BUSCH’S STRONG RICHMOND RUN FOILED BY FLAT & PIT ROAD PENALTIES
-Miller Lite Dodge Running Third When Cut Tire Led To String Of Pit Road Penalties-

RICHMOND, Va.  – For the majority of Saturday night’s Crown Royal 400 here at Richmond International Raceway, Kurt Busch appeared to be en route to another strong run to back up last Monday’s seventh-place finish at Talladega, Ala.  Busch’s hopes to continue his momentum here tonight were ended when a flat right-front tire on Lap 241 triggered a string of pit road infractions.  The end result was a 29th-place finish, which dropped him to 18th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.

            “A top-three finish just got blown away, that’s about all there is to say,” the disappointed Miller Lite Dodge driver said in the team transporter after the race.  “I want to see the tape on the call about the tire rolling over into the other team’s pit box.  It was a shame.  We had a third-place care that was getting stronger and stronger as we kept on working on it.”

            Busch had started his Miller Lite Dodge in the 13th starting spot, but was immediately on the move.  He was up to 10th when the first caution flag of the night flew on the seventh lap under the green.  A 12.823-second pit stop under the third yellow on Lap 65 had him up to eighth.  By Lap 145, Busch was up to third and was running the fastest lap times of all the drivers.

            Through the next 95 laps, three more caution flags fell and Busch kept his No. 2 Dodge among the top-three competitors, which also included Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

            “I have a tire going down,” Busch radioed on Lap 241 as he slowed and moved to the inside lane to enter pit road under green flag conditions.  Crew chief Roy McCauley saw that it was the right-front tire and called for a right-side-only change of Goodyear rubber.  While Busch drove away, the right-rear tire removed from his car rolled innocently behind the car and into the adjoining pit of rookie Reed Sorenson.

            The NASCAR official in Busch’s pit made the discretionary call to penalize Busch by bringing him back down pit road for a drive-through penalty.  When that was executed, NASCAR officials then tacked on a pit road speeding penalty.  In just a matter of five laps of action on the track, Busch and crew fell from third all the way back to 34th, running three laps down to the leader.  Busch was able to make up five spots during the remaining laps and finished 29th. 

            Up front, it was Earnhardt Jr. getting around Kyle Busch with 44 laps remaining in the race and going on to take the win over hard-charging rookie Denny Hamlin, a local favorite.  Harvick finished third, with pole winner Greg Biffle coming back from a lap down to finish fourth and Kyle Busch fifth.  Tony Stewart was sixth, Carl Edwards seventh, Busch’s Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman eighth, Sterling Marlin ninth and rookie Clint Bowyer 10th.

            “It was a really frustrating night,” said McCauley.  “We had the flat and could have bounced back from that, I feel.  We had a strong race car and Kurt was driving the wheels off of it.  He was a little tight in the center of the turns and loose off and we were making adjustments that made the car get better and better.  We were running lap times as fast as, or even faster than the leader for a good portion of the race.  The penalties we received right after the flat just ruined what was shaping up to be a super night here at Richmond.  We’ll just have to regroup and come back and get it done next week at Darlington.  The great thing we have going there is that while many drivers just really dislike racing on that track, both of the Penske drivers love racing there.  Kurt and Ryan both are looking forward to next weekend.”

            Busch’s 29th-place finish dropped him two spots in the NEXTEL Cup point standings to 18th.  After 10 races – and with 16 remaining to make this year’s “Chase for the Championship” – Busch has 1,040 points and trails 10th-place Casey Mears by 128 points.

            Jimmie Johnson leads the standings with 1,521 points; Stewart is second with 1,466 and Matt Kenseth third with 1,422 points.

            The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Tour now heads to the historical Darlington Raceway in South Carolina for next Saturday night’s Dodge Charger 500.  The 367-lap battle around the old 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval has a 7:30 p.m. starting time and features live coverage by FOX-TV and MRN Radio beginning at 7:00 p.m. EDT.

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