No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing driver talks team chemistry post-Sonoma
RELATED: Full race results | Updated series standings
SONOMA, Calif. -- Kurt Busch finished second to younger brother Kyle for the first time in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Sonoma Raceway.
Both have been competing in the series full-time since 2005. Both have won plenty of races. Never had they finished 1-2, until now.
The elder Busch (Kurt will be seven years older upon his birthday in August) wasn't complaining following the Toyota/SaveMart 350, but if he'd had his druthers …
"Now I wish I could have gotten up there and moved him," Kurt said, grinning.
"I was trying to think if we've ever finished 1-2, and we did it today. That's a pretty special moment. I've got over 500 starts. I know he's over 300. Can you imagine, 800 starts between the two of us, we almost have 30 wins each, and that's the first time we've ever finished 1-2."
Kurt nearly led the most laps in the 110-lap race, the 16th of 36 points races this season, sitting out front for 43 circuits. Only Jimmie Johnson led more, pacing the field for 45.
Kurt led under green for the final time from laps 67 through 74; he was 15th on a restart with 32 laps remaining after pitting when many others stayed out.
One by one, he picked his way through the field, the run briefly delayed by an off-track excursion moments after he passed Joey Logano (Team Penske) for fourth with 15 laps remaining.
"I've lost all rear grip," Busch told his crew.
He'd also picked up a noticeable amount of debris on the front of his Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet as well. When the caution flew moments later, coming to pit road was a no-brainer, said crew chief Tony Gibson.
"We had a tire going down, a left rear tire that was going flat so it actually turned out good," Gibson said. "If we hadn’t pitted that last time there, I feel like we would have been in bad shape. So it actually worked out to our benefit to pit.
"We just needed to be about two cars up further on that restart."
The final caution saw several drivers hit pit road; Johnson chose to stay out, as did a few others. Busch was ninth on the restart.
He passed Clint Bowyer for second with one lap remaining. His brother wasn’t long gone, but gone just the same.
"We had a fast car; I think we had the car to win for sure," Gibson said. "There at the end I knew those guys would get swallowed up on old tires. You saw that last year here with 10 to go when (Dale Earnhardt) Junior and those guys pitted and drove right back up through there.
"We lost a couple of spots getting on pit road … which probably made the difference and the 15 (Bowyer) held us up a little bit there. But at the end of the day we led a lot of laps, it was an awesome race car and the guys did a great job."
Busch was suspended for the season’s first three races, but has won twice (at Richmond and Michigan) since returning. He’s 10th in points and assured of being on of this year’s 16 drivers competing in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
"We almost could have had as many race wins as we had races we were under suspension, so there's so many things that have gone into place for us to be successful," Busch said. "And the number one thing is Tony Gibson. He builds great race cars, and it's a pleasure to drive for him, and I love the team camaraderie.
"I haven't had this type of team chemistry since my championship year (2004). It feels good to have that."