Busch drives to 3rd win of year

Larry Lage

Monday, June 16, 2003 | 10:18 a.m.

BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Las Vegas' Kurt Busch didn't need anybody to tell him where he finished in his first two races at Michigan International Speedway.

"Dead last and dead last," he said.

But Busch said he was able to win the Sirius Satellite 400 on Sunday because he was able to forget about the 2001 races.

"At Michigan, at any racetrack really, you come with an open mind and you have to learn to put the past behind you," said Busch, the first three-time winner this year. "Ernie Irvan was probably the classic example here at Michigan with the way he got hurt and then came back to post a victory on his recovery tour."

Busch, 24, hung around near the front of the pack for much of the 200-lap race, then snatched the lead for good by passing Jeff Gordon with 24 laps left.

"I saw that I had an opportunity to get by Gordon because his weak spot was turn four," said Busch, who averaged 131.219 mph.

A late charge by pole-starter Bobby Labonte, who took second from Gordon on lap 185, came up 0.774 seconds -- about six car lengths -- short. Gordon finished third in the race slowed by nine cautions, tying an MIS record, the last of which led to a green flag for the start of lap 196.

"To me that was a winning effort," Gordon said. "Unfortunately, we kept adjusting all day for the long run and it ended up being a short-run shootout."

Labonte, a three-time Michigan winner, got one last shot at Busch after Todd Bodine brought out the final caution flag of the race with 10 laps remaining when he crashed in turn two on the two-mile, high-banked oval.

Busch had Labonte's Chevrolet nearly on the back bumper of his Taurus following the final caution. Labonte made a strong move to the top of the track, but Busch held him off and pulled steadily away.

"He knows when to drive it real hard and it seems like he's getting better at getting care of it if it's not quite right," Labonte said, referring to Busch. "He's a fast little racer."

Series points leader and defending race winner Matt Kenseth finished fourth, followed by Michael Waltrip, Sterling Marlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kenseth now leads runner-up Earnhardt by 185 points. Busch remained fifth in the standings but moved within 65 points of fourth-place Labonte.

"We're right where we need to be in points," Busch said. "We're elated that we've got three victories, which is one or two more than everybody else.

"This year, it's going to be a point tally similar to 1998. Mark Martin won (seven) races that year, but Jeff Gordon was able to beat him out at the end of the year. This is going to be one of those years when a top five is an average day."

About the only thing Busch and his team didn't change on his car during pit stops was the number.

Busch gave crew chief Jimmy Fennig a lot of credit for his seventh career win for making just the right adjustments to his No. 97 Roush Racing Ford on every pit stop.

"We didn't quite have the setup," Busch said. "Jimmy and I decided to throw some things at it and made a car that would go to Victory Lane.

"We made all kinds of air pressure changes, wedge changes, track bar, you name it."

Busch gave Jack Roush his 64th NASCAR Winston Cup race win, and the team owner humbled his driver when he said it ranked third among his victories -- ever.

"It's mind-boggling," Busch said.