NASCAR: Is this the end of the road for Miller Lite?
2006 to 2010: The elder Busch takes the Miller Lite car
Is it ironic that Rusty Wallace’s successor behind the wheel of the “Blue Deuce” has a last name that matches the name of a rival beer to Miller?
Kurt Busch, the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion, was announced as Wallace’s replacement before the end of the 2005 season. His 2006 season got off to a poor start with a crash at Daytona International Speedway and then three more poor results.
His best race came at Bristol Motor Speedway that spring, but not without controversy, as he bumped Matt Kenseth out of the way in the final laps and then celebrated by doing snow angels on the start/finish line, as it had snowed the day before.
But Busch didn’t produce results similar to Wallace’s in the 1990s, as he recorded just seven top five finishes and 12 top 10 finishes in 36 races. He finished in 16th place in the championship standings, although he did take a series-best six pole positions.
In 2007, Busch turned it around with two wins and 14 top 10 finishes, taking home the checkered flag at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway late in the summer and finishing the regular season with the fourth seed for the Chase.
Two finishes outside of the top 20 to begin the Chase pretty much ended his championship hopes, however, and he finished in seventh place in the championship standings.
When Busch was driving the #2 Dodge for Team Penske, there was a pattern: a bad year, followed by a good year, followed by another bad year.
The 2008 season saw Busch miss the Chase again despite a runner-up finish in the Daytona 500 behind teammate Ryan Newman and a win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He recorded 10 finishes outside of the top 35 in 36 races, and his average finish was very poor at 21.9, something you don’t usually see out of Roger Penske’s drivers. He finished in 18th place in the championship standings.
2009 was Busch’s best year in the #2 Dodge with two wins, one at Atlanta Motor Speedway and another at Texas Motor Speedway. He even led the championship standings for a week early in the season, but he finished in fourth place in the standings, losing out to three Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
In 2010, he defended his victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway and also swept the week at Charlotte Motor Speedway with an All-Star Race victory and a Coca-Cola 600 victory. While he did qualify for the Chase, had some poor finishes en route to ending the season in 11th place in the championship standings end the year 11th in points.
While he stayed at Team Penske to drive the renumbered #22 Dodge the following year, a new driver took over the #2 Dodge.