Bowyer holds off Kurt Busch at Sonoma
SONOMA, Calif. — Breaking through for his first road-course victory, Clint Bowyer held off a furious charge by Kurt Busch to win Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. It was the sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup victory for the first-year Michael Waltrip Racing driver, who moved up to seventh in points and is well-positioned for a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth. Bowyer pulled away from Busch on a green-white-checkered finish, which was brought out by the day’s second caution flag with four laps to go. Tony Stewart finished second after passing Busch on the final lap. Brian Vickers finished fourth, and Jimmie Johnson was fifth. — Nate Ryan -Earnhardt
SONOMA, Calif. — Kurt Busch’s unsponsored car was emblazoned with no identification Sunday.
But after nearly winning at the Sonoma road course, Busch had a ready-made nickname for his red-and-white Chevrolet.
“If we pulled it into victory lane with an all-red car and no sponsor here in California,” Busch said. “I thought it was ‘Team Tiger Blood’ with Charlie Sheen around.”
He was smiling, but a reference involving Busch and an occasionally unhinged Hollywood star could have been taken differently many times over the past year. Busch lost his ride with Penske Racing after multiple altercations with the news media, and he served a one-race suspension from NASCAR two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway for berating a reporter.
Though finishing third in the No. 51 — Busch’s best finish with Phoenix Racing and his best result in 22 races — wasn’t redemptive by any means, it was another reminder that the 2004 Sprint Cup champion could be an attractive pickup for teams seeking a driver for 2013.
“If I can get my head on straight here and after the race, then I’m able to race every weekend and go for victories,” said Busch, who got choked up during postrace interviews.
While his public image has taken a beating, Busch has maintained respect among his peers. A procession of rival team members congratulated him Sunday in the pits, including former crew chief Steve Addington, who led Busch to a victory at Sonoma last year.
Clint Bowyer was impressed when Busch came to victory lane to offer his well wishes.
“It spoke volumes about his character,” Bowyer said. “He’s a champion of the sport; you can’t lose sight of that. I know there’s been a lot of negatives around him, but there were a hell of a lot of positives today for Kurt.”
Busch deflected credit and praised Phoenix Racing, which considered dropping him after Pocono. Team owner James Finch kept Busch, in part because the team of 18 employees voted to keep him.
“When you’re on a third of the budget (of other teams) and you almost bring it to victory lane, you can’t say that one guy does it,” Busch said. “They bring the best out in me.”