Credit: Autostock
By Lee Montgomery, Turner Sports Interactive
March 24, 2003
11:08 AM EST (1608 GMT)
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- The Roush Racing trouble seemed to be 10 years ago after Sunday's performance in the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth gave Roush a 1-2 finish, and Ricky Rudd drove a Roush-powered car to fourth, narrowly edging another Roush Racing driver, Greg Biffle.
That was a long way from the six blown engines over the previous three races. And while several Roush drivers said the problems had been solved, Jack Roush didn't want to talk about it.
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| Greg Biffle earned his first top-five of the year at Bristol. Credit: Autostock |
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Asked if Sunday's results were a bit of redemption for his team, Roush said tersely, "Write whatever you want about engines."
Biffle was a bit more positive.
"I think that's all fixed now," said Biffle, who hasn't had engine trouble this season. "Our engine department works harder than anybody to make more power and reliability for us. There are some isolated incidents that compiled on us and made our program look like it was insufficient. But I don't believe it is. Going forward, all the Roush cars are going to be competitive."
Busch, who trails Kenseth in the Winston Cup points standings, was pleased, too.
"To have a Roush 1-2 -- that hasn't been done in a while -- so I'm real proud of the group effort," Busch said. "Obviously, we're happy with where we are right now. Where we're headed is a direction I think is positive. To get that Ford to Victory Lane each is the objective."
 | VIDEO CLIPS | | |  | Labonte fades, but still finishes third
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Kenseth said he thought the engine department had a run of bad parts but hoped the problems were solved.
"They've made huge improvements since 2001 to where they're at right now," Kenseth said. "We have tons of horsepower compared to what we used to have. And the durability has been pretty decent, too.
"I can't change my strategy or do anything different than what we do. We've got to go run and hope for the best."
Spencer: We had the best car
Jimmy Spencer led the second most laps Sunday, pacing the field twice for 139 laps. But he was one of many drivers who were caught a lap or two down after pitting before a yellow flag.
Spencer ended up 12th, the first car two laps down.
"We had a car capable of winning this race without question," Spencer said. When I passed Jeff Gordon (for the lead on lap 161), it made my whole day. I said, 'Man, that was pretty cool' because Jeff was as good as I've ever seen him.
"We still came out of here with a 12th place, and that isn't bad. It should have been a first, but the Sirius Dodge boys are doing a good job. I wouldn't trade 'em. We made some mistakes, but we'll get better."
Spencer obviously loves Bristol, saying he wasn't and could run 500 more laps Sunday night. A good car will do that for you.
"My son said he'd rather win the night race anyway," Spencer said. "You can't predict stuff. I know I had the best car here today. The best car doesn't always win. We might second-guess ourselves now. We should have pitted, but the cautions were flying every 30-50 laps. Who would ever think it would, but it did bite us in the butt. It hurts. It hurts a lot, but I'm real proud of my guys."
Busch better than Kenseth?
Kenseth was chasing down Busch late in the race but couldn't mount enough of a challenge to get by. Ask why not, Kenseth said: "It's driver. He's a way better driver than me."
Kenseth was joking, but he also later said that he's "never seen as much natural talent as Kurt Busch or Greg Biffle."
'Eventful' day for Kenseth
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Kenseth came into Sunday's race leading Tony Stewart by 57 points, and he left with an even bigger margin in the points. Heading to Texas Motor Speedway next weekend, where he is the defending champion, Kenseth leads Busch by 138.
Kenseth had a yo-yo day at Bristol, starting 37th yet finishing second.
"It was eventful," Kenseth said. "We started at the back, we got to the front once, we went to the back again, and we got back to the front."
Like Spencer, Kenseth got caught after a pit stop, losing one lap. He thought he was two laps down in all the commotion.
"When you put under green, it's very, very confusing," Kenseth said. "There are so many cars all over the place, the track's so small, and you have no idea what's going on."
But he was only one down and quickly made that up when he was in front of the leader on the next caution. From there, Kenseth inched back to the front.
Labonte's good run cut short
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| Credit: Autostock |
Terry Labonte never led, but he had a strong car in the early going, running in the top five after starting 17th. That was until he spun out in Turn 1 after contact from Brett Bodine.
"Any time you're in a race with a Bodine, you're liable to get in a wreck, and I did," said Labonte, who finished 39th. "I don't really think, for people that watch races or people that are involved, that you need to say any more."
O'Reilly to back August truck race
O'Reilly Auto Parts will sponsor the August NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Bristol, officials from the track and company announced Sunday.
Winston Cup driver Kevin Harvick will enter that race, meaning he will compete in all three races here in August, including the Busch Series and Winston Cup races. BMS general manager Jeff Byrd joked that he was trying to talk Darrell Waltrip into running the truck race, too.
"He dabbles with that when (wife) Stevie lets him," Byrd said. "I'm trying to get Stevie named grand marshal of the truck race, and I've also threatened to strip Darrell's name off that grandstand if he doesn't run. He runs Indy and Martinsville -- they don't have grandstands Darrell Waltrip Grandstand. Maybe we'll get some famous people, old guys like DW."
"He won't be able to hold his breath that long," Harvick said.
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