Tag Archives: Kurt Busch

Chicago is known for football, deep dish pizza, shopping, and the Sears Tower; sadly, it's not yet known for great racing. However, there was at least one driver who didn't sleep through the Chicagoland snoozefest; that would be Tony Stewart, who celebrated the end of his 20-race winless drought with another climb up the fence. Smoke was left awake and alert after a weekend where he got a lecture from the coach about playing nice with others, and he turned that motivation into victory celebration come Sunday night.

I may be a simplified country boy who enjoys, among other things, carp fishing with a shotgun, I was always brought up under the notion that "you reap what you sow." If Kyle Busch's teammates were unwilling to help him, well, they must have had their reasons for hanging him out to dry. One could speculate on why they did it, but the real reasons are those that only people who are around Kyle all the time, his teammates, know for sure. In other words, "You make your bed, you lie in it."

Jeff Gordon - Gordon won this race last year and has top five finishes in four of his six starts at Chicagoland. With a 10th-place average finish, Gordon doesn't beat around the "Busch," although some days, we are sure he'd like to.

The summer sun bakes the track's surface, making it slippery. Handling is always a priority but, when you take into consideration the heat wave that that has been gripping most of the country, it will be of the utmost importance this weekend. While track position has been critical in the past, the wider racing groove is taking that out of the equation more and more. When choosing your fantasy lineup, pick teams that typically make their car handle the best; they will be the ones to prevail.

Editor's Note: Each week, we'll go through all the media reports, interviews, PR, and our own stuff to find the best quotes from the Nextel Cup race to capture the story of how the weekend unfolded. It's the most original commentary you'll ever find; the truth, coming straight out of the mouths of the drivers, crew members, and the car owners themselves. This week, here's a sneak peek at what some select few were thinking after the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Jeff Gordon - Gordon's Daytona record speaks for itself; he's won a total of six points races there, most recently the 2005 Daytona 500. With the Hendrick teams on a roll at the plate tracks, that should make Gordon an automatic contender, right? Not quite; it has to be pointed out that Gordon has finished outside the top 25 in two of the last four points races here.

The AAA team and David Ragan enjoyed a mostly quiet day at the New Hampshire International Speedway. After yet another dismal qualifying effort (32nd), the 11th time this year that Ragan has started 31st or worse, the No. 6 car appeared to struggle early on. During the first third of the race, Ragan lost a lap to the leaders and could not seem to move his Ford Fusion into the top 25 no matter how his car handled. However, with a little help from Lady Luck in the form of the free pass during the day's third caution on lap 122, Jimmy Fennig and his driver started a slow but steady progression towards the front.

Jeff Gordon - Gordon has three wins at Loudon, but none since 1998. In fact, his third-place finish at NHIS last fall put to bed a streak of three straight finishes outside of the top 10. But overall, Gordon has 13 top 10s in 24 career starts at this track - and do you want to bet against a Hendrick driver at a CoT event?

Dear NASCAR: How does Kurt Busch slam into Tony Stewart's car while on pit road, almost hitting Stewart's jackman in the process, only to walk away with the new standard of a 100-point docking and a $100,000 fine. Meanwhile, Ted Musgrave gives Kelly Bires a pop after a wreck at Milwaukee, while still on the track, mind you, no crewmen anywhere close, and gets docked 50 owner and driver points, $10,000, and gets suspended for a race?

Each week, we'll go through all the media reports, interviews, PR, and our own stuff to find the best quotes from Sunday's race that best captures the story of how the weekend unfolded, straight from the drivers themselves. This week, Beth Lunkenheimer gives us a sneak peek at what drivers were thinking after the Auto Club 500.