Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Finishing second doesn’t lessen thrill of race for defending champ

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2005 | 9:09 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It was a moment, no doubt, of which Kurt Busch had dreamed since he started racing 10 years ago on the dirt track at Pahrump Valley Speedway: Battling Jeff Gordon to the checkered flag on the final lap of the Daytona 500.

"That was the moment ... that's what you live for," Busch said after finishing second in Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway. "That's what keeps me coming back every race, to be able to have an opportunity to go for the win on the last lap and steal it away."

Even though he couldn't to steal the win from Gordon -- a three-time winner of the "Great American Race" -- Busch insisted he wouldn't dwell on the final lap and his inability to complete the pass on Gordon.

"I had that butterfly in the stomach feeling of 'I've got a shot at winning the Daytona 500,' " Busch said. "I wouldn't have cleared him if I would have went to his high side; I know I wouldn't have. I'm going to stick with that in my mind (and) I'm going to be happy with that decision.

"Our Ford was in a group amongst a bunch of other Chevys. We didn't have quite the commitment from the guy behind to clear the 24, but we ran competitive all day. To finish second was a good effort."

It was Busch's second runner-up finish in the Daytona 500 and the reigning Nextel Cup champion said getting back behind the wheel of his No. 97 was just what he needed after a hectic off-season of interviews and appearances as the series champion.

"It was a great feeling to be able to jump back in the comfort zone of my Sharpie Ford, behind the wheel (in) the biggest race of the year," Busch said, "coming off one of the greatest moments in my life, just to start off with something fresh and new, but yet it's still the same -- the Daytona 500.

"It was great to get back in the car and use my brain for something else other than talking with sponsors or talking with the car owner during the off-season about changes with the crew, and then, of course, all the media things that we've done as a champion. It was a good feeling to have during the off-season; we were busy, but it was good to get back in the car."

GOOD START: Although he finished 30th in Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season opener at Daytona, Brendan Gaughan said he was encouraged by the performance of the truck he will drive in 18 races this season.

Gaughan ran in the top 10 in the early stages of the race, got a lap down after he made a green-flag pit stop shortly before a caution period and then was involved in a wreck that knocked him out of the race 63 laps into the 100-lap race.

"We had the best truck out there," Gaughan, a Las Vegas native, said of his No. 77 Jasper Engines and Transmissions Dodge. "I played around early to see what it would do, what it would take to win, and I got to the front and tried to go outside some guys, tried to go underneath some guys -- just testing the waters."

Gaughan admitted that "driver's error" contributed to his accident, which occurred while he was racing Mike Skinner to get back his lap.

"It was a deal where it was more my fault than anybody's," Gaughan said. "I was just driving hard and trying to get back on the lead lap because we had the truck to beat -- and we're going to have a lot more trucks to beat this year, too.

"I don't think there's any question that the Jasper team is something to reckon with. We're fast and we're going to be fast all year."

It marked the first time that Gaughan had wrecked the truck he calls "Lone Star" -- the truck he drove to four consecutive victories at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002 and 2003 -- but he said the damaged truck was not the one he is going to race Friday at California Speedway.

"This wasn't my truck for California," Gaughan said. "We already have a primary truck for California, so this doesn't even hurt us. We're going to get back to the Orleans Racing shop, we'll put Lone Star back together and get it ready for another day."

NEW RULES: NASCAR's will introduce its first "Impound Weekend" at California Speedway this weekend. Instead of the traditional Friday qualifying, the Nextel Cup cars will have only one practice Friday and then qualify (in race trim) Saturday.

After qualifying, NASCAR will impound all cars and crews will not be able to make any adjustments on them prior to Sunday's race.

The new qualifying weekend procedures will not be in effect when the Nextel Cup Series visits Las Vegas Motor Speedway March 11-13 for the eighth running of the UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400.