Just
two weeks from attempting to win the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in the
same day, Kurt Busch says the magnitude of that effort is finally beginning to
hit home.
“The
excitement is building up,” admitted the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.
“It’s been great all this month. I have a chance to win (at Indy) with an
Andretti Autosport car and I’ve got a chance to win the Coke 600 with a Stewart-Haas
car.”
Busch
said that while the logistics involved with practicing, qualifying and racing
in both events has been daunting, the schedules for the two events have meshed
well.
“We
have a pretty straightforward schedule on the IndyCar side,” he revealed. “It’s
very different than our scheduled practices in stock car land. (At Indy), the
track is hot every day from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. So I’m on call every day from 12
to 6 pm. Andretti Autosport has their sequence of when we’re going to go out on
the track, and that’s been given to me, (so) we have our practice sessions
planned out already.
“It’s
neat to know where we’ll be and what needs to be done on both sides of the
garage area. But Mother Nature is ultimately in change. She is dishing out a
bit more chance of rain early in the week, and then it’s cool with very
consistent conditions Friday and Saturday of next week.”
He
said his Indy effort will begin “on Thursday to Friday of next week. We’re
going to go through our paces next week and most of the practice runs are in
race trim for the Indy 500.” He said he hopes to be fast from the outset, avoiding
“Bump Day” worries by remaining in the top half of the practice field.
“We
don’t want to be part of Bump Day; in that lower half, or lower third of the
field. It is (all about) following Andretti Autosport’s lead, even if we had a
threat of having to qualify in. Andretti Autosport has done a tremendous job in
allowing me to roll as a rookie, feel the comfort level each time we go out in
the car and not overstep anything that’s asked (of) me as a newbie.
“I’ll
be leaning on every bit of experience from them, but it would be nice not to
have to worry about getting bumped out.”
Busch
said he was pleasantly surprised by “the open arms and the feel in the paddock
of the IndyCar guys, team owners, sponsors and the drivers. It’s been an
amazing welcome to (their) garage area.”
While
much attention has been paid to his IndyCar shakedown runs, Busch is cognizant
that the Indianapolis 500 is less than half of the total challenge he’ll face.
“At
the end of the day, there still is a… 600-mile event where I’ll be driving the
Haas-Automation Chevy,” he said. “They’re rooting me on (at Indy), but I still
have my job to do when I show up (in Charlotte). There still has to be a lot of
focus around the stock car side of this.”
Busch
said he has spoken with Stewart Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart – himself a
former IRL champion – in an attempt to learn everything he can in advance of
the 500.
“He
said the IndyCars have less horsepower,” said Busch. “They have less pick-up,
acceleration -- and even though the cars weigh 1500 pounds -- don’t accelerate
like stock cars do. So you have to look ahead, you have to anticipate (and) you
have to digest what’s happening in front of you when guys get side-by-side.”
While
winning both races is obviously his goal, Busch said finishing all 1,100 mile
will make a successful day, in his mind.
“I’d
love to finish in the top half of the field at Indy,” he said. “I’d love to
stay out of trouble all day and just experience it all. But once this week gets
further down the road -- with the comfort level I will gain -- I’ll want more.
But right now, it’s a matter of just finishing both races. Eleven hundred miles
is tough to do.”
Busch
has ramped-up his already demanding physical training regimen in anticipation
of the Indy/Charlotte double, focusing on upper-body strength.
“My
hands have been very sore after each of the practice sessions, just from the
death grip on the wheel,” he laughed. “I need to relax more and let the car
come to me, instead of me forcing the car. It’s just getting comfortable with
the driver controls and knowing where everything is around me.
“I’ve
bulked up a little bit just with muscle mass. I’ve gained about three pounds.
It’s been a slight difference.”
I'd say Kurt has 3 chances to win at Indy: fat, slim and none.
ReplyDeleteI wish him luck. This is quite a deal, I can drive 800 miles in a day on the highway but I am wiped out. I could imagine his brain would be soup after that.
ReplyDeleteDave:
ReplyDeleteHow come you didn't write a post on how well Mr. Busch performed over the weekend? Love him or hate him he is a wheel man. In his first open wheel race he placed 6th! Wow!
It almost feels like ABC and NASCAR snobs wanted the story to go away. ABC never really talked about Kurt all day. Then to listen to one of the talking heads on NASCAR radio today (whom seems to dislike Kurt) he wanted to down-play what he did. In a time when ratings are down, and track attendance is down, you'd think all of NASCAR would have embraced what he did. He brought a huge story to a pretty boring weekend at the track at Charlotte. You'd have thought somebody might have wanted to talk it up to give the ratings a bump. Never happened though. Gotta wonder why and what parties couldn't get around old grudges and let them go to embrace what he did on Sunday.
MB
I took the weekend off, Anonymous. There were no posts on ANY topic, including Kurt's outstanding run in the Indianapolis 500. For the record, I have no grudges with Kurt (old or otherwise), and talked at length on Monday's show about that fact. I also posted a story today about him being named Indy 500 Rookie of the Year.
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