Inspection failure gets Kurt Busch’s day off to rocky start

Inspection failure gets Kurt Busch’s day off to rocky start

(September 25, 2011)

LOUDON, N.H.—Kurt Busch was on pit road after driver introductions for Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, but there was a problem—his car wasn’t.

 The rear end of Busch’s No. 22 Dodge was outside of NASCAR’s tolerances, and Busch’s crew had to fix the problem before NASCAR allowed the team to push the car onto the grid.

 Team members pushed the car the length of pit road to the fifth starting spot just in time to fire the engine.

 To compound the problem, the car didn’t handle to Busch’s liking, and he dropped five positions almost as soon as the race started. Though he led four laps during a cycle of green-flag pit stops, Busch finished 22nd, one lap down, and fell to ninth in the standings, 28 points behind back-to-back winner Tony Stewart.

 “It was a frustrating day,” Busch said. “Our Shell Pennzoil Dodge was certainly a handful. The front tires felt like they were on skids, and the car was plowing through the corners. We were late going through inspection, and that set the tone for our day.

 “We were able to stay out and lead some laps under green, and (crew chief) Steve Addington and the guys kept making changes and got our Dodge better by the end of the race. I just wish we could have started the race with the car that good.”

 With the inspection issues Busch had, that would have been unlikely.

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service