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Busch Brothers Sweep Bristol Races

Kurt Busch followed in the footsteps of his younger brother at Bristol in winning the Food City 500 after Kyle took Saturday’s Busch Series Sharpie Mini 300. A last lap incident between Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth ended up taking Gordon out of third place and all the way back to 21st. Gordon earned a visit to the “big yellow trailer” for his reaction to Kenseth’s attempted apology on pit road after the race. 18 caution periods slowed the race for a total of 103 laps, plus a short red flag for cleanup after a multi-car crash in Turn Four. Nine different drivers led the race with 22 lead changes. Tony Stewart dominated the race, leading almost half the event, but faded to finish 12th.

Tony Stewart started the race the lead with Jimmie Johnson fading with a flat right front tire. Johnson had to drop behind the entire pack to get into pits and lost two laps before he could get into the pits where his crew found a gash in the right front tire. This was not the return crew chief Chad Knaus had wanted, coming back from a four-race suspension after irregularities were uncovered in post-qualifying inspection at Daytona.

Early in the race, Brent Sherman spun on the back straight when Kevin Lepage tapped him, allowing Jimmie Johnson to get a lap back.

Greg Biffle led for 52 rounds before a tire problem sent him into the wall and then the pits for a fresh set of tires. This let Tony Stewart into the lead but Biffle got nabbed for speeding on pit road. Just after Stewart took the lead, Kurt Busch had a right rear tire go down, sending him into the pits

Kyle Petty spun in Turn Two on the 72nd lap, allowing the teams to catch their breath and allowing David Stremme around with the free pass onto the lead lap.

Clint Bowyer got into Stanton Barrett on lap 107, bringing out the third caution of the race. The top 13 cars stayed on the track, opting for position instead of slightly fresher tires. And, as is so often the case, cautions breed cautions, with Scott Riggs spinning into the front straight inner wall, thanks to the accordion-effect from Reed Sorenson’s light contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr and the resulting traffic backup.

The green flag had been out only one lap before Sterling Marlin and David Stremme got together, spinning Marlin and causing yet another caution.

Matt Kenseth took the lead from Tony Stewart after only a couple more laps of green flag racing, then Stewart repassed Kenseth with Jeff Gordon following him, dropping the No. 17 Ford to third.

Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch, Ken Schrader and Stanton Barrett, have all had tire cuts before the lap 132 restart. Johnson’s tire was cut at the start, causing him to drop back a couple of laps right at the start f the race.

Michael Waltrip lost an oil line in the No. 55 Chevy, spraying oil on the track and bringing out another caution just after Jeff Gordon took the lead from Stewart on lap 157. Jeff Burton spun but Kenseth took the pit road race, followed by Jeff Gordon and Stewart.

Kyle Busch stayed on the track and took the lead, holding it until the next caution when Dave Blaney spun with Clint Bowyer right on his bumper, trapping David Stremme and Brian Vickers against the wall, then Michael Waltrip slid into the scene with a flat tire. The seventh caution melee was so extensive on the fourth turn banking that officials red-flagged the race briefly to clean up the oil and coolant

Lap 200 started the green flag run with Kenseth leading Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin. A debris caution on lap 207 slowed the field again, then the ninth caution flew after only two more green laps on lap 219, again for debris on the track.

Green flag racing began again on lap 223 with Kenseth heading Stewart, Gordon, Harvick and Martin but Stewart grabbed the lead from Kenseth after only one lap, with Harvick getting around Gordon for third.

The tenth caution of the race came out one lap short of the mid-race point when Brent Sherman spun, allowing the entire field to stop for tires and giving Terry Labonte the free pass to the lead lap. The green flag came back out on lap 254 with Stewart back in the lead, followed by Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin in the top five positions.

