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KURT BUSCH – 2017 Fontana Race Report

Event:               Auto Club 400 (Round 5 of 36)
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 
Location:          Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California (2-mile oval)
Format:             200 laps, broken into three stages (60 laps/60 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish:      15th/24th (Running, completed 201 of 202 laps) 
Point Standing: 14th (118 points, 125 out of first) 
Race Winner:    Kyle Larson of Chip Ganassi Racing in overtime (Chevrolet)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-60):

  • Kurt Busch started 15th, finished 24th.
  • Battled a loose-handling condition on corner entry and exit and was tight through the middle for much of the stage.
  • Made contact with the wall, resulting in cosmetic damage to the right-side of his Ford Fusion.
  • Lost a lap to the leader when he visited pit road under green-flag conditions on lap 33 for four tires, fuel and chassis adjustments.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 1 to take four tires, fuel and a right-front shock adjustment.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 61-120):

  • Started 22nd, finished 25th.
  • Battled a tight-handling condition through the middle and loose off the corners for much of the stage.
  • Lost a second lap to the leader on lap 110.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 2 to take four tires, fuel and front shock and chassis adjustments.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 121-200):

  • Started 31st, finished 24th.
  • Continued to battle handling woes that limited his ability to gain position.
  • Took the wave-around when the caution flag waved on lap 179 to get one of his laps back.

Notes:

  • Busch made his 24th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway.

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the Martinsville 500 on Sunday, April 2 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FS1.