CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kurt Busch's season comes down to one race at the same track where his year officially began.
Busch was suspended by NASCAR for the first three races of the season, so his debut didn't come until March at Phoenix International Raceway. Now, with his championship chances on the line, he will race there Sunday hoping to advance to the title-deciding season finale.
Busch is ranked seventh in the eight-driver field, and only Jeff Gordon has locked up a spot in the final four. That leaves three spots up for grabs, but Busch and his Stewart-Haas Racing team are approaching it as if they've got to win Sunday to earn a spot in the title race.
Standing in his way? Reigning NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick, his SHR teammate and winner of the last four races at Phoenix.
"We would be stupid not to run a Kevin Harvick setup," Busch said. "He's won almost every race there the last few years."
Indeed, Harvick has won five of the last six visits to the Arizona track.
But Busch hasn't been too bad, and he finished a respectable fifth there in March when he raced for the first time this season.
In 25 career starts, Busch has one win, six top-five finishes and 14 top-10s.
He tested at Phoenix recently and when the cars were working with the current rules package, he thought his No. 41 Chevrolet had similar speed to Matt Kenseth and Brad Keselowski, the two top cars at the test.
But Busch isn't sure that it won't be a free-for-all on Sunday with seven drivers racing for three spots.
"It's gotten pretty crazy. There are a lot of guys who think they need to be in that top-four who aren't, and there are guys who are in it who want to defend those positions," he said. "The Chase is definitely at a boiling point for everybody."
WDUN will have live MRN Radio coverage of this weekend's NASCAR action from Phoenix International Raceway beginning on Saturday with the Xfinity Series DAV 200 beginning at 3:30 pm on 102.9 FM. The action continues on Sunday with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 500 beginning at 1:30 pm on 102.9 FM and 550 AM.
