Busch accomplishes task in Twin 125

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 11:23 a.m.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Kurt Busch got his first taste of restrictor-plate racing in Thursday's second 125-mile qualifying race for the 43rd Daytona 500.

Although the 22-year-old Las Vegas native finished an impressive 12th in the 50-lap event and will start 26th in his first Daytona 500 on Sunday, Busch said his team still has a lot of work ahead of it.

"It's a little different," Busch said of his first Winston Cup race at Daytona International Speedway. "In the (NASCAR Craftsman) Truck Series, you only have 20 or so trucks that will run strong and play smart. In this series, there are 40 of them."

Busch said he accomplished what he set out to do Thursday, which was to finish in the top 15 in the qualifier and start in the top 30 on Sunday.

"We wanted to get that transfer position and we wanted to make sure we worked with the other Roush cars and it was good to see all four of us together; the problem is we're just slow," Busch said of his No. 97 Ford Taurus.

"We all need to work together on getting quicker on the racetrack."

Busch started Thursday's qualifier in the 20th position and quickly drafted with Roush Racing teammates Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth to as high as eighth before falling out of the draft and sliding near the back of the field.

"It was great that we all hung together," Busch said of his teammates. "It was good to see four cars working together but we just didn't have the stuff to move towards the front."

Busch fought a tight-handling racecar for the first 36 laps. When the race's lone caution period came out on lap 37, Busch's crew was able to take on fresh tires and make an adjustment to the rear end and get him out of the pits in 11th place.

"We need to work on the handle for the 200 laps on Sunday," Busch said. "The handling goes away a ton on these cars; I had no idea the car's handle went away this bad.

"In the truck race here last year, the handle stayed underneath us for the first 100 laps -- but that's just halfway in the Winston Cup race."