Kurt Busch Advance
Talladega Superspeedway
Sep. 29 – Oct. 2 2005 Nextel Cup Series
Talladega 500, Sunday, 2:30PM
Kurt Busch
Team: No. 97 Sharpie Ford Taurus
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: #55 (finished seventh at Talladega this spring, second at spring Daytona)
Busch on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
"If you're running in the top-five during the race, usually you're single file, not three-wide pack, that's something you try to position yourself for. If you're stuck in the middle there's not much you can do. You don't want to get caught up in a wreck, so you have to decide if you want to go forward or if you want to hang out in the back and wait for a pit stop to jumble up the field. Qualifying is important, but, if you qualify up front, you can get shuffled to the back if you get into the wrong draft. We'll see how it shakes up. We have a good car. It's the car we ran seventh here earlier this year so I'm excited to bring it back.”
Crew Chief Jimmy Fennig on racing at Talladega Superspeedway:
“Kurt’s done pretty well here over the years. We’re bringing the same car and back-up that we took to Daytona for the 500 and at this race earlier this year, and the primary did really well there. These Sharpie guys have done a great job with the racecars all year, and especially last weekend and in Loudon, but we haven’t had the finishes. So we need a good run this weekend.”
Fast Facts
Kurt Busch and the No. 97 Roush Racing team remained 10th in the “Chase” standings after a disappointing finish (23rd) in Dover last week. Busch is now 170 points behind leader Jimmie Johsnon.
Though he has never visited victory lane at a restrictor-plate track, Busch finished in the top 10 in more than half his starts (10 top-10 finishes in 19 starts, including runner-up in this year’s Daytona 500).
Busch has competed in nine races at Talladega, posting six finishes of seventh or better. He has finished third twice (April ’01 and ’02), but suffered his worst finish and only DNF at the track last year in the spring race (36th). Busch has the best average finish (12.4) of any driver in the top 10.
Richard Brickhouse, uncle of No. 97 spotter Jeremy Brickhouse, won the first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup (known then as the Grand National series) race at Talladega in 1969.
The No. 97 brings the black and red of Sharpie to Talladega on chassis #55, the same car that finished second at Daytona in February and seventh at Talladega earlier this year.
