He has a reputation that has been etched in stone for most of the time since the century turned.
Advertisement
Busch had quietly been having a solid season for Stewart-Haas Racing, posting four top-five finishes and 11 top 10s in 13 starts entering the race.
Masterfully conserving his tank by taking his foot off the gas for long stretches in the No. 41 Monster Energy Chevrolet, Busch still maintained a comfortable lead and easily fended off Earnhardt Jr. and Keselowski to win for the first time in 34 races – a span that covered almost a full year.
Busch passed Dale Earnhardt Jr., for the lead on lap 129 of 160 and stayed there the rest of the way for his first victory of the season.
Winners and losers from Monday’s rain-delayed Axalta “We Paint Winners” 400 at Pocono Raceway.
A crash took Jimmie Johnson (48) out of Busch’s (41) way. But Elliott fell out of contention after aggressively challenging Earnhardt Jr. following a restart on Lap 128. Ahead was the deep, blue sea.
Jeff Gordon (talking over a replay of Monday’s incident): “Do you guys remember the last time that this happened and the results?”. “I didn’t know if we’d have enough”. “We weren’t sure how the fuel thing was going to play out”, Busch told FS1 afterward. Only in NASCAR can the rough equivalent of a head coach be banished from the pit box because someone else didn’t tighten a lug nut.
Tony Gibson (left) was watching from afar.
But the only man who erased all doubt in Pennsylvania was Busch, continuing his remarkable transformation from center of controversy to one of the most consistent performers in the series. “Kurt did a great job of saving it. We do not. Go get him!”
All in all, the race-for those who could afford to miss work and watch it, or, surreptitiously, work and watch it-was, if not great, then at least fascinating.
Joey Logano leads the field into Turn 1 during the NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Pocono Raceway, Monday, June 6, 2016, in Long Pond, Pa.
Elliott is also wont to blame himself as his moral victories seem less and less moral.
“Jeff Gordon is pretty smart”, Busch added.
The older Busch brother joined the younger as one of nine drivers to have punched tickets into the Chase, with 12 races to spare before the 10-race series within a series begins.
Irritated, Keselowski said race analysts should not have a financial interest in the sport.
“We certainly finished better than we should have”, he said. “The vehicle wasn’t that bad. We’d been so close all year”. “It’s just so much fun to drive and be up front”. A tenth out on the racetrack is impossible to find. For the first time all season, a Toyota driver did not finish in the top 5. But he’ll soon be showing up in a photoshopped picture wedged between a smiling Busch and a wide-eyed, fill-in crew chief.
What best sums up your view of Kurt Busch at age 37? He might need to be calmed down when things go wrong or when he feels he’s been wronged.
“It’s just really about getting a good balance in all three corners of the track”, said Ryan Newman.
I can honestly say Klausmeier gave me the confidence. “And not having Tony Gibson here today, I know everybody gave that much more”. “I didn’t expect him to struggle”.
Busch has a knack for the wacky turn of phrase and the freaky analogy.
Advertisement
Known as a “roval” where driver shift from third to fourth gears and back on each lap, Busch also started short shifting, which uses fewer RPM.
