Kurt Busch Starting On Pole In Saturday's All-Star Race

May 21, 2010

CONCORD, N.C. (May 21, 2010) – Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch didn’t have to turn in a qualifying effort today, yet he will start on the pole for tomorrow night’s Sprint All-Star Race here at Charlotte Motor Speedway.  With his Steve Addington-led “Blue Deuce” team having the “bad luck draw” of first out in the scheduled 6:00 p.m. time trial session, the disadvantage turned into a huge stroke of luck.  

Rain showers moved through the area just prior to the scheduled qualifying session and NASCAR officials scrapped the unique format of three laps under the clock with a four-tire pit stop system in favor of the rule book in establishing tomorrow night’s starting grid.  The luck of the draw turned in the 2004 series champ’s favor as he garnered the pole position by virtue of drawing first in the qualifying order.

 “It feels great,” said Busch, who had turned in the seventh-fastest lap in the afternoon’s practice session.  “It puts us that much closer to a million dollars.  Just to have track position early on in the race and to get a good feel for how the car will handle out front, I’m excited about it.  Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good.  My boat put the best lap down today.”

In an odd set of circumstances, Busch claimed the pole, while Denny Hamlin will have the preferred first spot on pit road due to his team winning Wednesday night’s pit crew contest.  Hamlin blew his engine in practice and will have to start from the rear of the field tomorrow night.  Busch was asked about that situation.

 “We’ll benefit from this rainout early on and then Denny will benefit by having that first pit box as the race progresses,” Busch said.  “Pit road isn’t too congested during the All-Star race because there’s half the car count.  So, it’s not terrible getting in and out of your pit box.  When you have that first pit box, all you have to do is limp over the line where the camera is.  That can mean the difference in a million dollars or not when you beat a guy just by inches.  It’s exciting the crews are involved as they are.  It started with the Pit Crew Challenge the other night and that gave them (No. 11 team) that first pit box.  And then with the 10-lap shootout at the end, the pit crews are very important because their pit stop time will dictate how you come off pit road.”

“We’ll take that, be really happy about it and go from there,” said Addington.  “We’ve had enough bad luck lately that it feels really good to catch a break like that.  We’re trying out a lot of stuff here this weekend that we hope will help for next week’s (Coca-Cola) 600.  Starting from the pole is a big plus as for getting us a good spot on pit road and maybe keeping us out of some of the trouble we’ve seen at the very start of these big-money races that pay no points.”

Joey Logano will start outside of Busch on the front row, with Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski third, Jamie McMurray fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.  Penske Racing’s Sam Hornish Jr. will be looking to defend his crown in the Sprint Showdown and join the starting field for tomorrow night’s battle under the lights.

Saturday’s Sprint All-Star Race will begin after the conclusion of the NASCAR Sprint Showdown “last chance” race at approximately 9:00 p.m.  This year’s exciting battle calls for a 50-lap/20-lap/20-lap/10-lap format with a four-tire pit stop prior to the start of the final segment.  Live coverage will be provided by SPEED-TV and MRN Radio.

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HIGHLIGHTS FROM FRIDAY’S KURT BUSCH OPEN INTERVIEW SESSION
(Courtesy of Dodge Motorsports PR)

WHAT YOUR THOUGHTS HEADING INTO TOMORROW NIGHT’S SPRINT ALL-STAR RACE?  “We always look forward to racing here in Charlotte.  It’s the backyard for everybody and home for most all of the race teams.  It’s exciting to race in front of our Penske Racing employees.  It’s a big market for Miller Lite.  When there’s no point’s to worry about, like they say, it’s ‘checkers or wreckers’ or ‘cash or crash’.  All the drivers will put it all on the line to try and reel in a million bucks.  We feel like this is a good opportunity as well for our team to try a different setup to see what we can dig up and make our car a little bit faster or learn something that will make us better for the Coca-Cola 600 next week.  It’s always a good race.  I haven’t quite won.  I’ve been close a few times.  I’ve finished second, finished third and wrecked going for the lead.  I even wrecked with my little brother once.  It’s always a fun race.  I look forward to the challenge of what this race can bring us.  When it gets down to the end now, some of the guess work is taken out of it with us having to put four tires on that final pit stop.  The pit crew guys now have a more important job because wherever we come out on that final pit stop is definitely going to be the final pit stop of the race.”

WHEN YOU HAD THAT WRECK WITH YOUR BROTHER HERE, HOW LONG DID IT TAKE FOR YOU GUYS TO SMOOTH IT OUT?  “It was a good race that we had going on.  I just passed Jeff Burton for second and I was on the low lane going down the front straightaway and the next thing you know, someone was lower than me going through the grass.   I didn’t know that it was him at the time.  Somebody really wanted that low lane on corner entry, that’s when I noticed it was him after I pinched that guy down going into (turn) 1.  Ultimately I got wrecked, so it wasn’t a smart move on my part.  I was over it the next week.  It’s tough when it’s for a million bucks.  When it’s not for points, you get that feeling of  ‘Hey, let’s just let it ride.’  It’s almost like the roulette wheel when you throw money down on a number and see if you get lucky.  We drafted well together the next week and raced hard.  In Daytona in July that same year, I was trying to draft with him and push him to the win.  He finished second to McMurray and I was third.  To me, it wasn’t really that big of a deal.  It seemed more a stinger for Kyle.  We can chalk that up to youth.  Grandma got us together around Thanksgiving and said, “Alright boys, you need to get back to your normal selves now,’ and it was fine at Thanksgiving and Christmas after that.  It’s just one of those moments when brothers have to test each other and either one of us wanted to back down.   In the end it made us stronger together.”

WILL HAVING TO TAKE FOUR TIRES DURING THAT LAST PIT STOP MAKE IT ANY MORE WILD OF A FINSIH TOMORROW NIGHT?  “I think it’s a good decision on NASCAR’s part to make all of us bolt on four tires.  In years past, you’d have guys that would take fuel only or do two tires and you wouldn’t really know who had the raw speed to win it.  Now, everybody is going to be on the same playing field and you want to see the fastest laps of the race at the end and that’s going to help with four tires.”

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE THAT LAST SEGMENT OF THE ALL-STAR RACE BE 20 LAPS INSTEAD OF 10?  “No, I think 10 laps is the appropriate amount of laps.  I don’t think that they count cautions laps at the end, so you can see 20 laps, 30 laps, who knows how many laps that we’re going to have.  But 10 laps, all out raw speed, it’s up to your pit crew to push you out there in that first four to five or six cars.  If you’re beyond six, I don’t think you really have a shot at it.”