Kurt Busch Advance
Michigan International Speedway
August 18-21st, 2005 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series
GFS Marketplace 400, Sunday @ 2:10PM
Kurt Busch
Team: No. 97 Crown Royal Ford Taurus
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: #65 (won Pocono last month, finished 12th at Michigan in June)
Busch on racing at Michigan International Speedway:
“My first couple of trips here weren’t all that successful for the No. 97 team, but other than that, I’ve always enjoyed coming to Michigan. It’s got multiple grooves and you can race two and three wide in the corners. Fuel mileage also seems to usually play a part in the final outcome so there a strategy element involved that keeps everyone on their toes.”
Crew Chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Michigan International Speedway:
“I’ve got a lot of knowledge about running well here from my past experiences, but anymore, it’s like you’re coming here for the first time, it seems. There’s always a lot of work and consideration to be done to get your car to handle good here. Lots of racing room for the drivers, too—the thing that usually bites the crew chiefs is the fuel mileage. We’re bringing the same car we used last year to get that championship and we had a great run with it at Pocono last month, so we’re looking for another top-ten finish with it.”
Fast Facts
Kurt Busch dropped one spot to sixth in the NEXTEL Cup standings after his third DNF of the season at Watkins Glen on Sunday (finishing 39th). The No. 97 team is now 421 points behind leader Tony Stewart with four races remaining until the beginning of the “Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.”
Busch picked up his seventh career victory at Michigan on June 15, 2003, starting from the fourth spot and leading 24 laps on his way to victory in the Sirius 400. With the win, Busch became the youngest driver to win a Cup race at MIS at the age of 24 years, 10 months and 11 days.
Busch has three top-10 finishes in nine races at Michigan, including his 2003 victory. He finished sixth in this race a year ago and 12th in June. Busch has a 9.6 average finish in his last five starts at Michigan after finishing 39th or worse in three of his first four attempts at the speedway.
Busch’s No. 97 Ford Taurus sports the purple and gold of Crown Royal for this weekend’s race at Michigan.
The Crown Royal team brings chassis #65 to Michigan, the same car that won the Pennsylvania 500 on July 24, 2005. This same chassis finished 12th at Michigan earlier this season.
