Lead Lap's NASCAR News » Kyle Busch

McMurray Holds Off Busch For N’Wide Atlanta Win

Sporting News Wire Service — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:38:48 +0000

Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and stopped Busch one spot short of a historic win Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet, McMurray asserted his superiority over the final 40 of 195 laps to win the Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The victory, the eighth of McMurray’s Nationwide career, was his first since November 2004 at Darlington.

Busch is tied with Sam Ard for the series’ single-season wins record with 10.

Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Brad Keselowski finished 12th and saw his advantage over second-place Edwards trimmed to 332 points.

“We unloaded today and had pretty much the fastest car off the truck,” McMurray said. “It was just pretty loose, and we just did a really good job of adjusting on it.”

The good adjustments continued late into the race, McMurray said.

“At the end, Pops (crew chief Tony Eury Sr.) adjusted on it, and it was pretty fast, even on the short runs.”

McMurray led 43 of the final 47 laps, including the last 23.

“It’s the same thing every week,” McMurray said. “The car out front—the clean air’s huge.”

McMurray’s short-run speed proved decisive in a race that took a series of intriguing turns, including one sequence where only one car was scored on the lead lap.

Harvick took four tires under caution on Lap 62, while Busch and most other contenders chose to restart on old rubber when the field came to green on Lap 65. After restarting 12th, Harvick passed McMurray for the lead on Lap 70.

By Lap 112, he had the rest of the field at least one lap down, after Busch and other drivers on old tires came to the pits under green. Harvick gave up the lead to Busch when he made a green-flag stop for tires and fuel on Lap 120.

Harvick left the pits eight seconds behind Busch but cut that margin in half before Ryan Newman spun Trevor Bayne on the backstretch to cause the third caution of the race and bunch the field. McMurray was first out of the pits under caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 153.

McMurray stayed out front until contact from Stenhouse sent Reed Sorenson’s Toyota hard into the outside wall on Lap 168. Keselowski and 11th-place finisher Josh Wise stayed on the track under the caution, but they quickly surrendered the top two spots when the field restarted.

McMurray surged to the front with Busch in pursuit, but Busch was unable to make up significant ground in the closing laps and finished .286 seconds back.

“We just didn’t quite have enough there on short runs to keep up with them,” Busch said. “Once we got about 25 or 30 laps on (the tires), we could really start reeling them in and pass them. Typically, it’s always a long-run car that wins here—Harvick beat me last year with a long-run car—but that wasn’t the case tonight.”

Bodine Gambles On Fuel Mileage, Wins At Kentucky

Sporting News Wire Service — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 04:30:41 +0000

Todd Bodine is rolling toward his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship, but he didn’t drive like it Friday night in winning the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. And his team didn’t act like it, either.

Bodine spun while battling Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 81, but that trouble helped set up a fuel-mileage gamble for the No. 30 Germain Racing team.

“Our misfortune turned into our fortune because that’s what gave us a little extra fuel that we needed to get to the end,” Bodine said.

Johnny Sauter finished a distant second, with Aric Almirola third, Jason White fourth and Ricky Carmichael fifth. Timothy Peters, Busch, Ryan Sieg, polesitter Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton completed the top 10.

After a restart on Lap 80 of the 150-lap race, Busch and Bodine raced side by side for the lead in Turn 3 when Busch charged around on the outside lane. Bodine’s Toyota snapped sideways and spun in front of the field, though he didn’t hit anything.

A panel in the truck’s bed flew off, and Bodine made a couple of extra stops under that caution for his team to repair the damage. He restarted 25th.

The yellow flag waved again on Lap 91, and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. brought Bodine to pit road again to top off the fuel tank as nine drivers stayed on the track.

Busch was one of them, and he pulled away to a 3-second lead before pitting on Lap 127. After rookies Austin Dillon and Justin Lofton also pitted under green, Bodine assumed the lead.

Conserving fuel, Bodine raced the final 55 laps under green on one tank of fuel.

“I pedaled pretty hard with about 20 laps to go,” Bodine said of saving fuel. “About the last 10 laps, I went around here about half-throttle.”

After taking the checkered flag, Bodine chastised Busch for “dirty driving,” claiming Busch intentionally pushed Bodine low on the track to cause him to spin. Busch also came to victory lane to have words with Bodine.

“It was the weather, how good the track is,” Bodine said jokingly of their conversation. “It’s two drivers who didn’t care what the other said or the other did, and we had words about it. That’s good, hard racing. I’ve always had a lot of respect for Kyle. Slowly but surely I’m, losing it. That’s a shame.”

