Penske Racing drivers Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish Jr. finished third, 21st and 22nd respectively in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 NASCAR Cup Series race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
After adverse weather forced officials to cancel qualifying on Thursday, No. 2 Miller Lite driver Busch started the race from the 19th spot. Despite fighting a tight-handling Dodge for most of the early portion of the race, he made progress and cracked the top 10 after a quick stop by the Miller Lite crew under the fourth caution period. Tire-changing strategy, quick pit work by Busch’s Pat Tryson-led crew, coaching by team owner Roger Penske and a display of championship-caliber driving skills kept Busch in the mix with the leaders for the remainder of the race. Busch maintains the 18th position in driver points with five races remaining in the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series season.
“Man, we had a good run and I’m real surprised by it,” Busch said immediately after the race. “We mixed the 77 (car) setup with the 12 (car). It feels real good to have team communication and bring all this together. This is the first time for the new engine, the R6, in the top five. We were pushing hard trying to get numbers on it (the new engine) for next year. It feels really good for all of our sponsors, Mobil 1, Dodge and especially Miller Lite.”
Newman and the No. 12 Alltel Dodge team battled a loose-handling race car for most of the Saturday night race, despite leading 10 laps and running in the top 15 for a large majority of the night. An untimely caution with 80 laps remaining in the race led to Newman falling one lap down, which he could not make up, and he ended the night in 21st place. Newman is currently 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series driver point standings, 392 points out of the 13th spot as the top non-Chase driver.
Hornish and the No. 77 Mobil 1 Dodge finished the Bank of America 500 in 22nd place after starting from the rear of the field due to the team’s use of a backup car. The Mobil 1 team worked methodically to improve the balance of the car throughout a race filled with obstacles, resulting in the team’s best finish in eight weeks. For his performance, Hornish received “Rookie of the Race” honors after finishing one spot in front of fellow series newcomer Regan Smith.
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