Kurt Busch
Team: No. 97 IRWIN Industrial Tools Ford Taurus
Owner: Jack Roush
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: #50 (tested at VIR on June 1)
Kurt Busch on racing at Infineon Raceway:
"I know a lot of people have mixed feelings about bringing the NEXTEL Cup cars to the road courses, but I think it’s a nice twist a few times a year. You do have to put a lot of resources behind these two races to build entirely different cars, so from that standpoint I wouldn’t mind doing these type events maybe three or four times a year. The facility out in Sonoma is such a great one too. It’s unlike any other road course, because from a lot of the seats, you can see 80% of the racetrack. That’s unusual for a road course. I always enjoy heading out there.”
Crew Chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Infineon Raceway:
“We tested both of the cars we are taking to Sonoma earlier this month at VIR, and tried some different brake combinations than what we’ve had before – some bigger rotors with some different calipers, and vice versa. We need more forward bite. With the horsepower these cars are producing we’ve got to get that bite – you need it because you’re always spinning your rear tires at these road courses.”
Fast Facts
Kurt Busch posted his fourth consecutive finish among the top-12 last week by finishing 11th at Michigan, but it was not enough to keep him from slipping one position in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series standings to eighth. He could see a dramatic move in his ranking with some success at Sonoma since he, No. 7 Elliott Sadler and No. 6 Jeff Gordon all have the same amount of championship points.
Busch has been among the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Top 10 for the past 14 race weeks in a row, including one week in first.
Though Busch only has two top-20’s in his six career Cup starts at road course events, he has qualified inside the top-10 four times. His best event came at Infineon in 2002, where he started on the outside pole, led 30 laps, and finished fourth.
Busch has finished on the lead lap in all three career starts at Infineon Raceway.
Busch is running the IRWIN Industrial Tools paint scheme for the 11th of 19 events in 2004.
Busch has extra incentive to run well at Infineon to benefit low-income families. For a top five-finish, IRWIN will donate $10,000 in product to the charitable foundation Rebuilding Together, and $20,000 for a win.
