At the beginning of the 2006 NASCAR Cup Series season, Kurt Busch moved from Jack Roush’s team to Roger Penske’s, but hasn't achieved the numbers at Penkse that he did at Roush. (Photo: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)
Changing race teams is always a risky move for a driver. Sometimes it pays off in a big way. Kyle Busch went from Hendrick Motorsports to Joe Gibbs Racing last year and has won 11 races since then after winning a total of four in three full seasons at Hendrick.
His older brother Kurt Busch moved from Jack Roush’s team to Roger Penske’s beginning with the 2006 season, but he’s yet to post the numbers at Penkse that he did at Roush. Of his 19 career Cup victories, he has just five since joining Penske. And after winning a championship at Roush in 2004, he’s had points finishes of 16th, seventh and 18th with Penske.
But things are looking better this year for Kurt Busch. He scored a dominating win at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this year, leading 234 laps. And he has a total of three top-five and six top-10 finishes in the first 12 races which has him third in the points standings, 115 markers behind leader Jeff Gordon.
Busch was the guest this week on the NASCAR teleconference and talked about the improvements that have been made at his Penske team, which includes the No. 12 of David Stremme and the No. 77 of Sam Hornish Jr. Those two haven’t enjoyed the success Busch has. Stremme is 26th in the standings while Hornish is 30th, but NASCAR’s loop data indicates they’re racing hard. Stremme leads all drivers in green-flag passes with 1,285 this season and Hornish has 1,151, more than any driver in the top 12 in the standings.
Busch acknowledged that the Car of Tomorrow has been and continues to be a challenge for his organization.
“It’s been a battle with the new car, and we felt like we had to improve in all areas of the program, whether it’s downforce [or] better power from the new engine,” he said. “The setups that we’re running seem to be quite a bit different than last year.”
He said last year’s lackluster results led to some serious work over the winter.
“Going through a year of hardship and struggle of last year helped us focus this off-season to develop new things, new ideas,” he said. “We can’t just really point our finger at one thing that’s helped us. It’s been all around. So we look forward to more ideas and better things that can advance our program to keeping us at this level.”
Sometimes the struggles with the car have led to some difficult exchanges between Busch and his crew, including team owner Roger Penske, during the heat of battle. Busch said those situations are best dealt with by everyone working harder to make the car more competitive.
