Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Three Is Magic Number For Blue Deuce
Kurt Busch is having his best season since his championship campaign of 2004...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted April 19, 2009   Avondale, AZ
Kurt Busch started third and finished third at Phoenix, earning his third top-five finish of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Kurt Busch drives the No. 2 Dodge Charger for Penske Championship Racing, but three was his magic number in Saturday night’s Subway Fresh Fit 500k at Phoenix International Raceway.

Busch started third and finished third at PIR, earning his third top-five finish of the still-young 2009 season, and helping him maintain his third-place standing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup driver points. And although he had nothing for race-winner Mark Martin or runner-up Tony Stewart, Busch had plenty to be pleased about after 312 hard laps at the one-mile PIR oval.

In his 300th career Cup start, Busch turned in a strong performance, marred only by one driver error where he banged his Penske Dodge off the wall in Turn 4. “A lapped car had fresh tires and we had old tires, and I got the car in the fence on Turn 4 and it bent up the suspension because there was concrete inside the wheels,” said Busch. “That's when you have a pretty good hit, and so I felt like I took our chances away at competing for the win.”

All told, Busch led 63 laps, which tied him with Dale Earnhardt Jr. for second-most on the night behind race-winner Martin. Busch’s laps led all came in a single chunk, as he won the race off pit road from Martin under caution on Lap 105, and surrendered it to Earnhardt under caution on Lap 168.

As has been shown so many times with NASCAR’s new-generation race car, once in front, the leader is almost impossible to pass and that was the case during Busch’s run up front and when he was trying to fight back to the lead. Out front with clean air on the nose of his Dodge, his car was good enough to stay in the lead. But once behind, he couldn’t make any headway on Martin.

Still, the 2004 Cup champion had nothing to complain about as he continues to post his best numbers since that title run five years ago. “To battle back to third, that's a great effort from this team right now, and the way that our season has gone, just nice and steady,” said Busch. “I'm just pumped up. I thought that was an excellent day for us.”

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RACE RESULTS: PHOENIX

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

Play Super 7 Sweep Fantasy Racing powered by Wind Tunnel!
tom_jensen's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.