Kurt Busch Finishes 20th at Dover

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-120):

Kurt Busch started 13th and finished 22nd, one lap down.

On lap 18, while in ninth, Busch told the crew that his No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion was loose on entry and tight on exit.

● Busch had fallen to 15th by lap 60 as the car was still battling the condition of being loose in and tight off.

● On lap 84 while running 18th, Busch pitted for four tires, fuel and wedge and tire pressure adjustments.

● The caution came out on lap 87 with Busch two laps down. He stayed out while the leaders pitted, took the wave-around and restarted 25th, one lap down.

 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 121-240):

Busch started 21st and finished 17th. He got his lap back by taking the wave-around after the first stage.

● On lap 168, Busch was 20th and on the lead lap. The car was still loose in and tight off but getting better.

● Pitted on lap 169 for four tires, fuel and wedge and tire pressureadjustments.

● On lap 200 Busch was 16th and said the car was loose.

 

Stage 3 Recap (Laps 241-400):

● Busch started 17th and finished 20th.

● On lap 242, Busch said the car was still loose and tight off. The crew made another wedge adjustment and dropped the tire pressure in all four tires.

● On lap 332 while in 12th Busch pitted for four tires and fuel. Unfortunately, he had a commitment-line violation and had to serve a passthrough penalty.

 

Notes:

● There were four caution periods for a total of 24 laps.

● Only 12 of the 40 drivers in the Apache Warrior 400 finished on the lead lap.

● Kyle Busch won the Apache Warrior 400 to score his 42nd career NASCAR Cup Series victory, his fourth of the season, second in a row and third at Dover. His margin of victory over second-place Chase Elliott was .357 of a second.

 

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“Yeah, disappointed in the way that I drove all through these playoff runs. I was driving at 101 percent trying to get every ounce of speed out of it. It just never had a flow for three races. We might have finished 10th here today. The wreck last week really put us in a hole. We needed a perfect day today and playoff stage points. We just really never did well in Stage 1, and I thought that it might be our Achilles heel. If we add up the numbers (that’s) probably where it was. I can’t fault anybody. We ran hard. We gave it everything we had.”

 

Playoff Standings (at the conclusion of the Round of 16):

1.      Martin Truex Jr. (3,059 points)

2.      Kyle Busch (3,041 points, -18)

3.      Kyle Larson (3,034 points, -25)

4.      Brad Keselowski (3,020 points, -39)

5.      Jimmie Johnson (3,017 points, -42)

6.      Kevin Harvick (3,015 points, -44)

7.      Denny Hamlin (3,013 points, -46)

8.      Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (3,010 points, -49)

9.      Ryan Blaney (3,008 points, -51)

10.    Chase Elliott (3,006 points, -53)

11.    Matt Kenseth (3,005 points, -54)

12.    Jamie McMurray (3,003 points, -56)

 

Failed to Advance to Round of 12:

13.    Ryan Newman (2,067 points)

14.    Austin Dillon (2,065 points)

15.    Kasey Kahne (2,046 points)

16.    Kurt Busch (2,044 points)

 

Next Up:

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Bank of America 500 on Sunday, Oct. 8 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It is the fourth race of the 10-race playoffs and starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by NBC beginning at 1 p.m.

 

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