Busch Satisfied With Furniture Row Debut

Busch finished 21st Saturday night

Kurt Busch called his 21^st-place debut with Furniture Row Racing, “an uneventful race, but an eventful weekend.” 

Though he was obviously hoping for a better result in Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Busch said he and the Colorado-based team learned a lot about each other in a short period of time. 

“As a competitive racer you always want to go out there and be a contender. But on the other hand, when you’re starting something new, you need to focus on the big picture and that big picture is to get primed and ready for the start of the 2013 season. 

 

“Finishing 21^st, it might not appear that we made progress,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is what we did in our first three days together at the track. We’re realistic, knowing that there will be more kinks along the way to work out in the final five races of the season.” 

Busch said he was encouraged about his Furniture Row/Farm American Chevrolet’s charge to the front at the beginning of the race. After starting 21st in the 334-lap event, Busch surged forward almost immediately, moving into 11th place by Lap 23. 

“It initially appeared that we had the No. 78 hooked up and all systems looked solid,” noted Busch. “But then we ran into a binding problem with the car and it started to slow down. We also had handling problems later in the race and never could get in the Lucky Dog position and back on the lead lap.  

“We have some things to work on,” he said. “And having two days of testing in Kansas this week will give us additional time to sort things out. It’s been an exciting week working with Todd (Berrier, crew chief) and all of the crew guys. I was pumped before our first practice session on Thursday and I am even more pumped as we move forward.” 

Sprint Cup teams will conduct a two-day test session on the newly paved, 1.5-mile Kansas oval on Wednesday and Thursday, with the weekend’s first official practice session on Friday.