Busch Heads To Finale Looking Over Shoulder At Surging Johnson
By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Monday, November 15, 2004

One and done! The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series season comes to a conclusion Nov. 21 in sunny south Florida, and the $5-million check that goes with the title is Kurt Busch's to win or lose.

The championship will belong to Busch if he brings his Smirnoff Ice/Sharpie Ford home first, or second and leads a lap, in the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. If he doesn't, then red-hot Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are in easy striking distance, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin are within reach.

Somehow Busch survived the travails of the infamous "Lady in Black" track to finish sixth at Darlington Raceway and maintain his lead in the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" by a slender thread of 18 points over Johnson and 21 over Gordon. Johnson won the Mountain Dew Southern 500 at Darlington, his fourth victory in the last five races in the Lowe's Chevrolet.

Busch has led the 10-race shootout for all but two days since winning the opener of the 10-driver showdown on Sept. 19 at New Hampshire International Speedway.

Busch lost his advantage when Earnhardt took the checkered flag Oct. 3 at Talladega Superspeedway, only to get it back by 12 points two days later when Earnhardt was docked 25 points for using a vulgar word during a nationally televised post-race interview.

At Darlington, Busch said he had the worse-handling car he had ever driven at the track. An incident early in the race required some body repair during a caution, and Busch fell to 25th place. He battled to 10th but slipped to 20th with 124 laps left when he needed tires. He worked his way up to ninth. Then with 36 laps remaining, Busch's crew speedily got him out during the final round of pit stops in fourth. He dropped to sixth before the checkered, but it was enough to maintain his perch atop the standings.

"We feel like we dodged a bullet today," Busch said.

Meanwhile, Johnson used a foul-up on the final pit stop by his teammate and car owner Gordon to grab the race lead the on Lap 341 of 367. He took new tires on Lap 347 as Jamie McMurray and Kasey Kahne stayed out to run one-two, but Johnson's fresh rubber was all he needed to charge back to the front for good on Lap 359.

Johnson trailed Busch by 247 points in ninth place after four races of the Chase. He then drove to victory at Charlotte, Martinsville, Atlanta and Darlington, added a sixth place at Phoenix and now is in position to win his first championship.

"I can't believe it," Johnson said.

But it will be a peeved Gordon, seeking his fifth championship, who will put the pressure on Busch and Johnson. Four-time Brickyard 400 winner Gordon led the most laps at Darlington as he sought to win the last Southern 500, but it wasn't the whims of the track that got him, but his pit crew.

Gordon came in for a hurried pit stop as the leader on Lap 337. But the crew, in its hustle to get the car back out in first place, didn't get the air hose pulled away from the right rear of the car before the jack was lowered. It was caught under the right rear tire, and costly seconds were lost as it was tugged loose.

On Lap 351, Gordon clinched the five-point bonus for leading the most laps but could not get his DuPont Chevrolet back to the front before the laps ran out.

"I'm just mad about it," said Gordon, who felt he should have won. "I'm entitled to that, and I'm going to be mad for a while. I hope that we can go to Homestead and rebound."

Earnhardt managed to hang in contention by finishing 11th but trails by 72 points. His only chance to win the title is for all three of the front-runners to fall out far back at Homestead. Earnhardt was battling up front when on Lap 342 the battery on his Budweiser Chevrolet died - and maybe his championship chances, too. A quick change was made, but there wasn't time to get back up to the top five in the race.

"We don't traditionally run good at Darlington," said Earnhardt, who added he was more dismayed by his consecutive 33rd-place finishes in the previous two races than his Darlington result.

Veteran Mark Martin kept in the hunt by chasing Johnson across the line in second, but he also is in the same boat at Earnhardt with an additional driver to overcome. The other five drivers in the Chase - Tony Stewart, Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Elliott Sadler and Jeremy Mayfield - all are mathematically out of the running.

THE CHASE
1. Kurt Busch 6,346 (Chase finishes: 1-5-5-6-4-42-10-6)
2. Jimmie Johnson -18 (6,328; 11-10-37-32-1-1-1-6-1)
3. Jeff Gordon -21 (6,325; 7-3-19-13-2-9-34-3-3)
4. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -72 (6,274; 6-14-3-9-1-9-3-33-33-1-11)
5. Mark Martin -82 (6,264; 13-2-15-20-13-12-2-15-2)
6. Tony Stewart -185 (6,161; 39-6-6-14-10-15-9-8-17)
7. Ryan Newman -244 (6,102; 33-1-16-33-14-3-17-2-34)
8. Matt Kenseth -383 (5,963; 2-32-14-17-11-16-41-36-20)
9. Elliott Sadler -383 (5,963; 8-20-22-4-7-32-36-38-23)
10. Jeremy Mayfield -404 (5,942; 35-7-38-5-30-6-26-21-19) ***

2005 tickets: The 12th Brickyard 400 is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005. Customers who are upgrading or purchasing Brickyard 400 tickets for the first time should act quickly to increase their chances of obtaining their desired seats.

To purchase tickets, camping or parking, contact the IMS ticket office at (800) 822-INDY outside the Indianapolis area, (317) 492-6700 locally or log on to www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.


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