by Kurt Busch, Special to FOXSports.com

Race: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Date: Sunday, August 3
Track: Pocono Raceway (2.5-mile tri-oval), Pocono, Pa.
Race format: 200 laps
Green flag: 2 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN — 1 p.m. ET.

Looking Back: Indy was a debacle — Hope we learned from it!

Ordinal out of range

After the week off, we went to Indianapolis for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard looking to race our heart out in an effort to get Roger Penske his first win in the stock cars on the historic track. Penske Racing has won an unbelievable 14 races in open-wheel competition there, but the team is still looking for its first stock car win. Rusty Wallace ran every race there through the 2005 season and he came so close to winning it, finishing second in three different races.

With the great finish we had in the Daytona 500, with Ryan Newman winning it with a push from our Miller Lite Dodge on the final lap, we were all trying to give The Captain another big win. Somebody asked me recently what I thought the "Triple Crown" of stock car racing would be and I said the Daytona 500, the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and the Brickyard 400 at Indy. Those are the three big races, with the Las Vegas race and the Bristol night race rounding out the top five in importance, I think.

We saw from the very first practice there on Friday that the tire wear was extreme. We were very conservative during the entire Friday practice, never running any more than five laps at a time. It looked like everyone was "cording" tires after only four or five laps. We knew that we pushed it over the limit in practice at Daytona. We wound up blowing a right-front tire and crashed the primary car. We were determined that was not going to happen at Indy. So we played it ultra-conservative.

We got a pretty good draw for Saturday morning's qualifying order, going out 12th. Unlike every other track we go to, with qualifying starting just after 10 in the morning, you want an early draw ... not a late one. The weird thing at Indy was that the "go-or-go-home guys" still had to try to qualify at the end of the session, which was a definite disadvantage.

Anyhow, we got a good draw, but Newman got even better. He went out and ran a 49.73 to give us all something to shoot at. We turned in a 49.905-second lap and were pretty pleased as we were able to pick up almost half a second from practice.

When all the cards had been dealt in qualifying, our lap got us a solid seventh-place starting spot. Jimmie Johnson grabbed the pole with a 49.515 and Mark Martin showed he can still get the job done by taking the outside pole with a 49.616.

With all the problems everyone was still having in the final practice there on Saturday, we knew there would be a competition yellow NASCAR would throw early in Sunday's race. I saw the footage of Robby Gordon's flame-up later and it was incredible. His car had picked up a ton of the rubber dust underneath the car and it caught on fire. It flamed up just like he'd blown an engine going down the straightaway. When they got the car back to his garage, they diagnosed the problem. I can never remember anything like that happening before. The heat was so great that it bubbled up the paint on the car's rear bumper all the way up to the rear-end panel. It was a freaky deal, and it told the officials to expect the unexpected on Sunday.

We had an enjoyable time on Sunday morning, making the rounds to the souvenir stand and meeting the fans and going to all the hospitality functions, such as the Mazak booth, the Miller party deck and the Mobil 1 suite. We had so much going on that it was a short break before we had to head to the drivers' meeting.

It came as no shock when the NASCAR officials announced that there would be a competition yellow at Lap 10 and probably another not long after that.

No matter how many times I get suited up and head out for drivers' intros, there's always something special about coming out that door and seeing the sight of that frontstretch at the Brickyard. There's just the thrill of seeing all the fans jammed into the place on both sides of the track as far as you can see. It's a sense of electricity in the air that's as strong as it gets. It's like the start of the Daytona 500 that kicks off the season or the rush of seeing all of those fans and the flashbulbs popping just before the night race starts at Bristol. It's a level of electricity that always seems to send chills up and down your spine.

From the drop of the green flag, it seemed like our Miller Lite Dodge was pushy-loose. By that I mean that the car was experiencing the typical handling situation we've experienced with this new car of being loose entering the turns, tight in the center and loose again exiting.

We'd only made it about three laps when Michael Waltrip had his problems and brought out the first yellow. NASCAR decided to back up the first competition yellow to Lap 14 and I must admit that I think it had all of us out there even more concerned.

