Busch’s car, points lead crumble in Turn 2

Monday, March 3, 2003 | 10:15 a.m.

As Kurt Busch prepared to take the green flag for Sunday's UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, he radiod his hopes for the day to his crew.

"OK, guys, we've got the points lead -- let's keep it when we leave here," Busch said before a roller-coaster race that ended in a cloud of smoke 91 laps from the checkered flag.

Busch was involved in a wild seven-car wreck in Turn 2 on lap 176 and damaged the front end of his No. 97 Rubbermaid Ford when he ran into the back of another car while trying to avoid the melee.

The 24-year-old Las Vegas native was relegated to a 38th-place finish -- his worst showing in three races on his hometown track -- and dropped to sixth place in the NASCAR Winston Cup points standings after three of 36 races.

Despite starting fifth, Busch found himself in the middle of the pack at the time of the wreck after battling a temperamental car for the first two-thirds of the race.

He started off with a car that wouldn't turn properly in the corners and then complained it was too loose midway through the race. In between, Busch ran in the top 10 after making some early adjustments to the car and then scraped the wall coming out of turn 4 once the handling started going away.

"We were just trying to salvage the best finish we could out of it," Busch said. "Unfortunately, the car got loose and got back in the pack like that.

"It was just a tough day."

After getting caught up in the wreck that was triggered when Mike Skinner and Rusty Wallace got together in Turn 2, Busch took his car into the garage area and his crew frantically worked to repair it and get their driver back on the track.

"We were just trying to get back out in front of those guys we wrecked with," Busch said. "It's too bad; it's a shame that all the cars were as loose as they are out there."

After banging out the crumpled front end and replacing the radiator, Busch returned to the track and made three laps before retiring for the day.

"I won't turn right," a dejected Busch radioed to his crew as he pulled off the track. "I'm headed for the trailer."

The result spoiled what had been a terrific seven-race stretch for Busch and snapped a streak of 15 races in which he was running at the end of the race.

Busch had three wins and finished third and a sixth in the final five races of 2002 and he opened this season with two runner-up finishes.