Last Week in Las Vegas Sports (Mar 13 - 19)

#4 Kurt Busch discusses success and failures during NASCAR’s west coast swing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYzkz4UgMQ8

Las Vegas native Kurt Busch has had an up-and-down start to the 2022 NASCAR season, and while some of that has to do with his new team, the new next-gen car is also playing a role in his learning curve. Fortunately for Busch, he collected his second top-ten and first top-five of the season last week at Phoenix Motor Speedway. Busch even had the honor of being the top-performing Toyota in the field. 

"We were okay on older tires – usually, I'm a sticker (new tire) guy. My crew chief, Billy Scott, said 'No, you are going to stay out, buddy.' I need sticker tires and this car reacted really well to scuffs today, so that's good for our notebook at 23XI," Busch explained. "We were just trying to get to 10th, but we will take a top-five. It's really cool for our program," he said. "This was a good West Coast swing. Not so much on points with Stage 1 and Stage 2, but our finishes were there, and we will keep chiseling away."

Busch currently sits 11th in points, and his top-five finish at Phoenix gives the team something to work with on other mile tracks on the NASCAR Circuit. It might even be what helps improve Bubba Wallace Jr's start to the season, which has bordered on abysmal after his second-place finish in the Daytona 500.