‘Bumping Busch’ not making many friends on circuit

Monday, Oct. 23, 2000 | 11:33 a.m.

Kurt Busch may be gaining a lot of experience in his seven-race preview of the NASCAR Winston Cup Series, but the native Las Vegan isn't making many friends.

Busch finished 24th Sunday at North Carolina Speedway in his fourth Winston Cup start, but was involved in a pair of on-track incidents with drivers Terry Labonte and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Busch, 22, bumped Labonte and forced him into the wall on lap 192 and then rear-ended the younger Earnhardt and caused him to crash 42 laps later.

Labonte had strong words for Busch, who also raised the ire of driver Jerry Nadeau two weeks ago following an incident at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, N.C.

"It seems like every time we get around the tractor car (Busch's John Deere-sponsored car) I get wrecked," Labonte said. "He got me."

While Earnhardt Jr. was a little more understanding toward Busch in his post-race comments, he spent nearly 30 laps on Busch's rear bumper after fixing his damaged car and returning to the track.

"I really don't know what happened," Earnhardt said of the tap from Busch that sent him spinning. "I know he didn't mean to do that; he was racing hard and I guess I did that a lot when I was young."

Earnhardt said he had no intention of wrecking Busch while he was tailing him later in the race, only sending him a message.

"I would never, ever wreck him or spin him out," he said. "I just wanted him to know that I was back there and that I really hoped that he wouldn't do that to me again. We're cool, though."

Busch, who qualified 24th and posted the fastest lap during Saturday's "Happy Hour," said he was pleased with his first visit to Rockingham.

"We went out there (Sunday) trying a couple of different racing lines and trying to find the ones that worked best," Busch said. "Some worked and some didn't.

"The Rock was definitely a learning experience and when we come back here next year, I think we'll be better prepared for the challenge it poses. This is a tough place on rookies, but at least I can come back here next year and say that I've raced here before; that will put me one step ahead of some of these guys."

Busch's third top-25 finish in four starts kept the No. 97 John Deere Ford in 21st position in the Winston Cup owner point standings.

"We were able to come away with a 24th-place finish and we closed the gap to 20th place in the (owner's) points," he said. "I know that the John Deere crew is looking to get back in the top 20 before the year is out and I'm going to do my best to make that happen."

Busch will conclude his rookie season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this Saturday at California Speedway in Fontana, then will compete in the final three Winston Cup races of the season at Phoenix, Homestead-Miami and Atlanta.