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closeUp and down day for Penske Racing
Newman wins pole; Busch wrecks in practice
DAVID POOLE, dpoole@charlotteobserver.com
Friday, Jun. 08, 2007
LONG POND, Pa. – Friday could have been worse for Kurt Busch.
Yes, Busch wrecked his primary car in practice and then was only 27th fastest at 166.119 mph in his backup No. 12 Dodge in qualifying for Sunday’s Pocono 500, which saw Ryan Newman – Busch’s teammate – win his third straight pole with a lap at 170.062 mph.
And yes, the day started with NASCAR fining Busch $100,000 and docking him 100 points for his actions on pit road during Monday’s race at Dover. The deduction dropped Busch from 11th to 17th in the Nextel Cup standings. Car owner Roger Penske was also docked 100 points.
But Busch was not suspended after driving his car up beside Tony Stewart’s and sending a Stewart crew member scurrying out of potential harm’s way.
“I did think I was probably going to get parked,” Busch admitted. “But it’s a blessing that NASCAR realized nothing too serious did happen so we can move forward.”
Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president for competition, said NASCAR considered several options in response to the Dover incident, which began when Stewart and Busch were involved in an incident on the track.
“We felt like we got everybody’s attention,” Pemberton said. “We felt the penalty, 100 points and $100,000, was substantial. One thing you can’t lose sight of is we parked Kurt during the (Dover) race, also, which put him to the 42nd finishing position. We’re fairly happy with what we’ve done. …It took 2 ½ days to work to make sure we did what was best for ourselves, for Roger Penske and his group, for Kurt Busch and the people who were on pit road. his is where we landed.”
Busch said he regretted his actions. He has talked to J.D. Gibbs, president of Stewart’s team at Joe Gibbs Racing, and also tried without success to talk to Jason Lee, the crewman who jumped over the hood of Stewart’s car when he saw Busch coming.
“Safety on pit road can’t be compromised. I understand that,” said Busch, who insisted he had control of his car when he stopped alongside Stewart. “There was almost hitting a guy on pit road versus actual. That still needs to be separated here.”
Busch said he wanted Stewart to know how angry he was about their incident on the track. The two drivers haven’t talked since Monday and Busch still wants that to happen.
“I wanted him (Stewart) to look me in the whites of my eyes and see how upset I was,” Busch said. “We do need to discuss how we can move forward.”
Busch’s penalty, as you’d expect, did draw plenty of discussion among other drivers.
“We’ve got to take care of our guys on pit road,” Kevin Harvick said.. “I just kind of feel sorry for Roger (Penske). He's one of those guys who is probably one of the world's most respected businessmen and he's got to deal with something like that.”
Harvick was parked for a Cup race once after angering NASCAR with his behavior during a Truck Series race. “Been there, done that,” Harvick said. “That’s no fun."
Jeff Burton said he wasn’t surprised that Busch wasn’t suspended.
“But I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had been, either,” Burton said. “There’s no reason why the penalty shouldn’t have been severe, and 100 points is pretty big, in addition to whatever points he lost by being parked last week.
“Everybody in the garage understands that next time it will be more. But there is a lot of talk in the garage that he got off easy. It’s kind of crazy that we’ve come to a point where a 100-point fine is getting off easy.”
Newman’s lap not only gave him his fourth pole this year and the 41st of his career, it made him the first to beat Denny Hamlin at anything at this 2.5-track. Hamlin, who won both poles and both races at Pocono last year, was “merely” second-fastest on Friday at 169.278 mph.
Martin Truex Jr. who got his first Nextel Cup win at Dover in Monday’s rain-delayed event, will start third after a lap at 168.710 mph. Kyle Busch will start fourth with Clint Bowyer fifth.
Bill Elliott failed to make the race on speed in the No. 21 Ford, so he will use a former champion’s provisional for the first time this year. That pushed Michael Waltrip out of the field. Kenny Wallace, Jeremy Mayfield, Kevin Lepage, Dale Jarrett and Mike Bliss also failed to qualify.