Busch Suffers from Early Brake Rotor Issue at Pocono
M&M’s Driver Relegated to 33rd-Place Finish after Spending Time behind Wall for Repairs
Date: Aug. 5, 2012
Event: Pennsylvania 400 (Round 21 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Pocono (Pa.) Raceway (2.5-mile triangle)
Start/Finish: 20th/33rd (Accident, completed 74 of 98 laps in a rain-shortened finish)
Point Standing: 15th (599 points, 145 out of first; 80 behind 10th)
Winner: Jeff Gordon of Hendrick Motorsports (Chevrolet)
Just 19 laps into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pennsylvania 400 on Sunday, Kyle Busch’s day turned from promising to heartbreaking.
Busch, the driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), gained 10 positions during the first 10 laps, but a left-rear brake rotor shattered when he entered turn 1 on lap 19, sending him into the outside SAFER Barrier exiting the turn. The broken brake rotor, coupled with damage from the contact with the wall, sent him for a lengthy stay in the garage for repairs, relegating him to a disappointing 33rd-place finish.
“We just blew out the rear brake rotors – disintegrated it – and then blew out the rear caliper after that,” Busch said. “Getting down into turn one with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver. I kept trying to pump it to keep feeding pressure to the rest of the three wheels to keep it off the fence but just couldn’t do it. I hate it for all of these guys on this M&M’s team. We had a really fast race car today. We were trying to keep sight on the 48 (Jimmie Johnson), at least. Just the way it seems to be the way our year has gone.”
After spending 23 laps in the garage while the M&M’s team made repairs, Busch returned to the track on lap 42 in the 41st position. Busch spent the remainder of the race trying to learn as much as possible while also gaining as many spots as he could in a race that was cut short on lap 98 when a rainstorm hit the 2.5-mile triangle, ending the race 62 laps short of the scheduled distance.
Busch’s JGR companions – Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry, and Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – finished 13th and 29th, respectively.
Jeff Gordon won the Pennsylvania 400 to score his 86th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his sixth Sprint Cup win at Pocono.
Kasey Kahne finished behind Gordon in the runner-up spot as the race ended under caution with heavy rain beginning to soak the racetrack, while Martin Truex Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Tony Stewart rounded out the top-five. Ryan Newman, Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer, Regan Smith and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were three caution periods for 14 laps, with 14 drivers failing to finish.
With round 21 of 36 complete, Hamlin leads the JGR trio in the championship point standings. He dropped three spots to eighth with 683 points, 61 behind series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. Busch dropped four spots to 15th with 599 points, 145 out of first and 80 behind 10th-place Clint Bowyer. Logano remained 17th with 575 points, 169 away from the top spot and 104 behind 10th.
Only the top-10 in points are locked into the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup, which begins Sept. 16 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. Just five races remain before the cutoff for the 12-driver, 10-race Chase. Chase positions 11-12 are wild cards and are awarded to those drivers between 11th and 20th in points who have the most wins. In the event of multiple drivers having the same amount of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.
Currently, Kahne holds the 11th-place wild card spot thanks to his two victories, the most of any driver outside the top-10. Gordon vaulted into the 12th-place wild card spot with his win in the Pennsylvania 400. While Gordon has only one victory just like fellow wild card contenders Ryan Newman, Busch and Logano, his 13th-place point standing earns him the 12th and final wild card by virtue of the tiebreaker. Busch can earn a wild card spot by grabbing another victory in the next five races or by climbing into the top-10 in points.
The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen Sunday, Aug. 12 at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. The race starts at 1 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at noon.
