Any place but home: Kurt Busch still seeking first LVMS win

The questioner was trying to be kind in asking again about Kurt Busch’s futility on his hometown track.

The questionee interrupted as if to say no sugarcoating was necessary.

“I’m just going to be bluntly honest — Vegas kicks my butt every time I go there,” said the oldest of NASCAR’s racing Busch brothers about his 0-for-20 streak at Las Vegas Motor Speedway heading into the Pennzoil 400 on Sunday.

“I don’t know what it is, but the track and I have not figured out how to dance with each other.”

There are two Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Las Vegas, so perhaps the 41-year-old veteran may want to drop by for a fox trot lesson before race day.

“What’s funny is it’s my best qualifying track, and I think it’s one of my worst average finishes of all of the tracks,” Busch said of getting around the 1.5-mile LVMS oval. “I get a feeling early on that it’s going to be my year, and then I don’t find the right groove toward the end.”

The statistics back him up. His average starting position of 9.8 at LVMS, which includes two pole-position starts, is his best on any NASCAR track. His average finishing position of 22.4 is his worst.

No quick fix

“If I knew what it was, I’d fix it,” said the 2004 Cup Series and 2017 Daytona 500 champion, who finished 33rd in the 2020 season-opener at Daytona on Monday after being eliminated in one of the major crashes. “But gotta be better at the end of the race when the track is rubbered in and at its slickest.

“Vegas seems like it has plenty of grip when we unload on Fridays. But as the weekend progresses, especially with all three (NASCAR) series there, it really goes through a lot of phases.”

His fifth-place finish in last spring’s Pennzoil 400 was his best at home since he ran third at LVMS during his last season driving for Jack Roush in 2005. It set the pace for a season in which Busch seemed to get his mojo back.

There was speculation he might retire after 2019. But after edging brother Kyle for a victory at Kentucky and qualifying for the playoffs, he re-signed to drive the No. 1 Chevrolet for car owner Chip Ganassi.

“I’m appreciative at this point in my career,” said Busch, who remains a fierce competitor on the track but has become one of the sport’s nicest guys away from it. “I’m humbled by the opportunity that came about last summer, and that’s to be teamed up with Ganassi, Monster Energy and Chevrolet on a multiyear contract extension.

“Let’s keep this band together and go after it hard.”

Contact Ron Kantowski at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. Follow @ronkantowski on Twitter.