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KURT BUSCH – 2017 Richmond I Race Report

Event:               Richmond 400 (Round 9 of 36) 
Series:               Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 
Location:          Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (.75-mile oval) 
Format:             400 laps, broken into three stages (100 laps/100 laps/200 laps)
Start/Finish:      9th/8th (Running, completed 400 of 400 laps) 
Point Standing: 17th (192 points, 206 out of first)
Race Winner:    Joey Logano of Team Penske (Ford)

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-100):

  • Kurt Busch started ninth, finished 20th.
  • Battled a loose-handling condition on corner entry and exit and was tight through the middle for much of the stage.
  • Pitted under caution on lap 66 for four tires, fuel, wedge and air pressure adjustments.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 1 to take four tires, fuel wedge and air pressure adjustments. 

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 101-200):

  • Started 19th, finished 25th.
  • Struggled with a loose-handling condition on corner entry and exit and was tight through the middle.
  • Lost a lap to the leader on lap 192.
  • Visited pit road at the conclusion of Stage 2 to take four tires, fuel, a right-front shock adjustment and a left-rear spring rubber.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 200-400):

  • Started 27th, finished eighth.
  • Was awarded the free pass as the first car one lap down when the caution flag waved on lap 250.
  • Pitted on lap 252 to take four tires, fuel, air pressure and another right-front shock adjustment.
  • Battled from 25th to finish eighth. 

Notes:

  • Busch made his 33rd Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond International Raceway.
  • Sunday marked Busch’s fourth top-10 finish of the 2017 season.
  • The Richmond 400 was Busch’s 100th short-track race in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Mobil 1 Annual Protection Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“We had to drop back and punt. We came down pit road a lap down, in the Lucky Dog position, and just started throwing rubbers and went wholesale on it and made great improvements. We are somehow missing the balance, but we were able to make changes today to improve the balance and be competitive enough to get in the mix. We got eighth, and that is about as best as we could hope to attain.”

Next Up:                                                                        

The next event on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule is the GEICO 500 on Sunday, May 7 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. The race starts at 2 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX.