Rough Ride for Busch at Kansas

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), finished 29th in the 5-hour Energy 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City. Busch started sixth and ran as high as fourth in the opening laps of the 267-lap event before loose handling became the theme of the night for the No. 41 Chevrolet.

Busch, who finished second in his last visit to Kansas Speedway, immediately began to struggle with an ill-handling car. He fell as far as 18th by lap 70. Crew chief Daniel Knost and team went to work after a lap-72 caution, bringing Busch to pit road for multiple adjustments. The Haas Automation Chevrolet restarted 19th on lap 75 and worked its way into the top-15 by the halfway point of the event.

Unfortunately, track conditions that changed as the event transitioned from day to night caused the No. 41 to continue its ill-handling ways. On lap 179, Busch spun on the front stretch to bring out a caution, causing the No. 41 to lose a lap to the leaders as it pitted to make repairs and adjustments. While racing for the Lucky Dog free pass on lap 204, the No. 41 cut a tire coming out of turn two, forcing another spin that dropped the team down multiple laps.

Busch returned to the track in the 31st position and raced to pick up two spots to claim a 29th-place finish in the closing laps.

“We definitely didn’t get the finish we wanted in our Haas Automation Chevrolet,” Busch said. “It was a disappointing day all around. We had the best qualifying session of the season this weekend, and we had high hopes for the race. It just didn’t work out the way we planned. The car was loose, and we couldn’t tighten it up no matter what we tried. It’s just frustrating. We need to do better, and hopefully we will do better moving forward.”

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