Changes with Kurt Busch’s crew; going for championship record

#41 Kurt Busch up high

As Kurt Busch embarks on his 17th full season in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series and his fourth with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), he has a good reason to feel right at home as the driver of the #41 Haas Automation/Monster Energy Ford, as the 2017 marks a homecoming for Busch to Ford Motor Company, the manufacturer with whom he won the 2004 Cup Series championship.

It was Busch's first Cup Series title and Ford's most recent. Busch will attempt to surpass NASCAR Hall of Famer Terry Labonte's record for time between championships – 12 seasons separated Labonte's two titles in 1984 and 1996 – and do it with the Dearborn, Michigan-based manufacturer with whom his NASCAR Cup Series career began.

Five new crew members join the Tony Gibson-led Haas Automation/Monster Energy crew 2017 season. Scott Barnette, J.D. Frey, Todd Hamm, Matthew Kennedy and Tony Raines join Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) and the #41 team. Barnette will serve as the second gas man, Frey as a mechanic, Hamm as the engine tuner, Kennedy as the third engineer and Raines as the spotter. SHR