NASCAR Final: Homestead

[rickaren]

Busch seeks to end season on winning note

Posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 1:20 PM EST. (Employee News)


The 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series concludes its 36-race, regular-season schedule Sunday at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway. After a grueling nine-month schedule, including a final stretch of 12 straight race weekends, the Dodge Boys converge on south Florida and the 1.5-mile, variable-banked oval seeking Dodge’s fifth Sprint Cup win of the season.

Despite last weekend’s impressive performance at Phoenix, which saw Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) lead 69 laps and earn his 20th top 10 finish of the season, the Penske Racing veteran has been mathematically eliminated from championship contention. Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag and all but locked up his fourth-straight Sprint Cup title. Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon are the only drivers that have a shot at derailing Johnson’s title bid.

Busch would certainly be a candidate for “Comeback Driver of the Year” honors if NASCAR had such an award. Entering the season-ending event at Homestead last year, Busch was 19th in the point standings, trailing 13th-place David Ragan by 607 points. He had one win, five top–five finishes and 10 top-10 finishes. After 35 races this season, Busch is fourth in the Sprint Cup standings, trailing Johnson by just 211 points. He has two wins, nine top–five finishes along with 20 top 10s.

Powered by the Dodge R6 engine, Busch has used consistent race cars and surgeon-like adjustments by crew chief Pat Tryson and the No. 2 team to vault the 2004 Sprint Cup champion into one of the most feared cars every weekend. Finishing strong at Homestead is definitely a priority for the veteran driver who seeks his 21st career Cup win.

“We’re only 42 points out of third in the point standings and have a pretty good buffer over fifth,” Busch said of his deficit to third-place Gordon and 74-point lead over fifth-place Tony Stewart. “We have a realistic shot at climbing up to third and that’s what we’re focused on doing this weekend.

“I’ve always thought that it was extremely important to end the season on a high note. 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. Closing out your season with a competitive weekend at Homestead is just that important.”

This weekend also marks the end of an era for veteran drivers Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Best Buy Dodge), Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Budweiser Dodge) and Reed Sorenson (No. 43 Siemens Dodge) as all will drive Dodge Chargers for the final time in Sprint Cup Series competition before an off-season manufacturer switch prior to the 2010 season. Kahne, the most decorated driver of the trio, earned all of his NASCAR Cup Series 10 wins, 42 top-five and 77 top-10 finishes in 215 starts under the Dodge banner.

Kahne earned the pole and led 90 laps in 2006 en route to his best Homestead finish of fourth. His 5.8 starting average in five races at Homestead is the best among drivers with more than one start at the 1.5-mile track.

“I’ve always liked Homestead,” Kahne said. “That’s where I won my first Nationwide race and I’ve run well there in a Cup car. Every year, we seem to qualify good there. It’s a different track. The banking … you go into Turn 1 and it is real flat and you hit the banking and you’ve already started turning. It’s kind of similar in (Turn) 3 and off of (Turn) 4. It flattens out before the exit of the corner, so it’s different. Your car changes a lot. But it’s a pretty neat track and I like racing there. I like trying to close the year out strong. We’ve been able to do that a couple of times there. I made a couple of mistakes there, but hopefully we’ll close out the year strong and finish top 10 in points. That’s all that we can shoot for.”

Dodge is seeking its second Sprint Cup win at Homestead and fifth win in the 2009 Sprint Cup season. All six Dodge teams are entered in the Ford 400 are assured berths into the event as they sit inside the top 35 in car owner points.

NASCAR Sprint Cup standings
(After Race 9 of 10 in the Chase)

1. Jimmie Johnson, 6,492
2. Mark Martin, -108
3. Jeff Gordon, -169
4. Kurt Busch, -211
5. Tony Stewart, -285
6. Juan Pablo Montoya, -289
7. Greg Biffle, -321
8. Denny Hamlin, -352
9. Ryan Newman, -411
10. Kasey Kahne, -476
11. Carl Edwards, -520
12. Brian Vickers, -666

What you need to know

The Race: Ford 400
The Place: Homestead-Miami Speedway (1.5- mile oval)
The Date: Sunday, Nov. 12
The Time: 3:30 p.m. EST (green flag)
Race Distance: 267 laps/400.5 mile
TV: ABC, 2:30 EST

[rickaren]

Busch finishes fourth in final race, standings

Posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 11:33 AM EST. (Employee News)

Kurt Busch scored his 10th top-five finish of the year Sunday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season finale at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, finishing fourth in the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger.

The effort locked up fourth place in the final Chase standings, his best finish since his 2004 Sprint Cup championship season and best since moving to the Dodge ranks with Penske Racing in 2006.

Busch started 12th, but once he moved to ninth on lap eight, he competed in the top 10 the remainder of the 267-lap event. He led five times for 43 laps.

Crew chief Pat Tryson made a decision to go with two tires during the team’s final pit stop on lap 218, seeking track position. Busch exited pit road as the leader. Most of the other front runners decided to go with a four-tire stop. Busch lost four spots on the first lap under green, but worked his way back to third heading into the final lap only to be edged for a podium finish (third) at the start/finish line.

