PENSKE RACING (RICHMOND) - Event Report

Penske Racing drivers Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman earned top-10 finishes for the second straight week Sunday, placing fifth and sixth, respectively, in the rain-delayed Crown Royal Presents The Jim Stewart 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Busch's second consecutive top-five finish in his Miller Lite Dodge allowed him to gain another position in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings. The Las Vegas native is now ninth in the standings, five points out of eighth and 493 in arrears to standings' leader Jeff Gordon.

Newman, who drove his Alltel Dodge Avenger to his second straight top-10 finish, has now gained seven positions in the standings the last two weeks. His five position gain at the 0.75-mile Richmond track was the largest of the week. Newman is now 19th in the standings, 120 points out of 12th, this year's cutoff for the Chase for the Championship.

Even though the Penske teammates led the Dodge contingent, both experienced problems during the 400-lap event.

Busch, who started 33rd, lost a lap during the first caution period that began on lap 6. He was attempting to avoid a spinning Casey Mears when he was tagged in the rear by Reed Sorenson and spun. Then, on the pit stop to change four tires, a lug nut jammed in Jay Hackney's air gun while he was changing the right-front tire. Only nine laps into the race, Busch was a lap down.

NASCAR told the teams in the pre-race drivers' meeting there would be a competition yellow around lap 40 so they could refuel the cars and check everything on them due to the race being postponed because of rain after the 43-car field had run 13 laps Saturday night under green-yellow conditions. Busch received the "lucky dog" award during the second of 14 yellow flags and that allowed him to regain his lost lap.

When the race returned to green-flag conditions on lap 47, Busch began his charge through the field, slowed only by caution flags. By lap 125, the restart following the fifth caution period, Busch was 16th.

For the next 75 laps, Busch possessed the fastest car on the track. He passed Penske teammate Ryan Newman for 13th on lap 131 and got around Jeff Green for 10th five laps later. Busch passed Greg Biffle for fifth on lap 162 as he continued his impressive run toward the front. He cleared Gordon for fourth on lap 165 and got around Jimmie Johnson for third on lap 184.

At the race's mid-point, Busch was third. Green-flag pit stops began a lap later. Denny Hamlin pitted on lap 203, moving Busch up to second. When then leader Kevin Harvick pitted on lap 205, Busch was credited with leading lap 206 before he hit pit road for four tires and fuel. Once the green-flag stops had been completed, Busch was fourth.

All total, Busch led three times for 27 laps, but it was an ill-timed pit stop that cost him his victory chances.

"We've just got to figure out when to pit," team owner Roger Penske said after the race. "If we don't come, it's wrong and if we do come in, it's wrong, but still it was a good race for both teams. I think Kurt had a car that could have won, and it looks like we're learning a lot about the COT.'

Busch also knew he had a car that could have won and he didn't hide his disappointment after the event.

'I'm very disappointed we let that race get away. I'm very disappointed the Miller Lite Dodge didn't win today, but that's why they call it racing," Busch said. "We've got to be smart on pit road, too. We had a good car and the team worked well on pit stops. We just decided to pit at the wrong time. I've thrown this Richmond race away way too many times."

Busch said he felt his Dodge Avenger was just as strong Sunday as the Hendrick Motorsports cars that finished first, second and fourth.

'We should have a feather in our caps today to know we ran with them [Hendrick cars]," Busch said. "We definitely had a shot to beat them if we'd had the right pit strategy.

"Each race we've made progress and Darlington is going to be a tough race, but we just have to stay cool and see what we can do down there next weekend. I said all along if one team gets on it they're going to be tough to catch. We were pretty good today, but we're pretty good at throwing them away as well."

For Newman, it was a loose condition on entry and exit of the turns that proved to be troublesome for his Alltel Dodge Avenger. Still, after starting 30th, he steadily fought his way through the field. By lap 80 he had cracked the top 15. Newman led lap 207 during a round of green-flag pit stops, but for the most part, he fluctuated between 11th and 13th. With 100 laps remaining, Newman worked his way into the top 10 and remained there for the rest of the race. Before he could claim sixth, however, he had to fend off stiff challenges from Tony Stewart and Harvick.

'We had a good run, for sure, in this Alltel Dodge," Newman said. "Both Penske cars did. Kurt was definitely a little bit better than me for most of the day, but the guys did a good job playing strategy and everything else to get ahead of those guys. It was almost a top five and that would have been nice, but it was a good run for us, nevertheless.

'I'm really looking forward to Darlington. Obviously, the Hendrick cars are the ones to beat, and from what I've heard, they got a head start on everybody with testing, and that kind of shows up. But the bottom line is I like Darlington and I look forward to going there because it's a fun track for me. Our Car of Tomorrow [Dodge Avenger] program is strong. I'm not saying we can't make it stronger, but it's definitely strong right now.'

In addition to the Cup race on Saturday night at the Darlington track, Newman will race his No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger in the Busch Series event on Friday night. The Cup race will be broadcast live by FOX and MRN Radio, while the Busch event will be televised by ESPN2 and broadcast by MRN Radio.

BUSCH SERIES

RICHMOND, Va. (May 4, 2007) ' Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, was looking forward to a promising run in his first Busch Series night race at Richmond International Raceway until an incident on lap 16 in Friday's Circuit City 250 forced him to retire early.

With six career Busch Series starts and two Richmond IndyCar wins under his belt, Hornish and his team were optimistic about their chances of a good performance in the Circuit City 250 despite starting 28th.

'We were out there trying to get some laps in and get the tires up to temperature and we started a little bit loose,' Hornish said.

But due to an accident on lap 15, he was unable to get in the laps and demonstrate what he had learned during the team's test at the 0.75-mile oval earlier this season. When Hornish passed Steve Wallace on the outside in turns one and two, Wallace's car got loose and slid into the side of Hornish's Dod ge Charger. For a split second, it seemed as though Hornish had saved it from hitting the wall. Unfortuntely, his Mobil 1 Dodge swung back around, shoving the car's right front into the wall.

'Steve got a run on me coming off (turn) two the lap before. I got around him but he didn't make the corner,' Hornish explained.

Hornish pulled into the pits briefly and the Mobil 1 team went to work, hoping the damage was only cosmetic. Despite their best efforts, the damage to the front control arms proved too extensive to continue.

'It's unfortunate,' Hornish uttered disappointedly. 'Mobil 1 has just really stepped up to try to help us out with this program. They've done a great job for us. Obviously, we'd like to get some more time out there on the race track. It was just one of those incidents that we couldn't control.'

After defending his title at the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500, Hornish's next Busch Series appearance in the No. 12 Mobil 1 D odge will be Aug. 18 at Michigan International Speedway in the CARFAX 250 at 3:30 p.m. EDT.