|
 |
|
|
|
|
Busch Knows Importance Of Ending Season On High Note
There will be a period of 91 days between Sunday’s Ford 400 season finale on this year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule and the Feb. 15, 2009 Daytona 500 season-opener. That’s 2,184 hours between races. It means there will be 131,040 minutes to think about it.
"I’ve never looked at it with that much data in front of me before, but it only works to reinforce my belief of just how important it is to end your season on a high note," said Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch, fresh off an impressive runner-up finish to Jimmie Johnson in last Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. "As much as we race and because there’s so little time off during the season, the weeks tend to roll on from one track’s schedule right into the next race along the tour.
|
|
|
"The winner celebrates on Sunday night, but the clock rolls back almost immediately because you’re already busy preparing for the next race that’s only a couple of days away," said Busch, the 2004 series champion who’ll be starting his 108th race as the driver of Penske Racing’s No. 2 Dodge in Sunday’s 400-mile battle at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "So when you look at that period in between the closing of one season till the opening of the next, that’s a long time to think about it.
"Your last race out is the one that’s freshest on your mind and you certainly hope it’s memorable for all the right reasons," Busch continued. "Closing out your season with a competitive weekend at Homestead is just that important.
"If you come out of there with great results, it gives all the team members, the sponsors, the media – everyone out there – a super calling card to remember you by. It works to instill optimism and grow the level of confidence through all those cold and dreary winter days.
"What our Miller Lite Dodge Team needs at Homestead is a carbon copy of the race weekend that we had at Phoenix," said Busch. "With the kind of season that we’ve had overall, it would be the greatest thing that could possibly happen to us right now.
"At Phoenix, we were competitive from the time we unloaded on Friday morning till we took the checkered flag in second-place behind the 48 car (Johnson) there on Sunday night," said Busch of his third-place start and runner-up finish. "It was the most competitive start-to-finish weekend that our team has enjoyed the entire season.
"That’s our goal for this weekend; to finish the season off with another great effort like that," Busch concluded. "We definitely hope to end our year with another strong performance."
The 1.5-mile Homestead track is certainly a place where Busch should be able to carry out his plans. In his seven career Cup starts there, he has posted one win, three top-five finishes and two poles. He scored his first "double-dip" race weekend by taking both the pole position and the race win in the 2002 season finale at Homestead.
In one of the most dramatic races in NASCAR history, Busch started from the pole and finished fifth at Homestead on Nov. 21, 2004. It was enough to allow Busch to clinch the first "Chase format" title by a mere eight points over Johnson. He survived a near catastrophic situation when he lost the right front wheel while running second on Lap 94. He just missed hitting the barrier at the pit road opening and the team was able to bounce back and finish fifth.
Busch started fifth and finished second in last year’s Ford 400.
PaddockTalk Perspective
|
|
|
| |
|
