Motorsports

Nextel Cup teammates together again

By SHAWN A. AKERS
Published February 6, 2005

DAYTONA BEACH - In his first time at this event, Kurt Busch isn't overly concerned about his performance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

The way the defending Nextel Cup champion figures it, he hasn't had enough experience in Grand American Road Racing cars to even think about trying to win.

"That would be something that is intriguing to look at on your resume, but you have to attempt it many times before that can happen and before you're in a position to win," said Busch, who has two Roush Racing teammates - Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth - as co-drivers along with Scott Maxwell in the No. 49 Ford Multimatic.

"For us from the Nextel Cup side, we don't have that same intensity running these road course cars as we do when we come back for the (Daytona) 500 or running our oval races. You can back off the intensity ... and still run competitively and have fun here, but the more I run this race I'm sure the more that I will up the intensity and try to pick up a victory."

Entering his fifth Nextel Cup season, Busch said it was quite a challenge to get acclimated to a different type of race car. He took the second driving shift, after Maxwell, on Saturday and encountered a few shifting problems, which he anticipated.

"I'm a rookie (for this event)," Busch said. "I'm a rookie at the Rolex 24 and that's something I haven't had in a few years. ... Road racing is something that I love and enjoy, and you hope that you're running the right line or you hope that you don't spin out, but you use the knowledge from what you've gained in your other rookie experiences to know what not to do the next time around."

The Multimatic Motorsports team picked up 22 positions in the first three hours after starting 29th. But during the fourth hour, the half shaft on the No. 49 Prototype broke as Kenseth attempted to enter pit lane. The car was forced back to the garage for repairs. The team lost a half hour in the process.

"It was my fault," Kenseth said. "I didn't slow down enough to get past traffic, so I had to run one more lap, and that lap just broke the half shaft. Everything was working fine and it was shifting fine and everything seemed normal, and apparently I pushed the clutch in and broke a half shaft and it came apart."

Biffle, who has raced with Busch and Kenseth in Nextel Cup for the past two seasons at Roush Racing, said he's "extremely" comfortable in this race.

"I feel better and better all the time, and the car seems like it has decent grip and a lot of power," said Biffle, who won the 2003 Pepsi 400 at Daytona. "I'm just having fun out there. I don't care how fast I go. ... Just keeping it on the racetrack is the main thing."

NASCAR runs two road races a season - at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., and at Watkins Glen, N.Y. None of the Roush drivers has won a road race in Nextel Cup.

Busch's best finish was fourth at Sonoma is 2002; Biffle's was 13th at Sonoma in 2004; and Kenseth's was eighth at Watkins Glen in 2003.

Kenseth said there's little comparison between NASCAR's road races and the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

"This is a different style of racing, and even when we go to the road courses, it's a different style of racing there," Kenseth said. "When NASCAR goes road racing, there's a different crowd of people. I noticed the garage is a lot different with all of the golf carts and stuff in there. It's pretty crazy just in the garage area, and even crazier than it is on the track. That's the biggest difference I've noticed so far."

[Last modified February 6, 2005, 00:23:11]