All three of the Stewart-Haas Racing Chase contenders advanced to round two of qualification for the Bad Boy Off Road 300 at New Hampshire. None of them moved to the next level.
Kurt Busch finished third in last year’s Chicagoland Speedway race and he needed that solid result to survive his next two attempts at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway where he finished 19th and 17th respectively. This week, he was 13th after starting 12th.
Kurt Busch finished the Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway. He started the evening fifth.
Kurt Busch enters the Federated Auto Parts 400 weekend with a four-race string of top-15s at Richmond International Raceway. This streak is highlighted by a victory in spring 2015.
Kurt Busch had been running at the end of every race this year entering the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. That was a record for lead lap finishes at the start of a season. Stretching back to last year, he had complete showings in 25 consecutive races and had been running at the end of 61 attempts—both of which led the league. He crashed on lap 372 to end them.
Kyle Busch posted the fastest single lap in the first practice session for the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. His top lap of 128.969 mph was set about midway through the session.
In the first 16 races of this season, Kurt Busch finished 13th or better in all but one race; he was 30th at Auto Club Speedway. In the last six races, he finished outside the top 20 twice and worse than 15th once, which means three of his four worst results have come since the beginning of July.
The Busch Brothers started the Pennsylvania 400 on the same row in 15th and 16th. The finished nose to tail as well, with Kyle posting a ninth and Kurt finishing 10th.
Kyle and Kurt Busch both failed to advance to the third and final round of qualification. Kyle posted a lap of 177.054 mph while Kurt was marginally better with a 177.183. Kyle starts the Pennsylvania 400 16th; Kurt will line up 15th.
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch finished outside the top 15 for the third time in the past four races. He was 16th in the Crown Royal Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard after starting 11th.
Kurt Busch enters the New Hampshire 301 with a five-race streak of top-15 finishes on flat tracks. His worst result in that span was a 13th at Martinsville Speedway this spring, but he offset that with a victory in the Axalta 400 at Pocono Raceway last month.
Kurt Busch was forced to go to the back of the grid to start the Quaker State 400 by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway, but his place-differential was based on his official starting position of third. Everyone knew it would take a little strategy and a lot of speed to finish in the top 10. Busch surpassed expectations with a fourth-place finish.
Kurt Busch spun and made contact with the Kentucky Speedway wall late in practice for the Quaker State 400. The damage was significant enough to cause the team to go to a backup.
Kurt Busch went from challenging for a top-five to finishing 23rd—the last car on the lead lap—when he was spun by Joey Logano in turn four at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400.