Kurt Busch Starting 11th In Kobalt 500 at Atlanta
March 5, 2010
HAMPTON, Ga. (March 5, 2010) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch will start Sunday’s Kobalt 500 here at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the 11th position after turning in a lap of 29.018 seconds (191.054 mph). He and his Steve Addington-led Penske Racing “Blue Deuce Team” are now ready to turn their focus to the race and attempt to defend Busch’s crown in Sunday’s battle.
“We’ve been a little on the tight side most of the day, in race runs and in that qualifying run,” said Busch, who was 18th on the practice speed chart with a lap of 29.524 seconds (187.779 mph). “We left a little out on the table (with our qualifying lap). That’s then. What’s now is just getting the Miller Lite Dodge happy in race trim. You can’t abuse the right front more than the right rear at Atlanta; it will jump up and bite you if you don’t have the car balanced for Sunday.”
Busch dominated in posting his 19th career victory here in this race last year, leading six times for 234 laps. He says that there are similarities in this year’s race setup that the team plans on using and points at the new Goodyear Eagle radial tire as the biggest cause for concern.
“There is (some similarities), but there isn’t,” said Busch. “We’re trying to stick with the same game plan because we were successful last year. It’s a matter of balancing this tire. This tire seems to be a little different than what we’ve seen, especially from the fall race to the spring race in ’09. We’re trying to balance out our four Goodyears. Small tweaks go a long way at Atlanta. The only way to sort it out is to do longer runs. We have five sets of tires to throw across the car tomorrow. We have good weather. We’re hoping for the best.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. captured the pole here tonight with his lap of 28.761 seconds (192.761 mph). He’ll have Kyle Busch (28.833 seconds/192.280 mph) starting beside him on the front row. Juan Pablo Montoya (28.859/192.106) starts third, with Mark Martin (28.903/191.814) fourth and Jeff Gordon (28.909/191.774) rounding out the top five. Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler, David Reutimann and Carl Edwards rounded out today’s top-10 qualifiers.
Penske Racing Teammates Brad Keselowski (29.245/189.571) will start 28th, while Sam Hornish Jr. (29.338/188.970) will go from the 36th starting spot.
Saturday’s schedule here at Atlanta Motor Speedway features the final “happy hour” practice session which is scheduled from 12:20 p.m. till 1:20 p.m. Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 (500.5 miles/325 laps) has a scheduled 1:00 p.m. ET starting time at the 1.54-mile Hampton, Ga., facility. FOX-TV and PRN Radio will provide live coverage of all the action.
