Busch Wins Rowdy Carquest 300
Written by John Davison · May 24, 2008
CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Busch continued his domination of the NASCAR season at Lowe’s Motor Speedway’s Carquest Auto Parts 300 Saturday evening, leading the most laps in the race and winning under caution when a green-white-checker finish got interrupted by Mike Wallace’s crash on the last lap. Busch led 86 of the 200 laps, nearly three times the total of David Ragan, on his way to the victory. Denny Hamlin finished second, with Brad Keselowski third, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Brian Vickers finishing the top five. Busch ran the final laps of the race under the cloud of possibly running out of fuel, but cautions allowed him to save just enough fuel in the No. 32 Toyota out of Braun Racing to stay on the track. Twelve cautions flew, including the one that ended the race on lap 202 after one attempt at the green-white-checker finish.
In winning the race, the No. 32 team headed by Todd Lohse had to overcome pit stops slowed by problems with the jack. Several times, the team had to take an extra pump on the jack to be able to mount right-rear tires. They elected late in the race to stay out and gamble on tires and fuel, a gamble that paid off.
Only three laps of the race elapsed before Danny Efland spun by himself in Turn Two. Efland immediately dropped the window net to indicate that he was OK before the emergency crew arrived at the car. Four laps later, the green flew again to start lap 9. The second caution flew after 26 laps, when Morgan Shepherd suffered a flat left-rear tire in front of the lead duo of David Ragan and Kasey Kahne. This caution brought the field into the pits for service, with Kahne’s team pulling a spring rubber out of the left rear spring but Ragan’s team making no adjustments other than tire pressures. When the caution ended to start lap 31, Jason Leffler held the lead, followed by Sam Hornish Jr and Jimmie Johnson, with Johnson grabbing second quickly.
Kasey Kahne pitted with what he felt was a low tire, dropping a lap down. Just as he pulled back on the track, Jimmie Johnson bobbled, allowing Hornish into the lead, followed by Leffler and Ragan.
A long green run followed, ended when Sam Hornish spun down the back straight without hitting anything after he got loose inside of Brad Baker’s car in Turn Two. Another four-lap caution gave Brad Coleman the free pass back onto the lead lap before Ragan led the field under the green flag again. Vickers ran second, with Kyle Busch third, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin in the top five.
Only one lap later, Hornish spun again in Turn Two but this time, smashed the front of the No. 12 Dodge into the wall before the car stopped along the back straight and climbing out to get into an ambulance under his own power, apparently uninjured.
Robert Richardson spun the No. 23 Chevy in Turn Two, once more alone, though possibly due to some aerodynamic effects from a car close behind him, bringing out yet another caution, ending after lap 85; this caution for five laps. Derrike Cope was the beneficiary of the free pass rule in this caution.
Kyle Busch and David Ragan raced side by side for a couple of laps before Ragan eased back and Dale Earnhardt Jr moved into second place.
At mid-race, Busch held a lead of over two seconds, gradually increasing his lead to a gap of three seconds over Earnhardt at lap 120, with Hamlin third, Vickers fourth and Jimmie Johnson fifth.
Brian Clauson brought out the sixth caution of the race, spinning in Turn Two and hitting the wall, but Johnson had already made a top for tires, dropping him a lap down. Vickers won the race off of pit road, gaining two spots and heading Brad Keselowski, Greg Biffle, Earnhardt and Jeff Burton as the field approached the green flag after Kevin Harvick got back on the lead lap thanks to the free pass.
Johnson restarted beside the leader, striving to get around and back on the lead lap. Chase Miller’s No. 19 Dodge started showing smoke and sparks, before the engine erupted in a cloud of smoke, bringing out another caution, this one for oil on the track, and sending Johnson into the lead lap, along with Jason Leffler, who got the free pass.
After the restart, Vickers led until he slipped a bit and Earnhardt took advantage of the break in momentum to grab the lead. Keselowski, Burton and Hamlin rounded out the top five.
Kasey Kahne and Kelly Bires crashed in the fourth turn, causing the eighth caution, when Bires squeezed Kahne down to the apron, spinning them both out with 40 laps left to run. Bires later apologized, saying he had no idea Kahne would catch him that quickly. Pit road remained closed while the track’s cleanup crew soaked up the oil and other liquids put down on pit road when the two cars drove into the garage area. Biffle and Kyle Busch both stayed on the track instead of pitting, while most of the leaders stopped for tires. Four more caution laps made the total so far in the race 33 laps for eight cautions.
Kyle Busch led the field to the green, with Biffle, Hamlin, Bowyer and Keselowski the top five. Earnhardt dropped to tenth by pitting but the fresh tires make a big difference at Charlotte, with Earnhardt gaining a position about every other lap. Kyle Busch may be short on fuel but with 25 laps left, Steve Wallace got loose down low under Jason Leffler, sending Leffler into the outside wall and bringing out the ninth caution of the race. The caution may allow Busch to conserve enough fuel to make it to the finish.
The restart with 22 laps to run allowed Busch to ease ahead of the pack but Dale Jr. grabbed two positions in one lap, with Hamlin trying to chase down Busch before the tenth caution flew for a piece of metal on the track, slowing the field and allowing Busch to continue trying to conserve fuel.
Greg Biffle almost lost control of his car on the restart, but Busch moved ahead of Hamlin by less than two tenths of a second, while Earnhardt tried to get around Keselowski. Busch is running the quickest laps of the race so far as the final ten laps approach, inching ahead of Hamlin, who opens up the gap over Keselowski.
