At 'Dega, drafting in the COT will be key to success

2004 Cup Series champion Kurt Busch will share his thoughts in a weekly blog during the Chase for the Nextel Cup:

There are so many variables going into Talladega, but I love the white knuckle, three- and four-wide racing on this track and feel really comfortable in plate races. This will be the first time the COT runs down there, but as much as many of the guys are dreading the race I'm looking forward to it. Our plate program at Penske has always been strong and we have been a threat to win in all of the races in Talladega and Daytona.

Drafting is now going to be more important than ever -- if you're running with the pack you're just motoring along, but as soon as you lose the draft, you're like a fish out of water. A slow pit stop could mean all the difference this weekend if it results in your car falling behind a pack. The Chase for the Nextel Cup takes a total team effort, and with all of the wild cards at Talladega, that may be more evident than ever this weekend.

An Odd Day on the Track

I'm still not sure how I feel about our finish at Kansas City. The Miller Lite Dodge was the car to beat for much of the day, but once the weather came we were back in 24th, so I guess we can't complain too much about 11th. We moved up in the standings but are further back in points than when the day started, and have now been bitten by an engine problem, a tire and the weather. But that's racing -- you have your runs of good luck and bad luck.

Pat Tryson and the team continue to put great cars on the track, which is what I'm focusing on right now. Every week we've been in contention, now we're going to have to get a couple of top-5s to get back in this thing.

Friday we were really good in practice and turned in the sixth-fastest time of the session. But a bad draw had us going out early for qualifying -- third to be exact -- and we came in 13th when all was said and done. The track really cooled down late in the session and the guys were going so much faster toward the end, so we were surprised our time held up as well as it did.

My teammate Ryan Newman was just a tick faster than us in practice, but he took advantage of a late draw to qualify second, which just shows you how important that draw can be. We were confident going into the race that our "PT Special" would be capable of going to the front once the green flag dropped.

We started 12th, one spot better than we fared in qualifying (Newman got bumped to the rear after failing a post-qualifying inspection), and by the time some rain came on Lap 11 the Blue Deuce was up to fourth. After being red-flagged for about 45 minutes, we re-fired the cars and got the 2 car to the front of the pack by Lap 46.

We shuffled between first and third for the next 100 laps or so, with dark clouds rolling in the whole time. It was just a matter of time before the rain came, but we were forced to hit pit road for fuel and tires before the massive thunderstorm finally struck.

Me and the guys hunkered down in the transporter and waited it out, but we were confident the race would be restarted. Eventually the storm blew through and they got the track dried, which was good news because we were 24th and a lap down at that point.

Once we restarted and those other guys pitted for fuel and tires, we got back on the lead lap, and just a few laps after that Tony Stewart got involved in a wreck and sustained some left-front fender damage. The 20 car stayed out despite some smoke coming off the car in the turns, and when the tire eventually blew I was just a couple car lengths behind him. I did everything I could to avoid hitting him, but he was slowing down so quickly and there just wasn't enough time to duck down below him.

The PT Special sustained some damage to the left-front quarter panel, and after my brother Kyle gave us a visual we came down pit road to bang it out. We ended up 11th after darkness shortened the race to 210 laps. The 16 car sputtered home in the dark for the win in one of the more bizarre endings to a NASCAR race you might ever see.

Until next time.
KB