Sprint Cup Can-Am 500 at Phoenix: Takeaways and observations
By Ted Fleming
4. Close, but no cigar for Kurt Busch
Kurt Busch made the Chase because of a win in the first Pocono race and managed to make it through to the Round of 8, unfortunately, a 22nd at Martinsville and 20th last week at Texas put him in a must-win situation at Phoenix.
He gave himself a chance by qualifying 12th and as the Can-Am 500 was winding down he was positioned to make a run at the checkered flag.
“We got up to the front as high as third and sniffed the front to try to win because we had to win to advance,” he said. “We didn’t get the job done. The long run speed is where our Achilles Heel was these last few Chase races. It’s a little disappointing, maybe we can pinpoint that as our exact problem and figure out how to fix that, but really proud of Tony Gibson (crew chief) and everybody that worked on these cars all year long from Stewart-Haas Racing. You’ve got to have it all if you want to be in that championship four.”
In three years with Stewart-Haas Racing, Busch has four wins, 25 top-5 and 53 top-10 finishes, an impressive tally, however, getting that second championship is proving to be difficult.