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"We were able to finish off strong, (winning) three out of the last five races in '02," Busch said. "We've had a rough couple of weeks at Kansas and Charlotte, so now we're sitting down and getting back to the roots of our success and trying to be able to be consistent."
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| Credit: Autostock |
The last four races may be the worst it can get for Busch. His Roush Racing Ford has blown up twice, then suffered a cut tire at Lowe's Motor Speedway, causing a wreck that left him 41st.
A sixth at Talladega is the only bright spot the team's seen since it won at Bristol in August. Busch would like nothing better than to maintain his top-10 position in the standings over the final five races.
"We're going to the last few races trying to stay in the top-10 in points," Busch said. "It's very important to me, our team and our sponsors."
Crew chief Jimmy Fennig agrees with Busch's sentiment.
"We've got to get some bad luck out of the way," Fennig said. "We lost some motors this year -- we had flat tires, stuff that was very unlucky. It's just all the little stuff that bites you at a race track.
"Kurt's a competitor -- an awesome racecar driver (and) on our good days I wouldn't trade our pit crew for anyone in the garage. We've just got to keep moving forward and build on our successes."
Busch had four wins and four more second-place finishes in the first 24 races of the season. With teammate Matt Kenseth leading the title race for the last 28 races, it makes for a great environment in the shop the two teams share.
"With Kenseth being in this position, we're doing all we can to support him," Busch said. "They've been so consistent week-in and week-out. Kenseth and I are under the same roof, so we're doing what we can to help them while getting our own jobs done."
As Fennig said, the biggest thing would seem to be changing their evil turn of luck. Busch has led at least a lap in half of the races this season, but lately those have been few and far between.
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| Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch share a moment in the garage. Credit: Autostock |
"It's just a matter of having everything going your way," Busch said. "We had a lot of luck at the end of last year to help us obtain those victories, but with Martinsville ahead of us, Atlanta and then Miami -- the reconfiguration of the track down there -- we do have to go back and look on those notes.
"With the way we've been running lately, that's all that we can do is just go back to the solid footing we had last year at this point and just go off of those notes, instead of trying to do what we've done this year because it seems like it just hasn't turned out for us.
"We haven't had as much luck as we had last year. I believe we only had three or four DNFs last year and this year we've had a total of six. Things that are out of our control are adding up to where we are in points right now, so you can say it's been a learning year."
Busch said he tries to learn every time on the racetrack, but that given the overall situation in the garage with the way the cars' aerodynamic package has turned, he's fighting an uphill battle.
"I don't think the team needs improvement," Busch said. "I believe what has happened over the past few months is that the Chevrolets have been able to polish up on what they can build for downforce.
"Last year, you saw seven Fords in the top 10 in points and this year you're only gonna see two Fords in the top 10 in points at the end of the year, so it's been a big swing in the manufacturers, as far as which way the rules have gone."
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| Kurt Busch. Credit: Autostock |
Busch and Fennig are happy that aerodynamics won't come into play at Martinsville.
"(Martinsville) was a good race for us last year," Busch said. "We went there and tested two weeks ago because we wanted to stay on top of our game.
"You have to be able to be fast and to pass cars at Martinsville and then if you do achieve track position based on a pit stop or a lucky caution here or there, you have to be able to maintain that.
"You have to be able to take advantage of being in position, so it's a matter of your opportunity meeting your preparation."
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