Busch Puts Third Different Team Owner in Victory Lane This Season
Image details: CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 served by picapp.com
Kyle Busch has visited the Nationwide Series Winner’s Circle three times this season from behind the wheel of a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but Saturday night, he won the Carquest Auto Parts 300 by driving his no. 32 Braun Racing ride to the front of the field, and stretching out a tank of fuel over the course of the final 68 laps.
Busch had to hold off his JGR teammate, Denny Hamlin, to secure the win on a green-white-checkered finish that ended under caution when Mike Wallace slammed the wall. Hamlin finished ahead of the no. 88 JR Motorsports car driven by Brad Keselowski, whom Hamlin had an earlier on-track altercation with just moments before. Keselowski had gotten into the back of Hamlin earlier on, and as the field drove under caution, Denny decided to take a swipe at him in retaliation to what he described as ‘poor racing eitquette’. Immediately following the race, as Busch was taunting the crowd with his post-race victory bows en route to grabbing the checkered flag, both drivers’ pit crews got into a shoving match that was eventually separated by NASCAR and track officials.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brian Vickers finished fourth and fifth to round out the top-five, followed by points leader, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, David Ragan, and Jimmie Johnson in sixth through tenth. Carl Edwards ended the evening with a decent 13th place finish, and Kasey Kahne ran in a disappointing 16th after getting caught up in a late-race tussle.
The win gives Kyle Busch his fourth Nationwide victory of the season, and his first for Braun Racing. He also has three Sprint Cup Series victories on the season, as well as two wins in the Craftsman Truck Series while driving for Billy Ballew Motorsports. The race ended a six-race winning streak for Joe Gibs Racing in the series, but does give Toyota their seventh consecutive win.
Nationwide Series Standings (from nascar.com):
| +/- |
DRIVER |
POINTS |
BEHIND |
STARTS |
POLES |
WINS |
TOP 5 |
TOP 10 |
|
| 1 |
– |
Clint Bowyer |
1890 |
Leader |
13 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
10 |
| 2 |
– |
Kyle Busch |
1823 |
-67 |
13 |
2 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
| 3 |
– |
Carl Edwards |
1714 |
-176 |
13 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
| 4 |
– |
David Reutimann |
1702 |
-188 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
6 |
| 5 |
+2 |
Brad Keselowski |
1670 |
-220 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
5 |
| 6 |
– |
David Ragan |
1664 |
-226 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
| 7 |
-2 |
Mike Bliss |
1663 |
-227 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
| 8 |
– |
Jason Leffler |
1552 |
-338 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
| 9 |
– |
Mike Wallace |
1482 |
-408 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| 10 |
– |
David Stremme |
1454 |
-436 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
7 |
| 11 |
+1 |
Jason Keller |
1408 |
-482 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 12 |
-1 |
Steve Wallace |
1402 |
-488 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| 13 |
– |
Kevin Harvick |
1382 |
-508 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
6 |
| 14 |
+1 |
Marcos Ambrose |
1370 |
-520 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 15 |
+1 |
Bobby Hamilton Jr. |
1349 |
-541 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 16 |
-2 |
Kelly Bires |
1314 |
-576 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 17 |
– |
Brad Coleman |
1247 |
-643 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 18 |
– |
Kenny Wallace |
1153 |
-737 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 19 |
+1 |
Kevin Lepage |
1017 |
-873 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 20 |
-1 |
Tony Stewart |
1001 |
-889 |
6 |
2 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
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2 opinions for Busch Puts Third Different Team Owner in Victory Lane This Season
Ryan Newman's #1
May 25, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Racing hasn’t been that exciting for me ever since Kyle has been one of the guys to beat. Now when I see he has a chance of winning, it makes me feel not so surprised.
Tim Zaegel
May 26, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Well, there’s always going to be one of “those” guys in the sport … whether it’s Gordon or Johnson or Busch, the sport needs that unlikeable guy that the majority of the fans can root against.
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