Kurt Busch Finishes Fourth at Pocono

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-50):

● Kurt Busch started fifth, finished seventh. Earned four bonus points.

● Quickly moved to fourth at the start of Stage 1.

● Made a green-flag pit stop for four tires, fuel and adjustments on lap 16 to correct a tight-handling condition.

● After several cars in front of Busch made green-flag pit stops, he was able to drive his Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion back into the top-10.

Stage 2 Recap (Laps 51-100):

● Started 12th, finished eighth. Earned three bonus points.

● Car became loose after adjustments made at the conclusion of Stage 1.

● On lap 66, Busch pitted under green-flag conditions for four tires and fuel.

● After a red-flag period, Busch battled his way to an eighth-place finish on a one-lap shootout that ended the stage.

Final Stage Recap (Laps 101-160):

● Started 15th, finished fourth.

● Busch drove his Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford into the top-four at the beginning of the final stage.

● On lap 125, Busch made a green-flag pit stop for four tires and fuel. He came off pit road in 17th.

● In only four laps, Busch battled his way back into the top-10.

● With 17 laps to go, Busch took his last pit stop under caution for four tires and fuel.

● Busch restarted in the seventh position and moved through the field to secure his second top-five finish of 2017.

Notes:

● Busch came into the Axalta presents the Pocono 400 as the defending race winner.

● Busch’s fourth-place finish was his 14th top-five and 19th top-10 in 32 career NASCAR Cup Series starts at Pocono. It was his second top-five and seventh top-10 of 2017.

● Twenty-four of the 39 drivers in the race finished on the lead lap.

● There were 13 lead changes among nine drivers.

● There were four caution periods for a total of 18 laps.

● Ryan Blaney won the Axalta presents the Pocono 400 to score his first career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory. His margin of victory over second-place Kevin Harvick was .139 of a second.

Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford Fusion for Stewart-Haas Racing:

“It was warm and we battled really hard today and had a nice, consistent run. I just didn’t have any special speed, but we ran good lap times, so I’m really proud of our Haas Automation/Monster Energy guys. It’s great to see a Ford in victory lane, so congratulations to the Wood Brothers. To see Ryan Blaney win – he’s going to be a superstar in this sport. He’s a good kid. I’m going to keep pushing hard, though. We’re chiseling away at this and we’re going to get in good position.”

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