BROOKLYN, Mich. – 2004 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Kurt Busch turned in his best Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates finish on Monday evening, earning a second-place finish in the rain-delayed FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Busch in his No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 rolled off seventh and was impressive throughout the 203-lap despite some early race contact with the wall. In Stage 1, he finished fifth.
He picked up the pace with the guidance from spotter Tyler Green during Stage 2 – wheeling a fourth-place effort.
And while Busch said he was insanely happy with the number of stage points he collected, during the final run to the finish, Busch wasn’t thinking about points – but rather a trip to Victory Lane.
While attempts to swipe the lead away from polesitter Joey Logano throughout the race’s final laps, including a restart in NASCAR overtime, Busch had to settle for his best run of the season.
After the race, Busch seemed surprised about the amount of damage to his Chevrolet Camaro from his early race altercation. Damage that didn’t seem to work against him at the 2.0-mile Irish Hills oval.
“That’s more than what I was hoping to see for damage,” Busch said.
“But I had a blast. Tightest I ever put my belts at the end of a race. We got enough stage points today, we said hell with it, we don’t need to get anything but the win. We got second today.”
Before the final caution and with about six laps to go in the race, Busch had hoped to push Martin Truex Jr.’s Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to the back bumper of Logano and make a dashing move to the lead. The plan never materialized though thanks to a spin by Erik Jones in the waning laps.
“(Joey) Logano’s car was tough,” added Busch. “I really wanted it to go green at the end with Truex. I was going to push him straight through the 22. My best shot at it.
With his fourth top-five finish of 2019 in the books heading into the off-weekend, the three-time Michigan winner was upbeat about his performance takes momentum to Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway on June 23.
“What a day for our Camaro,” sounded Busch. “From Chevy and Monster, thank you, guys. We’ll get it. It gives us reason to smile and be happy. We ran up front, were strong in our manufacturer’s backyard, but got second today.”
15 races complete, Busch has four top-five and nine top-10 finishes this year and sits eighth in the championship standings heading to the first road course race at Sonoma in two weeks, a track he earned one win, seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 18 starts at the Northern California road course.
CATCHFENCE.com senior editor Chris Knight contributed to this report.
