After Richmond triumph, Stewart-Haas Racing driver eyes more wins
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With the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage getting a three-race head-start on the season, Kurt Busch suspects he may have been pressing. There's a certain method to driving all-out in an effort to catch up, but there's also a necessary balance.
However delicate that tightrope walk might be, Busch found it last weekend at Richmond International Raceway, assuring his spot in the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup playoffs. A change in approach behind the wheel of his Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Chevrolet helped him settle in for a relatively smooth march to his first victory of the year. Now with his Chase future virtually secure, his approach may be even less burdensome, beginning in Sunday's GEICO 500 (1 p.m. ET, FOX) at Talladega Superspeedway.
"My thought was you've got to go slower to go faster. I think that I might have been driving too hard, too much of a chip on my shoulder, so to speak, to start the year," Busch said Sunday after posting his 26th win in NASCAR's premier series. "But it was playing out well. I mean, we came out of the box at Phoenix with a fifth‑place finish and a chance to win, backed it up with a chance to win Fontana, brought it home third, and then a few weeks of missing it a little bit, and why were we missing it? Well, maybe because I was just overdriving the car.
"I think last week at Bristol, that track, if you drove it aggressively, it would pay off, but if you stepped over the line just a little bit, you ended up spun out or wrecked or brushing against the fence, and after the race last week, I felt like, you know, just settle down, get into the groove where you let the race come to you and let the talent of the crew members come into play, and that way we all carry the same weight. I think I was just trying to carry too much weight."
Tony Gibson -- Busch's old-school SHR crew chief who prefers tape measures and string to laptops and computer data -- wasn't willing to let the team's quarterback take all the blame for the void in the win column. As well as the No. 41 camp has performed this season, it's easy to forget that the driver-crew chief pairing is only nine races old. The team's first three races of the season were with super-sub Regan Smith behind the wheel while Busch served out a suspension for a behavioral infraction.
Since his return, Busch has been a near-continual challenger, seemingly on the cusp of finding Victory Lane most weeks. Gibson says part of the responsibility for getting him there falls on him.
"I don't think he drives too hard," Gibson said. "... I think the thing that we missed early is we didn't execute as far as our practice stuff. Should have had a little bit better practice plan of making longer runs and making sure we had long run speed. I know he goes out and he gives you 150 percent every lap, every practice, and I force some of that on him. I said, man, let's just go out there and while we got 'em down, just kick 'em while they're down, try to win every -- set fast time and win every practice. I don't think he overdrove at all. I know he takes a lot of blame on himself and puts a lot of pressure on himself, but as a team we didn't execute on those races. …
"He needs to drive as hard as he needs to drive. It's our job to put a car underneath of him that he can run that hard with. Today was proof of that."
With the pressure of Chase uncertainty pretty much off his shoulders, Busch's job should become easier -- or will it? The taste of one victory remains sweet, but Busch indicated that team owner Gene Haas' hunger may only be satisfied by wins in bunches.
Haas took a chance on the 36-year-old driver by expanding to a four-car operation for 2014, an opportunity Busch almost always expresses his gratitude for in media sessions. But Haas, ever the savvy businessman, clearly expects return on his investment.
Busch hopes to deliver.
"To win early in the year is special, but you can't hang your hat on it," Busch said. "And last year what I can learn from that situation is developing a new team such as (former crew chief) Daniel Knost and a newer group of guys, I felt the responsibility of being a mentor. This year I feel the responsibility of being the driver and doing my duty because I know I've got the best guy on the box with Tony Gibson, the best lead engineer with Johnny Klausmeier, the best car chief, best front‑end guy, rear‑end guy, tire guy.
"Everybody on our team is at a top level so I don't have to do anything other than drive, and that's what Gene Haas wants me to do, and he's not happy with one win. He wants multiple wins. Hopefully we'll be off and running."