Bodine led twice for 18 laps, far short of Busch’s race-high 73 laps. Bodine, though, extended his points lead to 261 over Almirola.

“We were two laps short (on fuel),” Hillman said. “That proves that we’re not points racing. If we were points racing, being two laps short we would’ve come in and splashed a couple gallons of gas and finished seventh or eighth.”

Busch Outruns Bodine To Win EnjoyIllinois.com 225

Michael J Smith — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:11:49 +0000

Kyle Busch followed up his historic Bristol weekend with another NASCAR victory, winning the Camping World Truck Series’ EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Busch outran Todd Bodine in a green-white-checkered finish to win his fourth CWTS race this season.

Bodine’s second place finish extended his points lead to 236 points over Aric Almirola.

Top 5: Busch, Bodine, Ron Hornaday, Johnny Sauter, and Justin Lofton.

Almirola, Matt Crafton, Rick Crawford, Austin Dillon, and David Starr rounded out the top 10.

Notables: James Buescher (12th), Steve Park (18th), Timothy Peters (21st), Mike Skinner (23rd), and Ricky Carmichael (28th).

Busch Makes NASCAR History With Bristol Trifecta

Michael J Smith — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 04:44:46 +0000

Kyle Busch held off David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray to win the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway. With the win, Busch made NASCAR history, becoming the first driver to sweep three NASCAR national touring events at the same track in the same race weekend. The win is Busch’s third this season.

Top 5: Busch, Reutimann, McMurray, Clint Bowyer, and Kasey Kahne.

Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Jeff Gordon (11th), Carl Edwards (12th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (13th), Kevin Harvick (14th), Jeff Burton (15th), Martin Truex Jr (17th), Mark Martin (23rd), Tony Stewart (27th), Elliott Sadler (29th), Denny Hamlin (34th), and Jimmie Johnson (35th).

Around lap 262, Jimmie Johnson, who led 175 laps to that point, was racing with Juan Montoya down the backstretch. The two made contact, sending Johnson spinning into the turn 3 wall. Johnson went to the garage for repairs and finished 35th.

About halfway through the race, Denny Hamlin broke a drive shaft, which required repairs inthe garage. He finished 34th.

Tony Stewart was also running in the top 5 when Regan Smith spun in front of him. Stewart slowed to avoid hitting him, and Tony Raines ran into the back of him, damaging his car. Stewart spent time on pit road getting repairs, but never had a competitive car after the contact. He finished 27th.

Busch Wins 10th Nationwide Series Race This Season

Michael J Smith — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 17:36:24 +0000

Kyle Busch, who spun Brad Keselowski — his biggest competition — on lap 219, held off Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, and Dale Earnhardt Jr over the final laps to win the Food City 250 Nationwide Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway. The victory is Busch’s 10th on the season, tying the single-season record both he (in 2008) and Sam Ard currently hold.

Busch and Keselowski were battling on lap 219, when Busch took the lead in turn 2. He bobbled down the backstretch, and moved up the track get in front of Keselowski.

The two made contact, and Busch hit the wall, allowing Keselowski to get by him for the lead. Busch was able to catch him in turn 3, and spun him in turn 4. Keselowski brushed the wall damaging his left front. He was able to continue. He finished 14th.

Keselowski said:

It is what it is. I’m going to go to work — and work on beating his [butt].

Busch said:

I thought I had him cleared on the back, and I moved up in front of him, and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move, he just decided that he would run into the back of me and put me in the fence. That’s Brad Keselowski. So I went into the next corner and dumped him. He does it to everybody else. Why can’t I do it to him?

Top 5: Busch, Leffler, Sadler, Earnhardt Jr, and Carl Edwards.

Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman, and Joey Logano rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Jason Keller (12th), Paul Menard (13th), Keselowski (14th), Mike Bliss (18th), Michael Annett (19th), Brendan Gaughan (21st), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (22nd), Tony Raines (26th), Steve Wallace (30th), Justin Allgaier (33rd), Ryan Newman (35th), and Kasey Kahne (38th).

On lap 83, Trevor Bayne, Justin Allgaier, and Kasey Kahne were battling three-wide. Bayne and Allgaier made contact. Allgaier then made contact with Kahne. Kahne got into the outside wall. Then, Allgaier’s car bumped Kahne again, sending Kahne’s car up the wall.

Kahne slid about 200 yards on his side, along the wall. He walked away uninjured.

