Kurt Busch: 'Lady Luck' plays role in top-10 Charlotte finish
On a day that proved to be difficult for many Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers, Kurt Busch was one of the lucky ones who managed to survive Sunday’s Back of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
After receiving minor damage in a crash following a late restart that forced Chase contenders Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon to retire from the race, Busch battled his way back for a solid eighth-place finish.
“It’s one of those days where we go, Alright, it’s not the best, but we’ll take it,’ ” said Busch after the race. “But that’s the finish we need to advance in this Chase.”
The crash topped a day filled with obstacles for the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team, a trend they have grown used to.
The main obstacle for Busch on Sunday happened to be his stall position on pit road, an issue that also involved SHR teammate Danica Patrick.
“We have damage on our car, we have bad pit stops, or (as on Sunday), we just had an awful pit-stop selection position,” Busch said. “Danica was doing well and she was on the lead lap, but she kept coming around us and it boxed us in. We don’t need that, but we weren’t the ones penalized, they were the ones penalized on their pit position. It’s just weird how some of the things play out.”
Busch was able to overcome all the trouble to move up to fifth in the Chase standings heading to Kansas Speedway. And admittedly, he did it with a little help.
“Lady Luck was on our side and we will take it,” said Busch. “We know we want to be better, we want to be faster and we had luck on our side today.”
But Busch is well aware there is more work to be done with two races remaining in the Chase Round of 12. Sunday's race was the opener in the second round of the Chase, NASCAR's version of the playoffs. After the next two races at Kansas and Talladega, the Chase field will be trimmed from 12 drivers to eight.
“We will go to the drawing board this week and dial up what we need for Kansas, because Kansas is real similar to this place (Charlotte),” Busch said. “All in all, I’m really happy with these guys and all the things that have been thrown at us. We’ll take an eighth place, but we know we need to get better.”