Lap 261 saw yet another caution as a group-spin involving Ryan Newman, Stanton Barrett, David Stremme, Jamie McMurray, Reed Sorenson and Casey Mears all spun coming off the fourth turn. McMurray’s car took the worst of the incident, with a ruptured radiator and wrinkled fenders all around the car.

Stewart headed Kenseth at the restart until Kurt Busch got around his old teammate for second until caution 12 for Elliott Sadler’s spin off the front bumper of Jeff Green, after Sadler’s adjustment requests proved incorrect for the conditions. This caution flew on lap 287. So far there have been 14 lead changes among seven drivers and 67 laps have run under caution up to this yellow flag.

Once again, Stewart lead Kurt Busch to the green flag, followed by Kenseth, Harvick and Jeff Gordon as the field approached the 200 laps left mark. Ken Schrader is having the drive of the race as he has driven around the top trio from two laps down to get one lap down to the leaders.

Once again, this time on lap 338, the caution comes out, with Brent Sherman spinning just long after Kevin Harvick took the lead from Tony Stewart. Sherman’s spin was precipitated by a light tap from Tony Stewart’s car. The brief caution ended with Stewart heading Kurt Busch, Harvick, Kenseth and Bobby Labonte.

Mayfield, Mears spin on the back straight, then behind them, Scott Riggs spun but Travis Kvapil got spun and received the worst damage of any car involved. Kurt Busch took the green flag first as the field approached the last quarter of the race.

Kevin Lepage slipped to the top of Turn Four, bringing out the fifteenth caution on lap 408. Matt Kenseth took the pit stop honors, his crew sending him out of the pits ahead of the rest of the lead lap runners.

Less than one lap under the green flag, Jeff Gordon tapped Martin Truex in Turn Four, spinning him and starting another chain reaction crash behind them with Jeff Burton receiving the worst damage of those involved.

With eighty laps left in the 500 scheduled, Kenseth took the green flag ahead of Kurt Busch, Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. Just behind Stewart, Bobby Labonte had the No. 43 Petty Dodge in sixth.

Martin Truex came back on the track after his earlier spin, as he nudged Jeff Gordon and in turn got tapped by Tony Stewart, spinning Truex hard into the inside wall. Truex had been driving next to Gordon for a couple of laps, in an apparent attempt to take revenge for the earlier spin. Truex’ actions were slowing Gordon and Stewart in their pursuit of the top trio on the track.

With 55 laps left, the green flag came out over Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart. At the restart, Ken Schrader almost lost control, but just a lap later, the 18th caution flew when Dave Blaney spun the No. 22 car after a light contact with Dale Jarrett’s No. 88 Ford. Blaney had dipped inside the Jarrett car but slipped, leading to the spin.

With the 255th lap underway, Dale Jarrett spun himself out by avoiding hard contact with another car but no caution resulted.

Bobby Labonte moved the No. 43 Petty Dodge into the top five with about 20 laps left to run as Tony Stewart started to drop back in the field. At ten laps left, Kurt Busch caught up with Kenseth, as Kenseth closed on the lapped car of Dale Jarrett. The lead pair racing slowed themselves enough for Kevin Harvick to close on them. At five to go, Busch got into the rear end of Kenseth, turning Kenseth up the track and allowing the second and third cars around into first and second. Jeff Gordon swept low around Kenseth for third and then spun on the last lap as Busch won the race under green. Kevin Harvick took second, with Kenseth getting around Jeff Gordon when Gordon spun. Carl Edwards took fourth, Bobby Labonte put the Petty Dodge in fifth, followed by Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne in tenth. Gordon’s spin dropped him to 21st from third, leading to a confrontation between him and Kenseth after the race.

Tony Stewart was credited with leading the most laps, 245, while Matt Kenseth headed 124 laps out of the 500.

