Riding with Kurt: Close battle expected at Darlington
by KURT BUSCH, Special to FOXSports.com
Just the facts
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| Kurt Busch ( / Special to FOXSports.com) |
Race: Dodge Challenger 500
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date: Saturday, May 10
Track: Darlington Raceway (1.366-mile oval), Darlington, S.C.
Race format: 367 laps
Green flag: 7:30 p.m. ET
TV: FOX — 7 p.m. ET.
Looking back at Richmond: A "Big One" for second straight week
Just as I told Eva on the plane ride back home after the Richmond race on Saturday night, I have completely eliminated the following sentence from my vocabulary: "Well, at least it can't get any worse."
Maybe I didn't actually use that exact sentence or those precise words verbatim after the last few races on the circuit, but I know I was guilty of saying something like that. But after Saturday night's race at Richmond, you'll never catch me saying anything close to that.
Hey, at least were able to get a chuckle out of it.
Who would have ever thought that you could get caught up in a Talladega-style crash on a three-quarter-mile short track like Richmond? I certainly didn't think it was possible, but now we know from experience that it can happen because it did. And there's nobody to blame for it.
Richmond was another cruel night for our Miller Lite Dodge Team. We started 21st and got up to 12th and were threatening to move into the top 10 before our night went down the drain. We're just not getting our cars to turn. When you're not getting the car to turn, you're running heavy in the pack. You're just not breaking through into that top five pack, where things are a bit calmer. We just struggling to get our car to turn and have been testing our rear ends off trying to come up with something.
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| Even with another disappointing finish at Richmond, Kurt Busch is keeping the faith as he looks to rebound. (Shawn Chamberlin / Associated Press) |
Anyhow, we were back there in 17th or so, running with my teammate Ryan Newman and hoping to make a run back up toward the front. I watched the video later on, and it looked like somebody got into the rear of J.J. Yeley and that created a domino effect on back through the field.
Dave Blaney rammed Patrick Capentier from the rear. The No. 10 car fishtailed into the inside wall and then shot straight back across the track in front us. Things happen so fast, you don't know where to go. Carpentier's car was on the inside spinning around and he ricocheted back up into the group of us. I had my front brakes all locked up. I had nowhere to go.
It was quite amazing that you could have a crash involving that many cars on a short track like Richmond, but like I said, now there's proof that it can happen.
So for the second week in a row, we were involved in "The Big One." In both cases, the cars were just too torn up to repair. We've taken the biggest hit in the points of any two-week period in my career, and it's certainly not something I like thinking or talking about. All we can do is keep the faith and hope we can get things turned around.
Between the races: Golf, meetings and testing
After the disappointment we had in Richmond, I just felt like I needed to get my mind off it all for an afternoon. You know, get out and take in some fresh air.
I hadn't hit the golf course for quite a while now, last playing with Jamie McMurray a month or so back. So I hooked up with a couple of guys on the team and we went out on the course late Sunday afternoon. The great thing about playing golf with my guys is that it's guaranteed to be a fun time. We're all trying to get better at the game, that's for sure.
The biggest rule that we have is to not take it too seriously. We laugh at each other, but we're also quick to laugh at ourselves.
Relive the action
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Race Trax:
News:
- Don't expect return of Southern 500
- Roush driver wins ARCA race
- Stewart wins wreck-filled N'wide race
- Biffle sets record, wins pole
Analysis:
Fantasy:
Can you dig it?
Photo galleries:
Blog:
We left the course Sunday almost in tears from laughing so hard and headed over to our friends Stump and Cindy Lewis' house. Stump and Cindy are best known for being the coach drivers for our team, but to all of our team members they are much more than that. They are great down-to-earth people who can be a good sounding board.
Yeah, we all talked about what went down at Richmond over the weekend and other things relative to the racing world. It seems like just about every time we're feeling a little down in the dumps or maybe having a pity party, Cindy and Stump can do wonders in pulling you out of the doldrums. They've been known on occasion to play hosts to some pretty big throw-down parties, too.
Monday morning was meeting time for all our teams at the Penske shop. I thought everything was very productive. Then it was back to the race track at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the two days of testing. We're still looking for more speed and better handling, but we thought the testing went pretty well. I was certainly glad that LMS president Humpy Wheeler talked NASCAR into adding the test days there.
We tested two different cars — the car we raced at Atlanta back in March and the car we raced at Texas in April. Our game plan is to race the Atlanta car in the All-Star Race and save the Texas car for the Coke 600.