We were already running in a very ultra-conservative mode, just hoping to get to Lap 14 and the competition caution. Our crew chief Pat Tryson was counting down the laps till the yellow every time we went past the starter's stand and he'd already come on the radio telling me that the yellow was scheduled to come out the next time around.

I'd gotten into the turn and the car was loose entering. We pushed up and I was trying to give Kevin Harvick all the room I could on the low side to get under me and around. As we exited the turn, my car just snapped loose on me. Unfortunately, I spun and the No. 29 car got caught up in the mess, too. It was nothing intentional, it just got away from me and I hated crashing our Miller Lite Dodge. I hated even worse that Harvick was an innocent victim in the deal.

We knew the car was really torn up so we drove straight back to the garage. I got out and headed straight over to the right side of the car to get a look at the tires. They were down to the cords, just like I expected.

I went back to the hauler to cool off while the guys fixed the car. I was watching the coverage of the race and saw first-hand what was going down. When Matt Kenseth had his problems, it really struck me that we were witnessing history in the making. I've read it described by I don't know how many people as a debacle. I felt sorry for all the fans in the stands. I felt bad for the television guys and all the viewers out there.

We returned to the race and tried to make as much of a test session as possible out of the remainder of the laps. That was kind of hard to do, having to pit every 10 laps or so. I don't have to tell you what a relief it was for everyone involved when the checkered flag finally fell. We finished 40th for the day and it was a huge disappointment.

As bad a day as it was for our Miller Lite Dodge team, it was a monumental negative occasion for NASCAR and Goodyear.

What went wrong? The best way to explain it is to acknowledge that we all knew we had problems when we were one of the three teams doing the tire test several months back. Believe me, Goodyear got plenty of feedback from us that what we were running there those days just wouldn't cut it when we came back for the race.

The element unknown at the time that had to be fit into the equation was the new car itself. We'd experienced a questionable tire situation at Indy in the prior races. But the situation pretty much corrected itself as the track got "rubbered in" as the starting field all logged laps out there.

This new car was the culprit. Maybe the problems should have been anticipated, or maybe not. I know that when Robby Gordon had his flame-up there in practice, that should have been a big warning. The big question that I have now in looking back is why we didn't do something between Saturday and Sunday to insure that the track got "rubbered-up." Dragging tires would have at least amounted for a move in the right direction. I'm surprised we didn't call up Eddie Gossage out at Texas Motor Speedway and inquire about that "Tire Monster" machine of theirs.

The bottom line is what's done is done and we can't go back and change anything. NASCAR's taken a big hit. Goodyear's taken a big hit. What happened there on Sunday gave the sport a big black eye. The apologies have all now been made. You just hope that we've all learned from it and it'll never happen again.

I'll tell you this; I'll bet instead of all the teams spending two days testing at a track like Pocono like we did earlier this year, we'll probably be spending those two days testing at Indy next year. I know that hindsight is always 20-20 and I'm not putting the blame on anyone in particular. We'll all recover from it and move on ... all we can do is learn from it and move forward.

Back to Pocono: A perfect place to get it turned around

We're heading back to Pocono this weekend and if there's ever been a track that's been kind to me through the years, this is certainly it. As a matter of fact, we're coming in there this time around as the race's defending champs.

Who can ever forget last year's Pennsylvania 500? We were able to put a major whipping on them in that race. It was about as dominant of a win as I can ever remember. We should have won the pole, but started second after the weather beat us in qualifying on Friday.

We took the lead on the first lap and lost the lead only during the pit-stop sequences and once due to a slow pit stop. We wound up leading 175 of the 200 laps, establishing the record for leading the most laps during a race at Pocono.

That was a huge win for us there last year. We named the winning car "P.T." in honor of Pat Tryson and the victory was a major boost in getting us back solidly into the top 12 in points and helping us make the Chase last season. It was a cool day that I'll always remember.

I've always loved racing at Pocono and have done really well since the very first time there. I learned pretty quickly and was able to get a runner-up finish in only my fourth race. It's always a challenge running on a track with such a layout. It's triangular-shaped and you can look at it as if it were three different turns. I really look at it as six turns and there's an entry and an exit to all three.

