Kyle Busch is a realist.
After a broken brake rotor sent him into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 19 of Sunday's NASCAR race at Pocono, Busch knows he must win at least one of the next five races to qualify for the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Busch had a harrowing experience when he blew out a rear brake rotor heading toward the tightest turn at Pocono.
"Getting down into Turn 1 with a three-wheel brake is about the worst situation you can have as a race car driver," Busch said. "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."
Busch finished 33rd and dropped to 15th in the Cup standings and fourth in the race for one of two available wild card berths in the Chase.
"We're obviously not going to make the top 10 (and a guaranteed Chase spot), so if we get at win -- great -- we'll make the Chase," Busch said. "If not, we'll probably miss it."
RAIN PUTS DAMPER ON EDWARDS' RUN
Another driver in dire need of a victory, Carl Edwards, had his chances cut short by the rain.
Edwards is 12th in the standings, 60 points out of 10th, but without a win since March of last year. Under those circumstances, his seventh-place finish on Sunday wasn't quite good enough.
"We needed another restart," Edwards said. "It's too bad that the rain came when it did, because we needed to keep racing. ... The good news is that we were fast, and (crew chief) Chad (Norris) has done a really good job with the car, and I'm really looking forward to next week (at Watkins Glen).
"I have never wanted to race so bad in my life -- I want to be racing right now."
Filed under: