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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Kurt Busch Ready To Challenge Hendrick
Penske Racing's Kurt Busch finished fourth in the final 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings...
Mike Hembree  | http://www.scenedaily.com  |  Posted December 08, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Kurt Busch accepts his award for finishing fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points race in 2009. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Rate Kurt Busch as “best in class” for the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season.

Hendrick Motorsports drivers Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon finished one-two-three in the 2009 championship race, so the first driver in the standings without a Hendrick affiliation was Busch, who turned good runs in the Chase into a fourth-place finish in points.

Busch figures that finish can be built upon in 2010 despite changes at Penske Racing. With the departure of crew chief Pat Tryson, now at Michael Waltrip Racing, Busch will be working with a new pit boss, and the Penske organization will be under new pressure as the only Dodge operation in Sprint Cup.

The target for 2010? It’s an easy one for Busch: the Hendrick juggernaut.

“They’re our goal,” he says. “We want to achieve greatness just as they did. There are three guys who we were competing against all year. Those three just seem to have something different than the rest of the competition.

“For us to be ‘first in class,’ it’s a little bit of a feather in our cap. We felt like we competed at the best of our ability, but yet they taught us enough to know to where we can compete and go for the championship in 2010.”

A not-yet-named new crew chief will mark a fresh start of sorts for Busch, who had an impressive 2009 – two wins, 21 top-10s – despite Tryson’s lame-duck status.

“We have all of our cars torn down at the shop sitting there waiting for the direction,” Busch says. “We still have a little time to find the right guy.”


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Mike Hembree

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