Kyle Busch disappointed with career-best finish

Monday, Feb. 28, 2005 | 9:34 a.m.

FONTANA, Calif. -- Kyle Busch didn't have long to enjoy running up front in Sunday's Auto Club 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race at California Speedway.

Busch, a Las Vegas native who became the youngest driver in Cup history to start on the pole, led twice for two laps and ran in the top 10 for 45 laps before an ill-handling car, a green-flag pit stop and a brush with the outside wall took its toll and relegated him to a 23rd-place finish.

Still, it was Busch's best finish in eight career Nextel Cup starts -- topping his 24th-place finish in Fontana last Labor Day Weekend.

"It was a good day and bad day," Busch said. "We worked on our call all day long and just tried to make it better and better. We started out so loose and made so many changes to get it tightened back up (but) we didn't really keep up with the track today.

"It got kind of hot and we got real loose and then at the end of the race, it started to cool down and we got tight again. We kind of missed with the racetrack a little bit but overall the guys worked real hard and I screwed up in the middle part of the day (by) hitting the fence."

Busch lost two laps when he was forced to make a green-flag pit stop on lap 99 to repair a crumpled fender and again make adjustments on the chassis. He later gained one of his laps back and then passed fellow rookie Travis Kvapil in the closing laps to post the best finish by a Raybestos Rookie contender.

"It was a struggling day but it came out all right," said Busch, who is tied with Kvapil in the rookie standings after two races. "We got our best finish ever so we'll keep chipping away, trying to get it further down there."

Busch, who finished 38th in the season-opening Daytona 500, gained six spots in the Nextel Cup points standings and is 32nd going into the March 13 UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

ROUGH DAY: Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s race went from bad to good and then back to bad in the span of 36 laps Sunday.

Earnhardt started 40th -- his worst qualifying position in more than four seasons -- but worked his way into the top 25 before cutting two tires in the first 36 laps. The second cut tire resulted in a shredded left-front fender and Earnhardt eventually lost eight laps while repeatedly pitting to make repairs. He finished 32nd.

"The first couple of runs weren't too bad," Earnhardt said. "We were going to the front. The car was good, but then we had the troubles with the left front and the car would just hook when it turned.

"I wish we knew what was causing those flats. I felt like we could have hung in there and moved up with track position. I screwed up qualifying -- that was my fault -- and it put us way back at the start, but we were coming to the front. It's a long season and we'll only get better."

Earnhardt dropped from third to 14th in the Nextel Cup standings and broke his personal streak of 70 consecutive races in the top 10 in points.

ROUGH DAY, PART II: Joe Nemechek was disappointed but not distraught despite dropping out of the race Sunday with a blown engine after leading 63 of the first 177 laps.

"I'm definitely disappointed," Nemechek said, "but we had an awesome day -- they knew we were here. We just didn't have that luck on our side, but I'll tell you what: We'll be back in Vegas.

"We've got another new (car) just like this and we'll be there to win."

Nemechek was one of four drivers using Hendrick Motorsports-supplied engines that experienced engine-related problems Sunday.

"Very seldom do we have engine troubles," he said. "I have to thank Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports for the engines. It was just one of those days."

VETERAN'S DAY: Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte, a pair of veteran drivers making their first starts of the season in a Cup points race, finished 43rd and 36th, respectively.

Elliott spun and crashed in Turn 1 just 23 laps into the race and Labonte dropped out of the race after 216 laps with a rear gear failure. Both drivers are running limited schedules this season.

SAWYER DIES: Paul C. Sawyer, who owned Richmond International Raceway from 1956 to 1999, died Saturday night. He was 88.

Sawyer remained the track's chairman of the board after selling the facility to International Speedway Corp. in 1999.