Kurt best among local drivers

Nick Christensen

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 10:10 a.m.

With 142,000 fans in the stands at their home track, the pressure was on for the three Las Vegans in Sunday's UAW/DaimlerChrysler 400, the third race in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series.

Kurt Busch, in his fourth Cup series race at Las Vegas, finished ninth, local rookie Brendan Gaughan finished 22nd, and 18-year-old Kyle Busch finished his first ever Cup series race at 41st, after an nudging the wall early in the race. He dropped out just 11 laps in.

"We started off the race extremely tight, and I touched the turn four wall twice in those first few laps," Kyle Busch said in a release afterward. "We were actually loose in practice, so I'm not sure how to explain it. I literally had my arms crossed, trying to make it turn and not go a lap down."

Gaughan had more success. He went down a lap at the 128th cycle, but was able to get it back with the "Lucky Dog Award" at the race's fifth caution, following Kevin LePage's blown engine at lap 182.

He said that once he got some initial wear on his tires, he struggled to handle throughout the race. No matter what adjustments his team made, he never seemed to be able to gain ground.

"We started out struggling in practice," Gaughan said. "We knew it was going to be a struggle, the guys did their best to make their best adjustments, and they left it with plenty of adjustments to make -- and they used every single one they had. We had it decent -- uh, we almost had it decent for a little bit, but that last run just hurt us again."

The elder Busch, who got more than a few boos from the crowd of 142,000 when he was introduced, led the first four laps, hung in the top five through the first pit stops, and stuck in the top-10 throughout the day, finishing ninth. It was Busch's first top-10 at Las Vegas.

"We just probably had a couple of things too aggressive on the car to make the car turn, and we just burned the right rear," Kurt Busch said. "It would go fast for about 20 laps, and then we'd burn the right rear off the poor thing. We've got a lot of work to do as far as understanding how we can use the four tires better."

Despite his troubles, the younger Busch said he enjoyed coming back to his home track.

"Overall, it was a great experience. Coming home to race in front of these fans was just awesome," said Kyle, who was cheered in contrast to the cold reception his brother received. "They treated me so well all week, I just can't say enough. I promise to give them a better show next time around."

Gaughan, also, was impressed with the fan showing and support.

"I loved how hard they cheered for me when we went across the stage, we gave them a hell of a show, I know that," he said, laughing. "We were definitely exciting to watch there a few times, but hopefully we can come back next year and we'll run up front."

The elder Busch, frustrated despite his best finish and perhaps in part because of the treatment from the crowd, wasn't at all pleased afterward, despite finishing the best of the three Las Vegans racing.

"Every time we come here, we're off just a little bit," Busch said. "Today, we were a little better, but it just seems like we're too aggressive with our setup and we burn the tires off quicker than other teams. We need to do a better job of using four tires, instead of just the right rear."