Keselowski and Hamlin battled for second, allowing Busch to ease ahead, then with three laps left, Josh Wise brushed the outside wall, after his right-front tire went down, bringing out a caution and bringing out a green-white-checker finish for extra laps and possibly costing Busch the race. Under the caution, Hamlin swerved up the track, bumping Keselowski’s left front fender. Discussion centered around the possibility that Hamlin was scrubbing his tires but following the checker, the teams got involved in
Busch held on at the restart, hugging the inside white line and caution flew when Mike Wallace backed into the wall, ending the race under caution and ending the Joe Gibbs streak of wins. The win is Kyle’s fourth of the season in the Nationwide Series.
Pos, St, Driver, Car, Points,Laps,Comment
1, 6, Kyle Busch, No. 32 Dollar General Toyota, 195/10 pts, 202 laps, Running
2, 9, Denny Hamlin, No. 20 Z-Line Designs Toyota, 170/0, 202, Running
3, 12, Brad Keselowski, No. 88 U.S. Navy “Salute the Troops” / Adm. Chester Nimitz Chevrolet, 170/5, 202, Running
4, 10, Dale Earnhardt Jr., No. 83 U.S. Navy Dale Jr. Division Chevrolet, 165/5, 202, Running
5, 1, Brian Vickers, No. 10 ABF U-Pack Moving Toyota, 160/5, 202, Running
6, 15, Clint Bowyer, No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet, 150/0, 202, Running
7, 3, Greg Biffle, No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford, 146/0, 202, Running
8, 11, Jeff Burton, No. 29 Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express Chevrolet, 142/0, 202, Running
9, 2, David Ragan, No. 6 Discount Tire Ford, 143/5, 202, Running
10, 22, Jimmie Johnson, No. 5 Lowe’s Chevrolet, 139/5, 202, Running
11, 24, David Reutimann, No. 99 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota, 130/0, 202, Running
12, 14, David Stremme, No. 64 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet, 127/0, 202, Running
13, 7, Carl Edwards, No. 60 Scotts Water Smart Ford, 124/0, 202, Running
14, 19, Marcos Ambrose, No. 59 Kingsford / Rite-Aid Ford, 121/0, 202, Running
15, 8, Mike Bliss, No. 1 Miccosukee Resort & Gaming Chevrolet, 118/0, 202, Running
16, 4, Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Klondike Dodge, 120/5, 202, Running
17, 25, Jason Keller, No. 11 America’s Incredible Pizza Company Chevrolet, 112/0, 202, Running
18, 31, Bobby Hamilton Jr., No. 25 John Morrell Ford, 109/0, 202, Running
19, 41, Kevin Harvick, No. 33 Camping World / RVs.com Chevrolet, 106/0, 202, Running
20, 42, Steve Wallace, No. 66 Atreus Homes & Communities Chevrolet, 103/0, 202, Running
21, 21, Brad Coleman, No. 27 Cottonelle / Bi-Lo Ford, 100/0, 202, Running
22, 23, Mike Wallace, No. 7 GEICO Toyota, 97/0, 201, Running
23, 40, Kenny Wallace, No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet, 99/5, 201, Running
24, 35, Josh Wise, No. 22 Supercuts Dodge, 91/0, 201, Running
25, 37, Kertus Davis, No. 01 RaceGirl Chevrolet, 88/0, 199, Running
26, 34, Kevin Lepage, No. 61 Specialty Racing Ford, 85/0, 199, Running
27, 33, Brad Baker, No. 81 Vector Security Dodge, 82/0, 199, Running
28, 43, Brad Teague, No. 52 Forest City Owls / Truck Service Chevrolet, 79/0, 196, Running
29, 39, Eric McClure, No. 24 Hefty Chevrolet, 76/0, 196, Running
30, 16, Cale Gale*, No. 77 VFW “Salute the Troops” Chevrolet, 73/0, 179, In Pit
31, 20, Bryan Clauson*, No. 40 Fastenal Dodge, 70/0, 178, Running
32, 5, Jason Leffler, No. 38 Great Clips Toyota, 72/5, 175, In Pit
33, 30, Kelly Bires, No. 47 Clorox Ford, 64/0, 158, In Pit
34, 36, Derrike Cope, No. 4 JVC Everio Chevrolet, 66/5, 139, Out of Race
35, 17, Stanton Barrett, No. 30 GrandStay / Donatos Chevrolet, 58/0, 133, Out of Race
36, 18, Chase Miller*, No. 19 Motorola / Verizon Dodge, 55/0, 128, Out of Race
37, 27, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Victory In Jesus Dodge, 52/0, 99, In Pit
38, 28, Robert Richardson, II, No. 23 Renegade Wheels Chevrolet, 49/0, 79, Accident
39, 13, Sam Hornish Jr., No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge, 51/5, 66, In Pit
40, 38, Andy Ponstein, No. 02 Stott Classic Racing Chevrolet, 43/0, 20, In Pit
41, 29, Kenny Hendrick, No. 91 MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet, 40/0, 16, In Pit
42, 32, Carl Long, No. 84 RaceFumes.com Chevrolet, 37/0, 10, In Pit
43, 26, Danny Efland, No. 0 Shred 360 / Lori Morgan Chevrolet, 34/0, 3, Running
*= Rookie
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.