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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Tough Afternoon For Penske
Roger Penske’s Indy 500 fortunes haven’t translated to racing stock cars at the Brickyard...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted July 26, 2009   Speedway, IN
Sam Hornish Jr.looses control during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 (Photo:Getty Images)
Roger Penske may be the king of the Indianapolis 500, but Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard was another disappointing outing for “The Captain,” who is winless in 16 NASCAR Sprint Cup races here.

Expected to be one of the contenders to win on Sunday, Kurt Busch fell behind early, as his Penske Championship Racing Dodge had to make a second pit stop under green-flag conditions on Lap 33 to deal with a vibration after his first stop. Busch never got back on the lead lap and finished a disappointing 27th.

“That vibration just killed us,” said Busch. “We had to pit there under the green and lost a lap. With so few cautions, we just couldn't make it up. We must have logged about 60 laps during two segments, running around as the Lucky Dog guy and couldn't get the caution when we needed it. It was a frustrating day for the Miller Lite Dodge Team. To add to it all, the vibration wasn't a loose wheel. The guys said it was something going on weird with the tire, like it had equalized or something. It was a big disappointment here today, that's for sure.”

Teammate Sam Hornish Jr., the 2006 Indy 500 winner, slapped the wall on Lap 69, blowing a right-front tire and putting him into the wall. “I just got loose getting into Turn 1, saved it as much as I could toward the exit of 1 and ended up getting into the wall,” said Hornish, who finished 37th.

“It's frustrating for sure,” he said. “Our Mobil 1 Dodge was pretty good today. We made a couple changes on our pit stop, went the wrong way a little bit, but we were still in pretty good position. I just got loose and decided to gas it up and instead of spinning it inside. I gassed it up and got into the outside wall. A mistake on my end.”

The best of the lot was David Stremme, who finished 16th, his best result since Texas in April, but still far below the Penske standard in IndyCars. “A solid day for us,” said Stremme’s crew chief, Roy McCauley. “That’s what we needed. David did a fantastic job driving. We had a good solid car all day, nothing too crazy. We made spots when we could, but the No. 12 Mobil 1 Penske Dodge was solid all day. That’s what we needed.”




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

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