Unofficial Results, Food City 500
Fin, St, Driver, Car, Pts/Bonus, Laps, Status
1, 9, Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge, 185/5, 500, Running
2, 14, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet, 175/5, 500, Running
3, 7, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DEWALT Ford, 170/5, 500, Running
4, 3, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford, 160/0, 500, Running
5, 30, Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge, 155/0, 500, Running
6, 4, Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford, 150/0, 500, Running
7, 2, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Subway/National Guard Ford, 151/5, 500, Running
8, 20, Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet, 147/5, 500, Running
9, 6, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, 138/0, 500, Running
10, 23, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 134/0, 500, Running
11, 19, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet, 130/0, 500, Running
12, 1, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet, 137/10, 500, Running
13, 13, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford, 124/0, 500, Running
14, 33, Denny Hamlin *, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet, 121/0, 500, Running
15, 29, Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet, 118/0, 500, Running
16, 10, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge, 115/0, 500, Running
17, 35, Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Waste Management Chevrolet, 112/0, 500, Running
18, 28, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge, 109/0, 500, Running
19, 40, Scott Wimmer, No. 4 AERO Exhaust Chevrolet, 106/0, 500, Running
20, 15, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford, 103/0, 500, Running
21, 11, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet, 105/5, 500, Running
22, 22, Reed Sorenson *, No. 41 Target Dodge, 97/0, 499, Running
23, 32, Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge, 94/0, 499, Running
24, 21, Ken Schrader, No. 21 Little Debbie Ford, 91/0, 499, Running
25, 12, Casey Mears, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge, 88/0, 498, Running
26, 37, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet, 85/0, 497, Running
27, 36, Terry Labonte, No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet, 82/0, 497, Running
28, 16, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet, 79/0, 495, Running
29, 27, Clint Bowyer *, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet, 76/0, 495, Running
30, 5, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 73/0, 487, Running
31, 39, Kevin Lepage, No. 61 RoadLoans.com Ford, 75/5, 485, Running
32, 34, Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge, 67/0, 481, Running
33, 24, J.J. Yeley *, No. 18 AsthmaControl.com Chevrolet, 64/0, 469, Running
34, 18, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet, 61/0, 467, Running
35, 8, Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Sharpie Ford, 58/0, 440, Running
36, 26, David Stremme *, No. 40 Lone Star Steakhouse/Saloon Dodge, 55/0, 435, Running
37, 17, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet, 52/0, 434, Running
38, 25, Martin Truex Jr. *, No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet, 49/0, 430, Out
39, 43, Stanton Barrett, No. 95 hairofdog.com Chevrolet, 46/0, 381, Out
40, 41, Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide-Downey Chevrolet, 43/0, 349, Out
41, 38, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge, 40/0, 344, Running
42, 31, Brent Sherman *, No. 49 Serta Dodge, 37/0, 302, Out
43, 42, Hermie Sadler, No. 00 Aaron’s Chevrolet, 34/0, 96, Out
*: Rookie