Busch – Keselowski Incident:

Kahne Wreck:

Busch Stretches Fuel To Win O’Reilly 200 At Bristol

Michael J Smith — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 12:59:42 +0000

Kyle Busch won the pole for the O’Reilly 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but had to start from the rear of the field due to engine repairs made under impound rules. By lap 91, Busch took the lead when Mike Skinner pitted.

He went on to stretch his fuel — running the entire 206 laps on one pit stop — and survive a green-white-checkered finish to win his third Camping World Truck Series victory in his Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota.

Afterwards he said:

I wasn’t 100 percent aggressive on saving fuel, but I was 92 percent. There was concerns all around.

Top 5: Busch, Aric Almirola, Ron Hornaday, Skinner, and Justin Lofton.

Todd Bodine, Brad Keselowski, Timothy Peters, Miguel Paludo, and Matt Crafton rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Johnny Sauter (11th), Dennis Setzer (12th), Bobby Hamilton Jr (13th), Max Papis (14th), Austin Dillon (17th), Ricky Carmichael (19th), David Starr (23rd), and Elliott Sadler (26th).

Elliott Sadler and Timothy Peters were batting for second in the closing laps when Sadler hooked Peters into the wall. Peters headed to pit road for repairs. He recovered to finish 8th.

Sadler assumed second place for a moment, but hit the wall several laps later when his tire — presumably cut during his contact with Peters — gave way. He finished 26th.

Ron Hornaday spun and lost a lap but managed to recover, finishing third.

Austin Dillon had a rough night, getting together with Donny Lia 20 laps into the race and clay Greenfield 24 laps later. The damage knocked him out of contention. He finished 17th.

With two laps to go, Justin Lofton brushed the wall, then got into David Starr, sending him down the track on the frontstretch and into the inside wall. He bounced off the wall and headed back up the track into the racing line. As he slid towards the outside wall, Ken Schrader slammed hard into his passenger-side door.

As those two trucks hit the outside wall, Miguel Paludo made contact with Dennis Setzer causing Setzer to spin. Starr bounced off the outside wall and made contact with Ricky Carmichael and then Setzer. All drivers walked away uninjured, though Schrader appeared to limp as he exited his truck.

The race was red flagged for cleanup. Paludo finished ninth, Setzer finished 12th, Carmichael finished 19th, Starr finished 23rd, and Schrader finished 24th.

Montoya Snaps 113-Race Winless Streak At Glen

Michael J Smith — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 02:56:30 +0000

With his second career Sprint Cup victory, Juan Montoya did something he hasn’t been able to do as of late: win a race in which he had the dominant car. After suffering two disappointing losses, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya dominated the Heluva Good Sour Cream Dips at the Glen, leading 74 of 90 laps, pulling away from Marcos Ambrose and Kurt Buschover the last 16 laps.

Montoya’s win also adds to the banner year Chip Ganassi is having, with his IZOD Indy Car team wining the Indy 500, and Montoya’s teammate winning the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400.

Top 5: Montoya, Kurt Busch, Marcos Ambrose, AJ Allmendinger, and Carl Edwards.

Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jeff Burton, and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Kevin Harvick (11th), Ryan Newman (12th), Matt Kenseth (13th), Sam Hornish Jr (14th), Martin Truex Jr (15th), Kasey Kahne (17th), Mark Martin (19th), Patrick Carpentier (21st), Max Papis (22nd), David Reutimann (23rd), Greg Biffle (24th), Dale Earnhardt Jr (26th), Jimmie Johnson (28th), Clint Bowyer (32nd), Denny Hamlin (37th), and Boris Said (38th).

On lap 66, Tony Stewart and Boris Said were battling for position inside the top 10. Stewart and Said got together slightly coming out of turn 1 when Said forced Stewart to the outside. Heading into turn 2, Stewart bumped Said, sending him spining into the outside wall. There was heavy damage to Said’s car. He finished 38th, while Stewart finished 8th.

On the first lap back to racing after Said’s wreck, Kyle Busch dove to the inside of Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson to make it three-wide. Burton held his line, but in doing so made contact with Johnson, who spun into the wall. Just as his car came to a rest, Denny Hamlin, who couldn’t see anything because of the smoke from Johnson’s car, hit him hard. Johnson made repairs and continued on while Hamlin took his car behind the wall. They finished 28th and 37th, respectively.

Busch Earns Ninth N’Wide Victory By Dominating At Iowa

Michael J Smith — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:55:36 +0000

Kyle Busch won his ninth Nationwide Series race of the season, his sixth in his last seven starts, by dominating the US Cellular 250 at Iowa Speedway. Busch led four times for 209 laps. It was his 39th career N’Wide victory.

