By Caleb Whisler, Staff Writer
Kurt Busch ran consistently in the top-10 for most of the First Data 500 at Martinsville Speedway with what he calls the “best car he has had in a long time.”
Busch qualified and finish in the sixth position.
For the veteran driver, he could see the leaders all day but just didn’t have the extra speed to be up there to contend for the race win.
“Our long-run speed was solid. In the end, we made all the right adjustments, but I felt like I couldn’t quite find that extra speed. Anytime I overdrove the car, it slowed down a little bit. It would slide the front tires a little bit too much,” Busch stated post-race.
“To point them in the stages and to finish sixth on the day, we were leapfrogged there at the end. Even though we did all of our checklist items, we were leapfrogged by the 22.”
The driver of the No. 41 believed that one of his biggest weaknesses was on pit road because he wasn’t getting all he could in the timing zones on pit road.
With Joey Logano winning the race, Busch finds himself just 25 points from being in the final four at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He believes that his team will stick to their strengths.
“We have to stick with our strengths, which is consistency, get stage points, and battle harder. We have to do everything we possibly can to run as good as we can. We will see how it plays out,” he stated.
As the premier series moves to Texas Motor Speedway next Sunday, Busch is looking forward to returning to the 1.5-mile facility.
“It seems like the SHR cars do well there. That is what we have to run with there. The Fords have good aero. We will go there and battle it out.”