No matter how you look at it, it is so true what they say about it being a compromise when trying to set up your car to race there. The ideal situation is to be able to get all the corners figured out, but more times than not you have to give a little bit here in order to maximize your car's strength there.

It's a fun place to race, even since NASCAR changed the gear rule and eliminated your ability to shift gears during the race.

Even though all of our success there leading up to this year came in the old-style race cars, we were able to be really competitive there back in June in the new COT cars. We spun out early in the race and still rebounded to finish eighth.

It's a big confidence builder knowing that we can be competitive there in this new car. Throw into the equation that we're bringing the exact same car we raced there last month (the PSC-550). We ran this car at Darlington, Pocono and Chicago and have a good feeling it can get the job done for us this weekend.

We just need to get it turned around. We're 280 points (actually 281) out of the 12th spot now in the points.

We've certainly lost a lot of ground during the last two races and Sunday's disappointing day at the Brickyard pretty much ended any chance we had to make the Chase. But you keep the attitude of never saying never and you keep on trying as hard as you can till the end. All you can do is keep plugging away at it and do the best you can.

I know how kind Pocono has been to me through the years and we sure could use another good shot of that kindness this weekend. Hopefully, that's exactly what happens.

Off the Track: Secret vacation spot, a new horse and an anniversary

After the Chicago race, we went about our regular schedule through the following Wednesday. Then Eva and I did what we'd pledged to each other to do — just get away from it all for a while ... no phone calls, texting or e-mails for almost a week.

It was one of those situations where we really didn't have any firm schedule planned. We just had a loose little idea of where we were going and what we'd do. As it turned out, it was one of the nicest and most relaxing weeks we've had. We came back to reality and headed to Indy really refreshed.

We were at an appearance for Miller at Scotty's, a really nice bar and restaurant on the north side of Indy, on Friday night. The turnout was great and the fans were super. This one lady came through the autograph line and just in idle chit-chat asked what we did on our little break away from the racetrack.

When I told her that we hit the sand dunes with our four-wheelers, she immediately asked me about how I enjoyed the time back out west near Vegas. She must be a very big fan, knowing that that's where we usually go — to our regular spot about an hour out of Baker, Calif., back on the Vegas side.

The dunes out there were pretty much a secret for years, but now everybody and their brothers know where they are. I told the nice lady that we actually found some great dunes on the East Coast. When she asked point-blank where it was that we went, I just smiled and said something like, "We'll just keep it on the down low and say, 'Yeah, it's the sand dunes right over there on the Outer Banks ...'"

During the break in the schedule, we finally went out and bought Eva a horse. She's been wanting one for years. We got a seven-year-old Arabian show horse named C.J. Arabians are the oldest breed and they are known for their strength, courage and stamina. C.J. has already thrown a right-front horseshoe. We're planning on getting it and bringing it to the racetrack for good luck. Our coach driver Paulie Bostic found one several weeks back and brought it to the New Hampshire race. We all know what happened there. Eva may ride C.J. in some shows on down the line.

Last Sunday was our anniversary and I'm glad that Eva and I had a great time celebrating it on Saturday night — you know flowers and nice dinner together and all the romantic stuff like that. It was so fitting that we had such a fun time on Saturday night because Sunday turned into such a bummer.

Everything went so great for us off the track in Indy — all the appearances, the sponsor summit our team's marketing department had and celebrating our anniversary there on Saturday night — but Sunday was such a big disappointment.

Oh well, just like always, this sport never stops and you have to put things behind you and go on. Even if you win on Sunday, the clock starts over the next day and you have to get back to the grindstone.

That's exactly what we did. Tuesday morning, we headed down to Road Atlanta for a day of testing. We've been there a couple of times already this year and it's a super track to test on. Hopefully, we picked up on some things that will pay dividends in a couple of weeks when we head up to Watkins Glen for the final road-course race of the season.

Well, I've gotta run for now. As always, thanks so much for logging on and giving us a read. Guess who's turning 30 next Monday? Yep, you're right ... it's yours truly. When I stop and think about it, I can't help but think what a great birthday present another Pocono win would be. That would be super cool.

Till next time ...

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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.