Busch Finishes Fourth at Miami and in Cup Series Standings
HOMESTEAD, Fla. (Nov. 22, 2009) - Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch came
home fourth in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and also
finished fourth in the final NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings. The race
will always carry historical significance in that Jimmie Johnson finished
fifth to claim his unprecedented fourth consecutive series points title.
"We had a great car and we put together a great effort tonight," Busch said
of his 10th top-five finish and 21st top-10 of the 2009 season. "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 serving his final race in that
role) 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," said Busch, who led five times for 43 laps
in today's race. "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. I want to congratulate Jimmie for his historical run
to the fourth straight Sprint Cup championship here tonight."
Busch started 12th on Sunday and continued advancing through the pack in the
early going of the race. Tryson purposefully kept his driver out extra laps
during the first round of green-flag pit stops in order to lead the race and
pick up the five bonus points for doing so. After leading lap 53, Busch hit
pit road the next time around for four tires and air pressure and track bar
adjustments. Busch had fallen to 10th when the stops cycled around on lap
58.
After a 12.742-second pit stop under the first caution flag of the race,
Busch lined up sixth on the lap 85 restart. He began a charge toward the
front which saw him up to fifth at lap 100, fourth at lap 105 and third on
lap 114. He passed Denny Hamlin for second on lap 134 and cleared Harvick
for the lead on lap 135.
Running almost two-tenths of a second faster per lap than the other cars,
Busch was able to get out to enjoy a 2.4-second lead on lap 150. However,
Juan Pablo Montoya got into Tony Stewart on lap 156 to bring out the fifth
caution period of the race and close the gap.
He lined up second beside Hamlin for the lap 161 restart and cleared the No.
11 car to take the lead again on lap 181. He had built up a 0.865-second
lead over second-place Jeff Burton when the sixth yellow flag was displayed,
this on lap 194 for Robby Gordon's crash in turn 2. The Miller Lite Dodge
over-the-wall gang had been tremendous throughout the race, gaining spots on
every stop, but their 14.332-second stop on lap 195 left Busch starting
fourth on the restart. When the green flag flew again on lap 198, Hamlin
led, with Burton second, Kyle Busch third, Kurt Busch fourth and Clint
Bowyer fifth.
Busch had again charged toward the front in the laps that followed. He was
up to second on Lap 216, when the seventh yellow flag flew, this one for
debris in turn 2. Tryson called for right-side tires only. The 6.96-second
stop had Busch in the lead for the lap 221 restart.
With all the leaders taking on four tires, Busch had fallen to fifth on lap
223. He staged a charge back to the front, however, getting around Bowyer
for fourth on lap 230. He cleared his brother, Kyle, for third on lap 251
and had his eyes on second-place Burton. Harvick closed the gap up to Busch
and the two fought in a spirited battle for the third spot in the waning
laps. Harvick made a successful move out of the final turn to pull up beside
the "Blue Deuce" and take the third spot by inches at the line.
At the checkered flag, it was Hamlin taking a 2.632 seconds over Burton,
with Harvick finishing third, Busch fourth and Johnson fifth. Gordon, Carl
Edwards, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr. and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out
today's top-10 finishers.
"It was a great night for our Miller Lite Dodge," Tryson said. "We struggled
a little bit 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 and maybe we shouldn't. It was a good night, it just didn't end the
way that we wanted it. It looked like it was (track position being important
enough to take on just the two tires). It's hard to say how it was going to
shake out. The 29 and 2 cars were the fastest on track at the end of the
race and we thought that we had the right pit strategy. It just wasn't
enough tonight."
-credit: pr
