Breaking news

NASCAR Cup

Kurt Busch's Double dream ends prematurely

Busch's attempt to complete 1,100-mile falls 129 laps short after engine fails at Charlotte

Lee Spencer

Edited: May 26, 2014, 3:37 AM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

Kurt Busch, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet

CONCORD, N.C. -- Kurt Busch’s attempt at a 1,100-mile Double ended after only 906.5.

Despite an extremely successful Indianapolis 500, where Busch was the top qualifying and top finishing rookie in his open wheel debut, he completed just 271 laps before his engine expired in the Coca-Cola 600.

"The motor blew,” Busch said. “It acted like it swallowed three cylinders all at once, so it was real slow. It's kind of a shame. It almost symbolizes how tough it's been on the Haas Automation team. We give it our all, and the way we were clawing our way up there and got a lucky break with the caution one time… I thought we were making good gains on the car.”

Busch landed on the front stretch grass at Charlotte Motor Speedway just before 5 p.m. Although the former Sprint Cup champ had to start at the back of the field for missing the drivers’ meeting, he received the lucky dog on Lap 149 and raced into the top 10 by Lap 212.

"The car is the best it's been," Busch said before entering the pits. "I wouldn't change anything."

Two laps later, the No. 41 Haas Chevy made contact with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which damaged the car. First came the tire smoke, then the team diagnosed a broken left rear shock – which NASCAR would not allow the team to change on pit road.

"It feels like a pogo stick,” Busch said during the fifth caution on Lap 236. “Like there's no shock.”

While Busch nursed his car around the track with the damage shock, he felt the first indications that his engine was souring.

On Lap 257, Busch radioed, “I think we just dropped a cylinder....I think we just dropped another one...it's just a matter of time.”

Busch was running 17th just before his engine expired. Inevitably, he was scored 40th.

"It was really a lot of fun,” Busch said. “A lot of preparation, a lot of hard work and a lot of team involvement on the Andretti (Autosport) side and the Stewart-Haas side. It was a dream come true to run at Indy and post a really good finish there. I can't let what happened down here dampen the mood. I'm still really in awe of how well we ran at Indy. Those Andretti guys gave me a good car to do it with.

“Tonight, we were clawing our way up. We got a lucky break with one of the yellows. It was nice to run in the packs and side-by-side and feel that NASCAR on the same day as an IndyCar. The motor just expired. It's a tough break. All in all, I'm very satisfied. I gave it my all. I trained very hard. I had a lot of people helping out. It takes a team if you're going to do 1,100 miles. It's not just one individual. We came up just short. It really means a lot."

While it wasn't the finish that Busch was hoping for he felt "good" with the exception of his hands and feet being "a little sore". As elated as Busch was when he landed, he insisted that "Overall, I can stand here with a smile knowing I gave it my all for six months trying to get to this point.”

So would Busch attempt the Double again?

“I’d love to do it again," Busch said. "And at the same time, you’ve got to do it with quality teams. The teams really can make the big difference in all of this. And I have to thank Andretti and I have to thank Stewart-Haas.”

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Nearly a half-century later, Wood Brothers fondly remember Jim Clark's dominant Indy 500 win

Next article Johnson wins for the seventh time at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance

WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 8 h

Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Phoenix II

8 h

How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

NASCAR O'Reilly

NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly

Phoenix II

9 h

Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Formula 1

F1 Formula 1

Singapore GP

15 h

Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts