Busch Dominates in the Commonwealth !

By Wayne G. Barber

Haas Automation Driver Leads 291 Laps at Richmond, Scores First Victory of 2015

Date:                           April 26, 2015

Event:                         Richmond 400 (Round 9 of 36)

Series:                         NASCAR Sprint Cup Series

Location:                    Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (.75-mile oval)

Start/Finish:                3^rd/1^st (Running, completed 400 of 400 laps)

Point Standing:           18^th (222 points, 135 out of first)

Winner:                       Kurt Busch of Stewart-Haas Racing (Chevrolet)

 

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), turned in a dominating performance on Sunday at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway – leading six times for a race-high 291 laps – to score his first win of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season and all but lock himself into the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

  “It’s an incredible feeling and a total team effort,” said Busch, now a two-time Richmond winner having won the fall race in 2005. “The way that everything came together just seemed like we were building and building and building toward a great finish like this. And I have this opportunity because of Gene Haas and everybody that’s part of our family at Stewart-Haas. It feels great to do this here in Richmond and to do it with Haas Automation, Chevrolet, Monster Energy, Mobil 1, Rush Truck Centers and everybody that’s part of our family. Tony Gibson is just an amazing crew chief, and I’m glad I’ve got the chance to work with him. Thanks to everybody, we got it done today.”

 After starting third in the rain-postponed Richmond 400, Busch took the lead for the first time on lap 95 and maintained the top spot for the next 35 circuits around the .75-mile oval. Busch would go on to exchange the lead a handful of times with his SHR teammate Kevin Harvick over the course of the next 100-plus laps, but he never dropped lower than third in the running order.but he never dropped lower than third in the running order.

  

Throughout the 400-lap event Busch noted only minor issues with the handling on his No. 41 Chevrolet, specifically asking for help with short-run speed during the middle stages of the race. Busch took the front spot for the last time on lap 354, leading the final 47 trips around the Richmond oval en route to victory lane.

  “This win is all about the team, the people and chemistry within the organization,” Busch said. “For us the last few weeks, we’ve not given away wins, but we’ve made some small mistakes and we’ve had some things go against us that just made us stronger. It really created a bond between all of us, and we knew that the wins would come. We didn’t need to force it. We sort of just settled in for the long run and here we are – winners in April. It feels good. We have plenty of time to do fun things to build the team up, get stronger, learn from all these races coming up and continue to go forward; and like Gene Haas said, one win is great but I want four or five more.”

 Harvick, driver of the No. 4 Jimmy John’s/Budweiser Chevrolet SS, finished .754 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot. It was his seventh top-two finish in nine starts this season. Leading two times for two laps on Sunday, Harvick brought his laps-led total at Richmond to 987 and has now led 952 total laps through the first nine NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races of 2015. Harvick has only led more laps than that in a single season once – in 2014 with 2,137 laps led.

  Danica Patrick, driver of the No. 10 GoDaddy Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 25^th.

  Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for SHR, finished 41^st after a late-race accident cut his day short.

  Rounding out the top-five finishers at Richmond were Jimmie Johnson, Jamie McMurray and Joey Logano. Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr. comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were eight caution periods for 53 laps, with three drivers failing to finish the 400-lap race.

With round nine of 36 complete, Harvick leads SHR in the championship point standings. He is first with 357 points, 33 ahead of second-place Logano. Patrick is 16^th with 230 points, 127 out of first. Busch is 18^th with 222 points, 135 out of first. Stewart is 30^th with 148 points, 209 out of first.

  The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Geico 500 on Sunday, May 3 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its prerace show at 12:30 p.m.
                                                                SHR

 

Dual Duty ?