After skating through the “Big One” on Lap 118, Kurt Busch had the lead in Sunday’s Coke Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway.
His stay at the front of the field, however, was short-lived. Even though weather was threatening, crew chief Matt McCall told Busch to come to pit road if NASCAR gave the one-to-go signal.
“Got poker chips all over the car, and we’re pushing them all-in,” Busch said on his radio in a reference to sponsor Global Poker.
The tower signaled an impeding restart on Lap 124, and Busch steered his No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet down pit road to top off with fuel.
But the race never restarted. Lightning in the area forced NASCAR to revert to caution, and a subsequent rainstorm ended the event with Justin Haley as the unlikely winner.
Even with the pit stop, Busch was 10th when the race was called, posting his 10th top 10 result of the season.
“I feel like we were in a really good position to win the race, and it’s just a matter of when the one random lightning bolt comes down to decide when you make the call,” Busch said “It was a judgment call on their part.”
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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