are going to run up front and go for the win at every event?
KB: I mean, it's not obvious. In the way the sport is shaping up, all categories of the team have to be at top levels: pit crew, the driver, the manufacturer, the strategy of the races... So there is some predictability, but raw speed – if you have that category taken care of, you're going to have more opportunities to win each week. That's what the 78 car did last year. The new Camaro is going to be tough to beat this year. And Ford is looking to upgrade in 2019. You can parallel a little bit of the manufacturer side to Formula 1. Right now Mercedes is so dominant and Ferrari and Red Bull are right behind, but sometimes it's your year and sometimes you have to work extra hard just to maintain.

Q: Do you have everything you need to win this year?
KB: Yeah, absolutely. I feel confident with it. As far as the race strategy guys, I'm going to be with a new group this year, so I'm excited to see what they're going to pull out, and then I've got to do my job to gain spots on restarts and be up front up and lead those laps. Some races will be tire management. I hope to apply everything that we've got in all the right areas to bring home more wins and have more fun.


Q: What are you hoping to achieve in 2018 and even beyond?
KB: I want to get into the 30s as far as race wins. I'm at 29 right now. I had a goal when I first got into Cup. My mentor and my teammate Mark Martin at the time when I signed on with Ford, he had 33 race wins and I said, "You know, if I could even get close to that it would be a huge accomplishment in my career." So it's great to be that close to my overall goal that I made 18 years ago.


Q: How much longer would you like to go for in Cup?
KB: As long as I'm having fun with it and I've got a competitive car, I'm a racer. I guess you could say I'm a raceoholic. No matter what comes my way, I want to get in the car and go for the checkered flag. A couple more years in NASCAR, or who knows? There could be another opportunity somewhere else with other things. As long as my wife still supports me and wants to continue to go out on the road, or if she wants to settle down and have some kids, we'll that'll be the plan too.
[But] I think if there is an opportunity in Formula E, rally car, sports cars, I have a few tracks and races that are on my list. The 24 Hours of Le Mans is at the top of my list. The Bathurst 1000 would be awesome to race. Being to race at a couple cool tracks in Europe would be great. Then there is even a track here in America that is probably one of the coolest tracks in the world that I've never even been to, and that's Laguna Seca. You know, the power and prestige and the history of winning Daytona was a fantastic, magical moment for me.