CARFAX 250 NBS race at Michigan International Speedway

        BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 19, 2006) – Kurt Busch's Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger was clearly a victory contender early in Saturday's CARFAX 250 NBS race at Michigan International Speedway, but then the 2-mile track turned into a chameleon and that removed Busch from contention.

                First, Busch's car was "real loose" and then it became "dancing loose." Eventually, it ended up being too tight. Minor adjustments to the car were made during the second of nine caution flags. The changes, however, proved to be too minor, as the track became tighter with the addition of rubber and Busch eventually had to settle for a 21st place finish. Even though Busch was the top lap leader, setting the pace on three occasions for 36 laps, it was his first finish outside the top 10 in seven NBS races this season.

        "I think the track changed pretty quick in the opening laps there, whereas when he came in and we made our first change, we made a very minor change to tighten up the car. After that, the track tightened up a lot," crew chief Matt Gimbel said.

        A rain shower delayed the start of the race by about 20 minutes, but Gimbel said the rain that soaked the track overnight probably had the greater affect on it.

        "Certainly, the Cup practice in the morning (before the NBS race) helped track conditions a little bit, but not as much as 43 cars racing on the track can change it," Gimbel noted.

        Busch, who qualified his Penske Truck Rental Dodge sixth just a couple of hours before the race started, grabbed the lead from Mark Martin in turns three and four on the second lap of the 125-lap event. However, he possessed the No. 1 position for only two laps before losing it to Matt Kenseth. He regained it on lap 8 and maintained it through the first caution period that began on lap 12.

        When the race restarted on lap 15, Gimbel told Busch he thought they had a good car, but Busch noted it was "just dancing loose."  On lap 19, Busch again relinquished the lead to Kenseth.

        During the second caution period, when Busch made his first pit stop, a track bar and a minor tire pressure adjustment were made. When the race returned to green on lap 24, Busch was 10th and he immediately instituted a charge through the field. Two laps after the restart, when the third caution period began, Busch had already made it to fourth.

        When the race returned to green-flag conditions on lap 28, it took Busch only four laps to complete his charge to the front. On lap 32, he shifted to the inside of Casey Mears and took the lead as they exited turn four. Busch held the No. 1 position for 23 laps, but it would be the last time that he would set the pace.

        At halfway, Busch was fourth, but fell to 33rd during a series of green-flag stops that began with about 50 laps remaining. Once the green-flag stops had cycled through the field, Busch found himself in ninth. However, with 29 laps remaining, Busch had dropped from the top 10.

        Busch's car became so ill-handling that he told Gimbel to "go ballistic" on the changes made to his Penske Truck Rental Dodge during the final pit stop. Those changes occurred during the sixth caution period – laps 102-105 – and when the race restarted on lap 106, Busch was 12th. He jumped to ninth and by lap 110 had made it to seventh. But on lap 111, Busch informed Gimbel, "We are going to start fading, dude. We are out of juice." Six laps later Busch collided with Denny Hamlin and his car spun off turn four.

        Busch had to go to the end of the longest line on the restart of his caution period for pitting when pit road was closed to change a flat tire. That made him the last car on the lead lap in 24th and he was able to gain only three positions in the closing laps.         

        "If you look at the tracks, definitely Charlotte, Chicago and this track, all places where our cars would lead laps early in a run and the race, but as the run and the race went on the conditions and the setup were no longer favorable to us," Gimbel said. "Our car dropped off worse than the primary competition would drop off.

        "As the race wore on today, the track condition changed as more and more rubber was laid down. The track definitely got tight, but in some respects we haven't quite nailed the setup for Kurt on our one-and-a-half to 2-mile tracks.

        "The changes we made didn't go far enough. There were a couple of points where we made changes I was trying to over adjust. Kurt was complaining that the car was so tight, (that) I was trying to over adjust to get it on the free side, because I figured at that point it would be pretty easy to dial it back. But we just couldn't get there."

        Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the race in a controversial finish with Robby Gordon and Carl Edwards. The three were battling for the lead in the closing laps when Earnhardt Jr. bumped Edwards and sent him spinning on the backstretch. Initially, NASCAR wouldn't let either Earnhardt Jr. or Gordon into victory lane, but officials soon ruled that Earnhardt Jr. was the race winner. Gordon was credited with third and Mears with second.

        The CARFAX 250 was the last of the NBS races scheduled for Busch this season.