Kyle Busch Snags Fifth at Charlotte

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

A little momentum can go a long way, and it’s something Kyle Busch hopes to keep rolling for at least another five weeks as the 2014 Chase of the NASCAR Championship continues to heat up. A fifth-place finish in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway marked his fifth-straight finish of 10th or better since the Chase kicked off five weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet.

“These things are so finicky on pit stops – it’s been that way all year long for us,” said Busch, who led three times for 41 laps, bringing his laps-led total at Charlotte to 903. “Little adjustments just didn’t help us tonight. We made that one big change, and the car really took off for us. It wasn’t a win – which is what we really want – but it’s another solid finish for us. We just need to go to Talladega next week and try to avoid the ‘big one.’ ”

The driver of the No. 18 Doublemint Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) arrived at Charlotte fresh off a career-best third-place finish at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City last week. He backed up that top-five effort quickly by winning the pole for Saturday night’s 500-mile event.

Busch led the first 13 laps after starting from the top spot, but he noted that the car was a little too loose on throttle. He relinquished the lead but was able to maintain a comfortable pace running in the top-five. A round of adjustments during the team’s second trip to pit road seemed to hamper the car’s handling rather than help. Traffic only exasperated the issue, and Busch soon dropped back to 10th place in the running order.

Crew chief Dave Rogers called for a more aggressive adjustment during the third caution on lap 135 – adding a rubber to the left-rear spring while removing wedge, changing four tires and adding fuel. The adjustment proved to be just what Busch needed. He would go on to race back into the top-five in the running order, even taking another turn at the lead on lap 243.

A late caution forced teams to decide whether to stay out or come to pit road for fresh tires. Busch and the No. 18 team was just one of a handful that elected to stay out – a decision that placed Busch in sixth place for the restart. He made the most of the final two laps, taking over fifth place by the time the checkered flag waved.

Busch’s JGR companions – Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, and Matt Kenseth, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry – finished ninth and 19th, respectively.

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