Unofficial Point Standings, as of Food City 500:
Rank , +/- , Points , Behind , Driver, Car, Pos., Laps Led
1, +2, 782, –, Matt Kenseth, No. 17 USG Sheetrock/DEWALT Ford , 3, 124
2, –, 774, -8, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge , 10, 0
3, -2, 763, -19, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet , 30, 0
4, –, 750, -32, Mark Martin, No. 6 AAA Ford , 6, 0
5, +3, 677, -105, Kyle Busch, No. 5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet , 8, 34
6, +1, 664, -118, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet , 11, 0
7, -1, 644, -138, Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet , 21, 3
8, -3, 642, -140, Casey Mears, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge , 25, 0
9, +3, 601, -181, Tony Stewart, No. 20 The Home Depot Chevrolet , 12, 245
10, -1, 593, -189, Dale Jarrett, No. 88 UPS Ford , 20, 0
11, +2, 585, -197, Elliott Sadler, No. 38 M&M’s Ford , 13, 0
12, +5, 559, -223, Ryan Newman, No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge , 9, 0
13, +10, 553, -229, Kevin Harvick, No. 29 GM Goodwrench Chevrolet , 2, 8
14, -4, 547, -235, Clint Bowyer, No. 07 Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet , 29, 0
15, +6, 545, -237, Greg Biffle, No. 16 Subway/National Guard Ford , 7, 52
16, +11, 531, -251, Kurt Busch, No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge , 1, 30
17, +3, 530, -252, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Chevrolet , 14, 0
18, -7, 527, -255, Jeff Burton, No. 31 Cingular Wireless Chevrolet , 34, 0
19, -5, 508, -274, Brian Vickers, No. 25 GMAC Chevrolet , 37, 0
20, -1, 500, -282, Robby Gordon, No. 7 Menards/Energizer Chevrolet , 26, 0
21, -6, 491, -291, Martin Truex Jr., No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet , 38, 0
22, +8, 487, -295, Carl Edwards, No. 99 Office Depot Ford , 4, 0
23, -5, 481, -301, J.J. Yeley, No. 18 AsthmaControl.com Chevrolet , 33, 0
24, -8, 480, -302, Jamie McMurray, No. 26 Sharpie Ford , 35, 0
25, -1, 466, -316, Kyle Petty, No. 45 Schwan’s Home Service Dodge , 18, 0
26, -4, 461, -321, Joe Nemechek, No. 01 U.S. Army Chevrolet , 28, 0
27, -2, 450, -332, Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge , 22, 0
28, +3, 440, -342, Jeff Green, No. 66 Best Buy Chevrolet , 15, 0
29, -3, 439, -343, Ken Schrader, No. 21 Little Debbie Ford , 24, 0
30, -2, 428, -354, Terry Labonte, No. 96 DLP HDTV Chevrolet , 27, 0
31, +2, 401, -381, Dave Blaney, No. 22 Caterpillar Dodge , 23, 0
32, +6, 400, -382, Bobby Labonte, No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge , 5, 0
33, -4, 397, -385, Michael Waltrip, No. 55 NAPA Auto Parts Dodge , 32, 0
34, –, 395, -387, Jeremy Mayfield, No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge , 16, 0
35, +4, 356, -426, Sterling Marlin, No. 14 Waste Management Chevrolet , 17, 0
36, -4, 355, -427, Scott Riggs, No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge , 41, 0
37, –, 341, -441, Kevin Lepage, No. 61 RoadLoans.com Ford , 31, 1
38, -3, 326, -456, David Stremme, No. 40 Lone Star Steakhouse/Saloon Dodge , 36, 0
39, -3, 305, -477, Brent Sherman, No. 49 Serta Dodge , 42, 0
40, –, 292, -490, Scott Wimmer, No. 4 AERO Exhaust Chevrolet , 19, 0
41, +1, 176, -606, Travis Kvapil, No. 32 Tide-Downey Chevrolet , 40, 0
42, -1, 146, -636, Paul Menard, No. 15 Menards/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet , -, 0
43, +3, 114, -668, Hermie Sadler, No. 00 Aaron’s Chevrolet , 43, 0
44, -1, 111, -671, Bill Elliott, No. 36 Ginn Clubs & Resorts Chevrolet , -, 0
45, -1, 103, -679, Kirk Shelmerdine, No. 27 Apex Electric Chevrolet , -, 0
46, -1, 91, -691, Mike Wallace, No. 09 Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts Dodge , -, 0
47, +1, 89, -693, Stanton Barrett, No. 95 hairofdog.com Chevrolet , 39, 0
48, -1, 49, -733, Mike Garvey, No. 51 Marathon American Spirit Motor Oil Chevrolet , -, 0
49, –, 40, -742, Kenny Wallace, No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet , -, 0
50, –, 37, -745, Chad Chaffin, No. 34 Kingsport Iron & Metal Chevrolet , -, 0
51, NA, -, -782, Bill Lester, No. 23 Waste Management Dodge , -, 0

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