2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch driver of the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE for Chip Ganassi Racing drove to a very impressive fourth-place finish in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 253 at the Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway Road Course.
Busch had an uphill battle starting the second race of the season 17th but was able to fight his way through the field and eventually to the race lead.
However, during the third and final stage, Busch’s afternoon took an uncharacteristic turn. On Lap 38 of 70, Busch’s Monster Energy Chevrolet broke loose and spun through the kink.
Luckily, Busch did not heavily damage his race car and even though he dropped back to 25th in the running order, the Las Vegas, Nev. native knew he still had a car capable of contending for a good finish.
“Man, I just crossed over that fine-line of grip and the car,” Busch explained of his mistake.
He added, “The tires at this track, with the worn-out asphalt in that infield section, is really easy to step over that line”.
Through the final 30 laps of the race, pit strategy and strategic driving from Busch put them back in opportunity not only to have a good result – but potentially score their first win of the season.
“Matt McCall (crew chief), all of my guys-they had an awesome day on pit road, strategy-wise and with their stops to get us back up front,” Busch admitted.
In the closing laps of the race, Busch had worked his way to third and despite two late-race cautions, Busch had to settle for fourth behind Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin.
“Really good points day; top-five I think in all the stages,” reflected Busch. “So, that’s a good checkmark to bounce back after the Daytona 500. We’re rolling now.”
Speaking of Daytona, Busch, the 2017 winner of the Great American Race recovered from a distant 22nd place finish on Feb. 14 – after being one of more than 16 vehicles collected in a Lap 15 pileup.
Busch who led two laps on Sunday catapulted to eighth in the championship standings heading to Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway next Sun., Feb. 28, 2021, for the running of the Dixie Vodka
400.
Follow Zach Grafe on Twitter @z_grafe83.
CATCHFENCE.com editor Chris Knight contributed to this report.