“We had a great Miller Lite Dodge and we put together a great effort tonight,” Busch said. “We finished fourth tonight. We finished fourth overall in the season standings and we fought hard every race, every lap of the way. We got behind on pit strategy tonight at the end. Pat (Tryson, crew chief) said two tires and I said, ‘Make sure nobody else does four (tires).’ Everybody did four, but that’s racing. We fought and fought all night. I found this weird line out on the race track where I could drive the car in really deep and it was just building the right-front tire pressure so much that I couldn’t hang on to it at the end and Kevin (Harvick) caught us for third-place. That doesn’t define our year. What defines our year was the perseverance, hard work and just being first in class this year. We fought hard to be fourth overall because those Hendrick cars are tough to beat.”

Tryson, serving as the crew chief for the No. 2 Dodge for the final time (he moves to another team next year), knew it was a gamble to go with only two tires.

“It was a great night for our Miller Lite Dodge,” Tryson said. “We struggled early in the race, but then we were able to get the car to come around a little bit. We took a chance there at the end by only taking two tires. Maybe we shouldn’t. It was a good night. It just didn’t end the way that we wanted it.”

Busch will be joined on stage at the NASCAR Awards Ceremony at the Wynn in Las Vegas on Dec. 4 by a second Dodge driver. Kasey Kahne finished 17th in the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge Charger to wrap up 10th in the final Chase standings. Only the top 10 in the standings will be recognized during the Awards Ceremony.

“It was a hard-fought night for our Budweiser Dodge team,” Kahne said. “We fought a loose condition all night and every time that we tried to tighten it up, we made the front-end tighter and just couldn’t find the balance in the car that we needed. We thought our car may change to the good when the race went from day to night, but it just didn’t happen. I’m proud of all my guys. We made the Chase, finished 10th in points and were able to win two races. We got our first road course win (Sonoma) and ran strong throughout the season. Kenny (Francis, crew chief) and the guys did a great job all season. I just want to thank everyone at Budweiser and Dodge and all sponsors for their support.

Kahne started 25th, but worked his way into the top 10 by lap 120 and managed to stay there for 100 laps before fading over the final 65 laps. It was his final race in a Dodge as Richard Petty Motorsports will merge with another team in 2010. In 215 starts in a Dodge, Kahne had 11 wins, 42 top-five and 77 top-10 finishes. He started from the pole 16 times.

Sam Hornish Jr. was one of three Dodge drivers (Busch, Kahne) in the top 10 at the halfway mark before handling problems slowed the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger in the closing laps. Hornish finished 21st.

“We had a good day in our Mobil 1 Dodge,” Hornish said. “We just didn’t quite make the adjustments early, but we were pretty good there in the end. I ended up touching the 17 and then he ended up getting into me going in Turn 3. I ended up tearing up our right-front fender a bit which made us a sitting duck from there.

A good job by all the Mobil 1 guys. They’ve worked hard all year and we have a lot of things to build on for next year.”

The third driver from the Penske Racing stable, Brad Keselowski, ran as high as 15th during the race and finished 25th.

“We fought hard all night; we just quite didn’t have enough,” Keselowksi said. “The 12 team put in a great effort. We just couldn’t get the speed out of the car that we needed. I’ve learned a lot in the few races that I have been in the seat of the 12 car. I’m excited about the off-season. We have a lot to build on for next year and we’ll be ready to go by time that we get to Daytona.”

A two-car mishap on lap 116 brought out the fourth caution and set the stage for a five-car mishap on pit road which collected two Dodge drivers. As the teams that elected to make a pit stop during the caution headed to pit road, one car slowed abruptly to make a turn into the garage area, setting up a chain reaction that collected five cars, including the Dodge cars of Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson. Heavy front-end damage marked the end for both drivers.

Ford 400 results
Homestead-Miami Speedway
(After race 36 of 36)
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jeff Burton
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch (Dodge)
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kyle Busch
9. Martin Truex Jr.
10. AJ Allmendinger (Dodge)
(Other Dodge drivers)
17. Kasey Kahne
21. Sam Hornish Jr.
25. Brad Keselowski
40. Reed Sorenson
41. Elliott Sadler

NASCAR Sprint Cujp point standings
(Final standings)
1. Jimmie Johnson 6,652
2. Mark Martin -141
3. Jeff Gordon -179
4. Kurt Busch (Dodge)-206
5. Denny Hamlin -317
6. Tony Stewart -343
7. Greg Biffle -360
8. Juan Montoya -400
9. Ryan Newman -477
10. Kasey Kahne (Dodge) -524
11. Carl Edwards -534
12. Brian Vickers -723

(Other Dodge drivers)
26. Elliott Sadler 3,350
28. Sam Hornish Jr. 3,203
29. Reed Sorenson 3,147
38. Brad Keselowski 1,528 (Only ran 15 races)