'Complete race' is focus for Busch in fifth Chase race

Miller Lite Dodge driver Kurt Busch is quick to get to the point when asked about his team's goals in Saturday night's Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"That's simple," Busch said. "We want to put together a complete race where we are competitive from the beginning until the end. Over the last couple of years, it's been the case where we've had a really competitive car and led a ton of laps, only to see the handling go away during the race and end our chances for a win or a good finish.

"Charlotte has always been a track that continuously changes during the course of a race," Busch said. "It's certainly more prevalent during the spring race, when we start in the daytime and race on into the night. But even with starting under the lights like we do now in the fall race, it's a challenge to stay ahead of the curve in dealing with a changing track throughout the race.

"There could be a 20- to 30-degree swing in the temperature between the beginning and end of the race and everybody knows that it's one of the most temperamental surfaces that we race on," said Busch, now seventh in points after finishing seventh at Talladega. "It seems like it has almost always been the team that is able to stay on top of the situation from pit stop to pit stop, making all the right changes along the way, that winds up in Victory Lane at the end of the race.

"We've made tremendous progress on these intermediate, 1.5-mile tracks and we're hoping that the trend will continue Saturday night," Busch said. "Since Pat [Tryson] came aboard as our crew chief, one of his biggest priorities has been updating our cars and having the most competitive Miller Lite Dodges prepared for all the races. His hard work and the great team preparation have certainly paid off in that we've proven to be competitive everywhere we go.

"It seems like if we can just figure out how to stay consistent throughout the race, we can be a major threat there on Saturday night," Busch concluded. "That's our goal and I have all the faith in the world that we'll be able to pull it off."