Busch hopes fast times change intermediate luck

HAMPTON, Ga. -- To say Kurt Busch has struggled on intermediate, 1.5-mile tracks this season would be an understatement. In the seven races this season on the six tracks 1.5 miles in length, Busch has an average finish of 21.2, well off his career average of 18.3.

Atlanta Motor Speedway, host of Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500, hasn't been kind to Busch either. The driver of the No. 2 Penske Dodge has an average finish of 20.6 with six of his 15 finishes 32nd or worse. So after final practice Saturday, it was a welcome sight to see Busch get out of his car with a smile on his face.

Busch was the only non-Chase driver to post top-10 speeds in both practices Saturday at Atlanta. In the first practice, Busch was 10th on the speed chart with a lap of 180.252 mph; final practice saw Busch move up two spots with the eighth-fastest lap at 179.412.

"It would be big," Busch said when asked what a win Sunday on a 1.5-mile track would do for his team. "That's where we have struggled most of the season, but as of late the mile-and-a-half tracks have been better for us. So if we can get a win here and get our short-track program in better shape, I think that we'll be heading in the right direction."

Carl Edwards led both practices with a fast lap in the first practice of 181.776 followed up with a lap of 184.726 in final practice. Kevin Harvick also posted two top-five laps in the back-to-back practices.

Things were a little more interesting in practice for Busch than the team intended. The track changed dramatically between the first and second practice sessions, and Busch said the team had to make some serious adjustments.

"We were searching for a tighter setup in the first practice and then the track changed in between the two practice sessions. That made us double-check everything that we had, which killed about a half-hour and then we were tight in the second practice," Busch said. "We have both of those setups and we'll just shoot somewhere in the middle. I was running loose on the last run and built up tight on the air pressure, so that's what's disappointing."

Air pressure could play a major factor in Sunday's race. In the spring race at Atlanta, tire wear was a serious issue among the drivers, so Goodyear has brought a softer right-side tire to Atlanta in hopes that tire wear won't be a concern.

Busch isn't sold on the changes making much of an impact.

"When you build a car that's heavier on the right side, has less downforce and doesn't turn, you're going to wear out tires," Busch said. "I hope Goodyear did their homework for race day."

Tire issues aside, Busch is focused on breaking up the Chase party with a strong finish at Atlanta. The last four races at the track have seen Busch finish 14th, 11th, eighth and 11th and he has led 112 laps among those races.

The plan for the No. 2 team is to focus on the task at hand and not worry so much about what the 42 other cars are doing.

"We have to run our own pace," Busch said. "There are guys that will be faster than us off the get-go. There are some guys that will be faster later in the run. We just have to run our own race and own pace and race the racetrack for 500 miles."