I finally had the opportunity to make it over to my office at KBI on Wednesday to sit down and go over the schedule for the upcoming weeks. It's going to be a very busy month ahead, that's for sure:
What to expect at Darlington
Yeah, we ran the new cars at Darlington last year, but the truth is that we are entering uncharted territory this weekend. Instead of the old worn-out asphalt, there's a brand new racing surface.
Of course with the new pavement, the track has super grip — grip like we've never seen at the historical old track. Ryan was one of the three drivers who did the tire test there for Goodyear, and all he talked about for days after the test was how much grip the new surface had and how much faster the cars will be going there.
I'm sure Goodyear went the conservative route in coming up with the tires we'll be racing there this weekend, and you really can't blame them. Those tires will be rock hard and we'll be slipping and sliding all over the place.
So what do I expect?
Somebody asked me last weekend while at Richmond if I thought there could ever be as close of finish at Darlington as Ricky Craven and I had there in the spring of 2003. For the record, that was the closest finish in the history of NASCAR's electronic timing and scoring system.
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| All the ingredients are in place for a "down to the wire" finish to happen this weekend at Darlington. (RacingOne / Getty Images) |
Ricky and I battled so hard over those final few laps. It's probably the single-most referred to race when people are discussing close competition in our sport.
I had to think about it for a minute or two when I was asked that question. The guy's jaw dropped when I told him that we could have another race that close at Darlington, and that it could happen this Saturday night.
I think he thought I was joking at first, but when I started explaining my logic he started catching on to what I was saying.
It's like taking two completely different sets of ingredients or circumstances and coming up with the same results. That has certainly been the nature of our sport, especially over the last few years.
When Ricky and I staged that nail-biter at Darlington back in 2003, we were racing the smaller cars on old asphalt with softer tires. This time around, the elements are totally different. We have the bigger and boxier cars. We'll have the brand new fresh asphalt. And yeah, we'll have the rock-hard Goodyear Tires there this weekend.
When you stop and think about it, it's very much possible that we could have another close finish like we did in 2003. I certainly don't think that we'll be running side-by-side and that close all night long. It would be absolutely absurd to think that could happen. But if we were to get a late-race caution, it really could set up another race that close to the finish.
The new track will have a ton of grip, but the rock-hard tires will probably see us slipping and sliding all over the place. If the cars are all bunched up for the finish of Saturday night's race, you'll likely see some of the brave and daring young souls out there pushing it to the limit and doing whatever it takes to win. The key to it all, however, would probably be a late caution with less than 10 laps remaining. We'd start single file with the leaders up front and all the lapped cars completely out of the way and running behind them.
Believe me, it really could happen. Darlington is such a tight and narrow track all the way around, and when you look back at the video from the shootout that Ricky and I had, you'd have to label it a miracle that we didn't crash each other out that day. As big and bulky as these new cars are, you could still wedge two guys running side-by-side on that narrow little strip of asphalt. It would be another mind-blowing finish, that's for sure. We'd definitely welcome the opportunity to be involved in another classic finish like that.
I've always loved racing at Darlington. From way back in my short-track days, I can remember the place being so full of history. I always thought that it would be so cool to race there. When I got my first opportunity to race at Darlington back in the spring race of 2001, I found out that everything I'd heard about the place was absolutely true. It is such a challenging track and so demanding from a mental standpoint. You used to have to get your car set up right to deal with the unbelievably abrasive surface.
Even with the brand new pavement, it will still always be the ultimate challenge. That's just part of the equation, because then you have to apply a mental focus to each and every lap. You really do race the racetrack lap after lap in hopes of being there up front to race the other competitors in the final few laps.
We had two hours of practice there on Thursday, and that will certainly be key for us trying to get a handle on the new surface, the hard tires and the tremendous speeds. I'm hoping that we can adapt pretty quickly.
Last Call
Like I said, we'd welcome the opportunity to be part of another historical battle there on Saturday night, but the reality of it all is that we need to have a consistent race and a decent finish. The way the last few weeks have gone for us, it's been like a free fall and we need a solid run to stop that skid.
Till next week ... looking forward to better times at the track...
Kurt Busch, 2004 NASCAR Sprint Series champion and 17-time race winner, will be sharing his thoughts and expertise throughout the 2008 NASCAR season.
Have any questions or comments for Kurt? E-mail him at kurtbuschatfox@live.com and check back weekly throughout the NASCAR season to see his answers.
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