Inside of 50 to go, the leaders came down pit road under caution for the final time. Kevin Harvick took two tires, while Kyle Busch took four. Harvick restarted with the lead while Busch restarted sixth.

In one lap, Busch passed four cars. With 24 laps to go, he passed Harvick for the lead, and he drove away for the victory.

Top 5: Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jason Leffler, Brad Keselowski, and Trevor Bayne.

Steve Wallace, Michael Annett, Justin Allgaier, Matt DiBenedetto, Carl Edwards rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Michael McDowell (13th), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (14th), Paul Menard (16th), Mike Bliss (17th), Steve Arpin (18th), Joe Nemechek (19th), Kenny Wallace (21st), Tayler Malsam (27th), Mike Wallace (28th), Brendan Gaughan (31st), Colin Braun (32nd), Reed Sorenson (36th).

Gordon Gets New Spotter Starting This Weekend

Michael J Smith — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:41:01 +0000

Jeff Gordon has gotten a new spotter, according to reports on Twitter. Jeff Dickerson, formerly spotter for Kyle Busch, replaces Shannon McGlamery in the spotter’s stand beginning at this weekend’s Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

The reason for the change is said to be that the team thinks that part of Busch’s success has been his ability to deal with the double-file restarts, aggressive endings, and green-white-checkered finishes. They think that Dickerson has been a large part of that.

They were happy with McGlamery, but felt like Dickerson was too good to pass up. McGlamery will move to another role with the company.

Dickerson was slated to leave Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of this season. So JGR decided to make the change last weekend, with Eddie D’Hondt spotting for Busch on an interim basis.

Dickerson has been with Busch since 2005, when the young driver was at Hendrick Motorsports. Dickerson eventually became Busch’s agent and business manager until the position was moved to someone else before the start of this season.

Also, Hendrick Motorsports announced the promotion of Marshall Carlson to president and chief operating officer of the organization, a position held by Rick Hendrick’s late brother John that has remained vacant since his passing in 2004.

McMurray Completes Trifecta For Ganassi At Brickyard

Michael J Smith — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 06:28:13 +0000

Jamie McMurray used a two-tire gamble to become only the third driver to win the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same season, joining Dale Jarrett and Jimmie Johnson. The win also gave team owner Chip Ganassi victories in the Daytona 500, the Indy 500, and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.

With about 20 laps to go, McMurray took two tires after a caution for debris. He restarted with the lead, but was passed by Kevin Harvick shortly before the caution came out for a wreck between McMurray’s teammate Juan Montoya, who led the most laps, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. McMurray restarted with 10 laps to go in second, on the outside, and drove by Harvick within one lap. He then drove to victory.

McMurray said:

Honestly, when Juan was leading and I was in second [before the debris caution on Lap 137] — I’m a big believer in fate — I thought this was how it was meant to be. I won the Daytona 500, Dario [Franchitti] won the 500, and I thought Juan was going to win this one. I’m just shocked I won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the same year.

Top 5: McMurray, Harvick, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, and Tony Stewart.

Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, and Kurt Busch finished sixth through 10th, respectively.

Notables: Mark Martin (11th), Matt Kenseth (12th), Kasey Kahne (13th), Denny Hamlin (15th), Jimmie Johnson (22nd), Jeff Gordon (23rd), Dale Earnhardt Jr (27th), and Juan Montoya (32nd).

Hendrick Motorsports did not have a great day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson led early, but after about lap 30th he began losing the handle of the car and he lost positions. Around lap 70, he spent extended time on pit road, and ended up running around 22nd place.

By lap 84, he was 20 seconds off the lead, and wasn’t making up any ground. On lap 119, the team changed shocks under caution. Chad Knaus was trying to get the crew to hurry to beat the pace car to prevent losing a lap. But, the team did not make it. Johnson was a lap down. He never recovered. He finished 22nd.

Jeff Gordon was having a decent run for most of the day, but late in the race he reported that the oil and water temperatures were high. He faded to 23rd, where he finished.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had to pit early after Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr spun, kicking wet grass onto the track, which was then caught on the splitters of several cars. Many of those cars began overheating and had to pit, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He spent most of the race running in the top 20, before he found his way into the top 15 with about 20 laps to go. He, like Juan Montoya and Greg Biffle, elected to take four tires when about six cars took two. Running in dirty air, Montoya’s car was nowhere near as strong as it was in the front.

With about 14 to go, Montoya got loose and hit the wall hard. He slid down the track into Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had nowhere to go. Earnhardt Jr’s crew made repairs, but his day was ruined. Montoya was also done for the day. They finished 27th and 32nd, respectively.