Busch sputters home with engine problems

Steve Guiremand

Monday, March 4, 2002 | 9:11 a.m.

For most of Sunday afternoon it looked like it was going to be a happy homecoming for Las Vegas native Kurt Busch.

The Durango High School product spent most of the day running in the top four of the 43-car field at the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 and even managed to take the lead for six laps.

"Just running around with the top down," the 23-year-old Busch joked with his crew during one juncture midway through the race.

But Busch was in no laughing mood after his Rubbermaid Ford crossed the finish line in 20th place, the last car on the lead lap.

After going in to pit with 34 laps to go following a spinout by Shawna Robinson, Busch's No. 97 car began to overheat due to an electrical problem.

There would be no storybook finish for Busch on Sunday. Instead of possibly winning his first Winston Cup race, in his hometown, he quickly began dropping and sputtered to the 20th-place finish.

To say Busch was disappointed would be an understatement. Despite the fact reporters from both local papers were waiting to interview him afterward, he drove his car right by them and onto a loading ramp on his car transporter. He then jumped out and stormed off.

"I don't know if he'll talk," Kathy Kalin, Busch's public relations spokesperson, said.

The hometown media has more than kind to the local product over the years, but Busch wouldn't come out.

"Maybe after a cooling off period," Kalin said.

Five minutes later, Kalin returned to say that Busch had already left.

Later, Ford Racing released this official two sentence Busch comment on a quote sheet: "We had a great car today and gave it an awesome run. Unfortunately, we had an electrical failure which led to the demise of our strong run."

Busch wasn't the only one who left the Las Vegas Motor Speedway fuming.

Tony Stewart, whose Home Depot Pontiac looked to be just as strong as eventual winner Sterling Marlin's car most of the day, was nowhere to be found after he finished fifth.

However, Stewart's crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, had plenty to say.

When asked about Stewart's car struggling in traffic during the final 25 laps, a frustrated Zipadelli was angry that Marlin wasn't assessed a 15-second penalty he was to have received earlier in the race for entering the pits too fast.

"You let the 40 car (Marlin) speed on pit road and then you don't give the infraction and then he wins the race," Zipadelli fumed.

"We had a great car. We had a great car again and then what do we have? We had a top five (finish). I know there are a lot of people that would love to be here, but ... "