Kurt Busch holds a slim lead heading into Sunday's Nextel Cup Series finale. Credit: Autostock

Leader Busch feeling no pressure as finale looms

Kurt Busch said if he and his Roush Racing team keep having fun, winning or losing the inaugural Nextel Cup Series championship this weekend in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway won't really matter.

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Make no mistake, Busch, a Las Vegas native, has every hope of maintaining the slim advantage he holds.

But it won't be easy.

Jimmie Johnson sits 18 points behind, while Jeff Gordon is 21 points back. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Busch's teammate Mark Martin are mathematically very much in the picture, 72 and 82 points behind -- even though the strength of this 10-man Chase field has precluded anyone making up much ground in the stretch.

Still, Busch won't allow himself to get overwhelmed by any thoughts of pressure.

"It's definitely been a different feeling this week from the previous week and the week leading up to the one that was before that one," Busch said, laughing. "It's been a great regular season for us, to race 26 races somewhat under the radar (because) as a regular-season approach, we did the best possible job I think our team could have done.

"Knowing that this playoff series was going to be as difficult as it's been, to lead the points, to race each race as if it were the last one, and the amount of pressure that's come our way, to be able to talk to the media eight weeks straight by being the points leader, it's something we've prepared ourselves for by just having a cool and relaxed regular season."

Busch has an average finish of 19.5 at Homestead. Credit: Autostock

Busch said dealing with the extra activities associated with leading the Chase standings for the past seven weeks has been interesting -- and maybe even enjoyable for he and his team.

"Well, that's the focal point, is to be able to balance out the regular stress of the regular season as well as the high intensity pressure of this playoff atmosphere," Busch said. "It's been fun to be part of.

"No matter what the outcome is on Sunday, we've brought our team to this level, we've had a tremendous amount of fun being able to compete like this.

"If we win the championship, that is the absolute optimum goal. If we come up just a bit short, that doesn't really matter to us (because) we're having fun doing it."

Johnson was gentle in his assessment of the pressure Busch might be under, but he admitted to what he thinks it must be when he was asked if being 18 points ahead today was where he would want to be.

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"I guess it all depends on where we all finish Sunday -- it's hard to say now," Johnson said, laughing. "But, you know, there's a lot of pressure that I feel (Busch's) team is under.

"We've been in that position through this season (and) we've had bad luck with that pressure on our shoulders. I like the position that both Hendrick cars are in (because) we're very close to Kurt in points.

"We just have to go out, be aggressive, race hard -- that's what both teams are very good at."

And Gordon, as a four-time Cup champion, knows all about pressure.

"I think it's nerve-wracking and intense no matter where you're at," Gordon said. "If you've got a shot at that championship, then the pressure's on -- you've got to go out there and run hard.

"But, you know, if I had my choice, I'd want to be in Kurt's position. I like the fact we get to go out there and go for broke (because) we know we basically have to lead laps and win the race; but if I had my choice, I'd rather be out there in front with a little bit of a margin, and then just go out there and perform.

"He's not so far ahead to where he can just relax, but he's far enough ahead that if he runs a solid race and keeps us in sight, then there's not much we can do."

For his part, if Busch was ever going to feel despair, it would have occurred after his Ford's engine blew up after less than 75 of 500 miles at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But he didn't.

Jimmie Johnson won last weekend's event at Darlington. Credit: Autostock

For anyone that subscribes to the theory that you "first have to lose a championship before you can win one," Busch, who won the 1999 NASCAR Featherlite Southwest Series Regional Touring championship, almost feels as if that's come true.

"The way that we have thrown away a 96-point lead after the Atlanta race, you have so many different emotions and your heart can go in so many different directions, knowing that you've poured everything you have in your life out to these race cars and out to the team," Busch said. "It does take years to build that strong a feeling about every situation and what positive experience you can take from anything.

"To have our motor fail us in Atlanta and to have the 8 car (Earnhardt) have a problem, the 24 (Gordon), then to see the 48 (Johnson) come through, there were so many emotions in just that one race.

"I felt like we threw everything away, but yet some of it was given back to us. Just to have this opportunity again to be able to look at Homestead, to know we have a slight advantage over the competition to go into it -- I don't feel like we lost it completely at Atlanta, but yet it definitely did feel like we let everything slip through, and now we've been given a second revival on things."

And now that they have, even Gordon admitted Busch might be the pre-race favorite.

"You got to understand it's not just on his shoulders -- it's the entire team," Gordon said. "And they've performed very well this year. Certainly through this Chase they have done a great job (so) I think as a team, they're going to be solid.

"That's why it puts myself and Jimmie -- the rest of us battling for this championship -- in a position to have to push really hard and take a few extra chances if we're going to win this championship."

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Gordon said with Johnson having won four of the last five races and himself being in position to win last weekend at Darlington before a miscue on a late pit stop knocked him back to third might weigh on Busch's mind.

"I feel like he knows that the pressure is on," Gordon said. "He knows that we're breathing right down his neck, and that we're racing for wins and we got Jimmie who is winning races and me who has led laps and had a shot at winning the last couple.

"That's a good place for us to be in, but I'd still rather be leading the points. I think that he's feeling the pressure and I think he'll do a good job with that (but) I don't know -- it's hard to say.

"I think we'll all find out how well he handles it this weekend."

Busch said, that with the influence of Fennig, Martin and Roush himself -- who won last year's championship with Matt Kenseth -- he's in a special position.

"It's definitely a unique opportunity that doesn't come along very often," Busch said. "For Jack to be in this position two years in a row, it's a testament to what he's put together, the effort of the drivers, the crew chiefs and the people that he's put behind him to develop that name.

"It's an awesome program to be part of and I'm privileged to be in this opportunity."