By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
After a pit call by crew chief Matt McCall toward the end of the second stage, Kurt Busch was able to garner his second top-five finish of 2019 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Through majority of the race, Busch understood that his No. 1 team from Chip Ganassi Racing had their work cut out for them. During one pit stop, the team made one adjustment that made the car really tight in practice. A gutsy call by the pit strategist to McCall by staying out at the conclusion of the second stage allowed Busch to get cleaner air.
“We made one adjustment and I got really tight in traffic,” Busch said. “And then our pit strategist was saying if we stay long on the second stage, then we can stay out. So, we worked that. It played out where we got clean air and it completely changed the complexion of the car. And that’s what we have to do. When we’re in clean air, the car is like this. When we’re in dirty air, the car is like that. I’ve got to get it to where its balanced evenly.”
Although 2019 has started off with two top-five finishes in three races, Busch understands there work still needs to be done.
“Two top-fives to start the year, but we know we have work to do: little bit of aero, engine, handling, but right now, we have fundamentally started the season as strong as we can with not making mistakes and having fun,” Busch said.
“I expected to have good moments. The consistency of the cars is there. We just still need that power feel of that attack to make sure we are the ones making the right call instead of trying to piece together the calls.”
After three races, Busch sits 10th in the points standings just 38 points behind leader Joey Logano.