Kurt Busch looking for Pocono repeat

As the defending winner at Pocono Raceway, Kurt Busch has high expectations for his No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing team this weekend.

"But we have to keep them in perspective," Busch said ahead of the Pocono 400. "Yes, we have run well the last few weeks, and it's been a matter of changing the car's dynamic balance as far as our setup to match the aero changes."

With the organization's switch from Chevrolet to Ford this past offseason, Busch said they have continued to learn things in the windtunnel, as well as getting a sense of how the team is positioned at this point in the season this year compared to 2016.

This time around, Busch enters Pocono 16th in points with six top-10 finishes. However, a win in the season-opening Daytona 500 is the only top-five finish Busch has earned. But behind the raw numbers, Busch believes things took a positive turn in early April at Texas Motor Speedway.

"We've been cranking out top 10s, but we haven't been cranking out top fives," Busch said. "So, I was pushing really hard last week [at Dover. when he crashed twice and finished 37th], and the car stepped out. I took it beyond its limits, and it's because we're right there."

The first accident, when Busch got loose in Turn 2 and slid up into Brad Keselowski, occurred while restarting in second position. With an already-damaged car, Busch's day was done for good on Lap 93 when a blown tire sent him into a wicked spin in Turn 1.

It's not just Busch is looking for good things at Pocono: Stewart-Haas Racing as a whole has yet to break though. None of its four drivers have yet won a race, although all four have combined for 540 laps led and 20 top-10 finishes.

Of the group, Busch is the only former winner at Pocono with three victories.

"We're a solid top-10 (team) when things go our way, but we're not top five and that's what I'm pushing for," Busch said. "This is a great track for us to come back to because we won here last time and it's one of my favorites. So, balancing out where we are with the team, the setups and if we can get a top five this week, that would be great, but, of course, we're going for the win."