Busch fights back to take 7th

Monday, Aug. 4, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Seventeen laps into Sunday's Brickyard 400, Kurt Busch knew he was in for a potentially long day.

"We've got to do something," Busch told his crew over the radio. "We're evil tight out here."

The handling condition, which made Busch's Rubbermaid Ford not want to turn smoothly in the corners, was one of just a handful of problems he encountered before he salvaged a seventh-place finish at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"It was just a real eventful day," Busch, a Las Vegas native, said. "In happy hour (Saturday), our car was loose and we made one little adjustment and it was extremely tight all day.

"We finally got a halfway decent handle on it as soon as they said 'halfway' and we crawled our way back up into the top 10. It was just one little thing wrong here, one little thing wrong in the back of the car."

Busch also was involved in no fewer than three scrapes during the 160-lap race, and was in the middle of a seven-car incident on lap 145 but escaped with only minor damage to his car.

"Everyone checked up and I had nowhere to go," Busch said of the accident, which put Mike Skinner, Ricky Rudd and Joe Nemechek out of the race.

Terry Labonte, who got caught up in the accident but was able to continue, said Busch triggered the incident when he hit Labonte from behind.

"He (Busch) drives off the end of the hood," Labonte said. "He can't see past his ears."

Busch led the race for two laps early on as the leaders began making their first pit stops of the afternoon. He was in 11th place after pitting during a caution period on lap 140 and, with four fresh tires, managed to gain four spots in the final 10 laps.

"It's all right," Jimmy Fennig, Busch's crew chief, said of the team's finish. "It's not what we wanted, but it's what we got.

"We just missed the setup so we kept working on it all weekend."

Busch posted his 10th top-10 finish of the season and remained eighth in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings. Busch trails series leader and Roush Racing teammate Matt Kenseth by 583 points but is only 87 points out of fourth place.

Jarrett entered the pit lane too fast, locked his rear brakes, spun and hit Bryan with the right-front fender. Bryan was transported to nearby Methodist Hospital complaining of pain in his shoulder and pelvis, but was released early Sunday evening.

A photographer for the Muncie (Ind.) Star Press, Joe Krupa, also was taken to Methodist Hospital after being struck by one of the tires the crew had ready for Jarrett's pit stop. Krupa, who was standing behind the pit wall taking photographs when the incident occurred, also was treated and released.

"This is probably the worst day of my life," Jarrett said after the race. "It's the most devastating thing I've ever been associated with and it was just stupidity on my part."

Bryan also was involved in a pit-lane accident two years ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway, when he was working on Ricky Rudd's crew, and was struck by Ward Burton's car. Bryan suffered a concussion and a knee injury, leading NASCAR to mandate safety helmets for all over-the-wall crew members.