HAMPTON, Ga. – In his 650th career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS) start, Kurt Busch finished third in Sunday’s Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway giving Busch a huge dose of momentum heading home to Las Vegas to kick off the series’ West Coast swing.
Overall, it was a strong day for Chip Ganassi Racing who saw veteran driver Kyle Larson lead in his No. 42 McDonalds Chevrolet throughout the race, while Busch continued to march forward and further adapt to his new surroundings, including with new crew chief Matt McCall.
“I could say it (finish) wasn’t anything fantastic or anything exciting, but it really was,” said Busch, driver of the No. 1 ComSurv Chevrolet. “To finish third in our second outing together and to run with the who’s who of the sport, it just shows (Chip) Ganassi (Racing) has got the right stuff. (Kyle) Larson had a tough break. We caught a good break to get on the lead lap with (Joey) Logano and to race in the top-five at the end.”
Even Busch, a native of Las Vegas, Nev. seemed surprised that his No. 1 team is working so well together in just a short amount of time. From McCall to spotter Tyler Green and the crew in-between Busch seems content and upbeat about the future of his new home.
“But all in all, for us to get gelled together, to learn what loose and tight was, but man, I just struggled in Turns 3 and 4 and that’s where I got arm wrestled,” added Busch “They took us, but hey, we’re top 5 in this kind of run.
“Thanks to Monster Energy. ComSurv was on our car this weekend. Chip (Ganassi, team owner) was standing right there, and thanks to Felix (Sabates) and Rob (Kauffman), our owners, it’s a third place finish, and we’ll take it.”
After the race, Busch said he was looking forward to debriefing with the team and discussing what steps are needed to keep them up front and in contention for race wins.
“It was really good,” Busch said of the team’s adjustments Sunday. “To find that looseness and tightness balance. We had long runs, we had short runs, we went through a lot today. So, we need to just sit down in the board room and really debrief. What we have, where the speed was in the No. 42 early on and be able to capitalize late.”
In 650 Cup starts, the 2003 Cup champion has achieved 30 wins, 27 poles, 138 top-five and 281 top-10 finishes over 20 seasons. In all, he maintains an average finish of 16.4 since 2000.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
