Texas: Kurt Busch qualifying report

Kurt Busch Starting 23rd In Sunday's Samsung 500

Kurt Busch will start his Miller Lite Dodge from the 23rd position in Sunday's Samsung 500 here at Texas Motor Speedway after turning in an official lap of 187.311 mph (28.829 seconds) in this afternoon's qualifying session.

"We had really hoped to pick up much more than that, but it just didn't turn out that way," said Busch, who had recorded the 17th-fastest practice lap of 186.149 mph (29.009 seconds). "We were trying some things in practice that we'd hoped to use in testing Wednesday at Kentucky. Unfortunately, although the weather was nice there on Wednesday, the track's 'weepers' never gave us the opportunity to turn in a single lap. So we went ahead and tried them here in today's practice session.

"Like I told the guys, we must be making some progress with our setups," said Busch. "Unlike everywhere else, we unloaded and the car was pretty tight all around the track. We'll work on it and hopefully find the right balance during tomorrow's practice that will make our Miller Lite Dodge competitive here on Sunday."

Busch went out eighth in the order on Friday. He clocked in his lap prior to a lengthy cleanup for David Gilliland's blown engine which occurred two cars later.

-credit: pr