Kurt Busch Red Hot in Atlanta

The nickname “Hotlanta” is often used in reference to the Atlanta nightlife and the abundance of activities in which to participate while in the popular Southern city. To a lesser degree, the nickname also refers to the hot summer temperatures typical in the Southeast.

This weekend, the nickname “Hotlanta” could certainly apply to Kurt Busch and his recent performances in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), has three Sprint Cup wins – October 2002, March 2009, March 2010 – and 10 top-10 finishes in 23 starts at Atlanta. Perhaps more importantly, in his last five starts at the 1.54-mile oval, Busch hasn’t finished worse than 13th. In fact, the Las Vegas native has secured one win, two fourth-place finishes, one sixth-place effort and a 13th-place finish in those five races.

It’s easy to see that Busch is red hot when it comes to racing in Atlanta.

And with a third-place run two weeks ago at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International and a fifth-place finish this past weekend at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Busch is riding a wave of momentum into this weekend’s Oral-B USA 500 that he hopes to continue.

The No. 41 team officially clinched a berth in the 2014 Chase thanks to Busch’s win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway in March. A win at Atlanta this weekend also would move Busch ahead of the four other single-race winners of the 2014 season thus far. The 16 drivers who qualify for the Chase will have their point total reset to 2,000, and will be seeded based on bonus points – three per win – earned prior to the start of the Chase. That would see Busch, currently seeded 11th, jump to eighth.

With this weekend’s Atlanta race also falling on Labor Day weekend – an annual national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country – Busch has added incentive to improve on his recent successes and find his way to victory lane.

A win on the Labor Day weekend race would also be the perfect way to salute the people and all of their hard work behind the American success story that is Busch’s sponsor Haas Automation. With more than 1,200 employees, Haas Automation – whose products are manufactured at the company’s expansive facility in Oxnard, California – is the largest, most modern machine tool manufacturing operation in the United States.

This weekend, Busch hopes to turn up the heat and take control in “Hotlanta.” With just two regular-season races remaining before the 2014 Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship begins, Busch would like nothing more than to drive his No. 41 Haas Automation Chevy into victory lane, scoring his second win of the season and securing valuable bonus points for the onset of the Chase.

TSC PR