Kurt Busch wins first race at Texas, a million for a fan
by Mary Jo Buchanan (Archives/Bio)
Posted on 11/8/2009
With his signature backward victory lap, Kurt Busch celebrated his first ever victory at Texas Motor Speedway. Mirroring Carl Edwards' victory from a year ago, Busch stretched his fuel mileage to take the checkered flag, while others had to pit or ran out of gas.
This was Busch's second win of the season, the first coming at Atlanta. This is also the second race in two years at Texas Motor Speedway where fuel was the deciding factor in the race win.
“I knew what I had for fuel mileage,” Busch said. “And I was confident in my guys’ numbers. They gave me what I needed to win today.”
Busch's win also garnered $1 million for a lucky race fan, Michael McGee. McGee, an agricultural teacher and horse training business owner who had been named the 2009 Dickies American Worker of the Year, turned his $50,000 prize into $1 million with his selection of Busch to win the Dickies 500.
“I can’t believe it,” McGee said. “I’m in total shock.”
McGee was not the only one surprised with the race outcome. Kurt Busch's crew chief, Pat Tryson, who will be leaving the team next year, was shocked not only with the victory for his driver -- but also for the million-dollar fan winner.
“That's awesome,” Tryson said. “I'm really happy for that guy and I think he said he was going to give us all half; at least that's what we're all hoping for.”
While Kurt Busch stood in victory lane, his younger brother Kyle Busch left the track without comment. Kyle Busch had been chasing NASCAR's first trifecta this weekend, having won both the Truck and Nationwide Series races.
But history was not meant to be made for the younger Busch, who ran out of gas with two laps to go, sputtered into his pit and finished the race in the 11th position.
Kyle Busch has come close to racing’s triple crown but has never been able to fully execute it. Earlier this season at the Auto Club Speedway, he won the Truck and Nationwide races, only to finish eighth in the Cup race.
Busch’s new crew chief, Dave Rogers, was said he was disappointed to losing the opportunity to make history with his driver, especially after dominating most of the race.
“This no. 18 M&Ms Toyota Camry deserved to be in victory lane," Rogers said.“We missed the numbers somewhere. I can’t explain why we ran out of fuel.”
The other major story at Texas Motor Speedway was the early crash of Jimmie Johnson, the championship points leader. Johnson and Sam Hornish tangled on lap 3 of the race, sending Johnson hard into the wall and then into the garage for major repairs.
For over an hour, Johnson, as well as his Hendrick Motorsports teammates’ crews, worked on the damaged No. 48 race car. They replaced the front and rear suspensions, practially rebuilding the car.
Johnson was able to return to the track many laps down. He finished in the 38th position, shrinking his points lead to 73 points over teammate Mark Martin.
“It’s still a respectable lead,” Johnson said. “73 with two to go is a good position to be in. We didn’t want this by any means but we’re still in a great position and we’ll go to Phoenix and race.”
Denny Hamlin finished in the second position.
“We had a really good car but had a horrendous day in the pits,” Hamlin said. “I was trying to make something happen and got in the wall and I ended up killing our car. But the good part of that is I was able to save fuel and we were half a lap to the good.”
Matt Kenseth was the third place finisher, his sixth straight top-ten finish at Texas. Kenseth pitted for fuel with 25 laps to go.
“I saw Kurt (Busch) had a real fast car plus he was stretching his fuel,” Kenseth said. “So I knew we were probably in trouble there. But overall we had a great strategy and a really good solid day for the DeWalt guys.”
Mark Martin was able to bring his car home in the fourth position at Texas. With his finish and his teammate’s problems, Martin gained 111 points on Johnson in the championship chase.
“It’s not over yet,” Martin said. “The top six spots are being raced for like a dog fight.”
“I got two guys, two champions that have knocked me out of championships, breathing down my neck so the race is still on for all of us.”
Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five after starting in the 24th position.
In addition to Johnson, several other Chase contenders struggled at Texas Motor Speedway. Juan Pablo Montoya tangled with Carl Edwards, spending laps in the garage area after receiving heavy damage to his car.
Jeff Gordon, who started the race on the pole, also had difficulties. Gordon finished in the 13th position.
“More than anything, it was a missed opportunity,” Gordon said of his inability to capitalize on teammate Johnson’s misfortune. “I’m just terrible at this place. I just am. I can qualify but I just don’t really have the feel for this place.”
The Sprint Cup series travels to Phoenix for the penultimate race of the season. The final race will be at Homestead, where the Sprint Cup champion will be crowned.
The top ten finished as follows:
1 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite
2 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Office
3 Matt Kenseth Ford Dewalt
4 Mark Martin Chevrolet Carquest / Kellogg's
5 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil
6 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Office Depot / Old Spice
7 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Cheerios / Hamburger Helper
