Backstretch Motorsports

RICHMOND, Va. — In a five-lap run to the finish after the 10th caution of the race, Kyle Busch held off Carl Edwards by .584 seconds in Friday night’s Lipton Tea 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

The victory was Busch’s third of the year, his third at Richmond and his 24th in the series. Busch extended his lead over Edwards in the championship standings to 82 points.

Matt Kenseth finished third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Michael McDowell, Jason Keller and Jason Leffler completed the top 10.

The seventh caution of the race, called on Lap 203 when Morgan Shepherd’s Chevrolet stopped on the track, bunched the field and put all the lead-lap cars back on the same pit sequence. Shortly after the restart on Lap 209, a broken track bar ruined a stellar run by Mike Bliss, who had opened a lead of more than five seconds during a long green-flag run early in the race. Bliss finished 33rd.

Edwards won the race off pit road on Lap 205 but had to fend off a persistent challenge from Busch before Ken Butler’s crash on Lap 220 caused the eighth caution of the night. Keselowski came to the pits for right-side tires on Lap 224.

After Busch grabbed the lead from Edwards on Lap 230 and began to pull away, contact between Keselowski and Leffler on Lap 233 ignited a four-car accident that also involved Jeff Burton and Brian Scott. The field restarted on Lap 243, with Busch leading Edwards, Kenseth, McDowell and Keselowski to the stripe.

The 10th caution of the race, for Kenny Wallace’s spin on Lap 243, set up the final run to the finish.

Race Fast Facts
Richmond International Raceway
Lipton TEA 250

Race Winner: Kyle Busch
Age: 23
Team : No. 18 - NOS Energy Drink Toyota
Owner: Joe Gibbs
Crew Chief: Jason Ratcliff
Kyle Busch won the Lipton TEA 250, his 24th victory in 147 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 2009.
This is his third victory and eighth top-10 finish in 11 races at Richmond International Raceway.
Carl Edwards (second) posted his seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Richmond International Raceway. It is his sixth top-10 finish in 2009.
Matt Kenseth (third) posted his 15th top-10 finish in 18 races at Richmond International Raceway.
Michael McDowell (eighth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 82 points over Carl Edwards.

NASCAR Race Number 9
Unofficial Race Results for the Lipton Tea 250 - Friday, May 1, 2009
Richmond International Raceway - Richmond, VA - .75 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 250 Laps - 187.5 Miles - Purse: $

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps Rating
1 3 18 Kyle Busch NOS Energy Drink Toyota 250 195 10 $41,970 Running 4 115 143.6
2 7 60 Carl Edwards Scotts/Miracle-Gro Moisture Control Ford 250 175 5 $32,000 Running 1 71 131.0
3 1 16 Matt Kenseth CitiFinancial Ford 250 170 5 $26,875 Running 1 2 115.4
4 27 88 Brad Keselowski Delphi Chevrolet 250 160 $26,768 Running 110.8
5 8 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Tankless Water Heater Chevrolet 250 155 $20,275 Running 101.9
6 4 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Wii Toyota 250 150 $18,075 Running 108.2
7 5 5 Mark Martin Lipton Chevrolet 250 146 $17,460 Running 107.8
8 22 47 Michael McDowell # Tom’s Toyota 250 142 $27,538 Running 85.5
9 17 27 Jason Keller Huggies Ford 250 138 $23,343 Running 91.7
10 9 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 250 134 $24,293 Running 98.6
11 26 66 Steve Wallace USfidelis Chevrolet 249 130 $25,018 Running 78.0
12 20 6 Erik Darnell # Northern Tool & Equipment Ford 249 127 $22,818 Running 76.3
13 13 70 Shelby Howard ForeTravel Motorcoach Chevrolet 249 124 $16,650 Running 79.5
14 34 07 David Green PMCLife.com Toyota 249 121 $22,668 Running 66.9
15 36 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Chevrolet 249 118 $23,643 Running 71.6
16 6 40 Scott Wimmer StopRepairBills.com Chevrolet 249 115 $16,050 Running 76.0
17 42 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. # America’s Incredible Pizza Company Toyota 248 112 $22,343 Running 61.0
18 16 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 248 109 $22,243 Running 67.7
19 12 77 Peyton Sellers # SFP Chevrolet 248 106 $15,700 Running 64.9
20 25 01 Danny O’Quinn Jr. sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 248 103 $22,968 Running 55.4
21 38 26 Brian Keselowski Schweitzer Title Dodge 248 100 $22,068 Running 56.2
22 31 73 Derrike Cope FlipNBags.com Dodge 248 97 $15,550 Running 50.1
23 28 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 247 94 $22,343 Running 72.1
24 32 81 D J Kennington D.H. Griffin Dodge 247 91 $21,893 Running 49.5
25 19 05 Casey Atwood 31-W Insulation Chevrolet 247 88 $15,500 Running 52.5
26 11 62 Brendan Gaughan # Loan Max Chevrolet 246 85 $21,768 Running 83.1
27 21 99 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 246 82 $21,718 Running 75.5
28 24 32 Burney Lamar Dollar General Stores Toyota 246 79 $21,668 Running 67.3
29 30 36 Marc Davis # Howard University WHUR Toyota 244 76 $15,150 Running 41.4
30 41 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 237 73 $21,868 Running 38.9
31 33 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 233 70 $15,045 Accident 79.3
32 10 10 Brian Scott Great Clips Toyota 232 67 $21,453 Accident 73.5
33 2 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 229 69 5 $23,918 Running 2 62 102.2
34 35 15 Michael Annett # Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 219 61 $21,308 Running 54.9
35 40 23 Ken Butler # Aaron’s Chevrolet 216 58 $21,278 Accident 40.0
36 37 89 Morgan Shepherd Eldora Speedway/Lagina Plumbing Chevrolet 200 55 $21,243 Oil 41.7
37 15 72 Benny Gordon VSI/Samuel & Sons Ford 157 52 $14,715 Rear End 41.1
38 39 12 Justin Allgaier # Star Trek/Verizon Wireless Dodge 140 49 $21,128 Running 32.8
39 18 24 Eric McClure Hefty Ford 82 46 $21,088 Accident 30.4
40 14 0 Mark Green 1-800-527-1801 Chevrolet 30 43 $14,580 Brakes 34.3
41 29 91 Terry Cook # MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 24 40 $14,540 Suspensio 28.3
42 23 49 Kertus Davis GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet 22 37 $14,495 Brakes 30.6
43 43 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 12 34 $14,428 Brakes 27.0
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 60,000 - Kyle Busch won the Lipton Tea 250, his 24th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag the no driver(s) dropped to the rear.
Failed to Qualify: (5) 52 Kevin Hamlin, 42 Kenny Hendrick, 31 Travis Kittleson, 09 John Wes Townley #, 84 Mike Harmon.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 09 Mins, 48 Secs. Average Speed: 86.672 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.584 Seconds
Caution Flags: 10 for 58 laps: Laps: 7-10 (#24, 66, 72 accident Turn 2. [None]); 15-21 (#11, 12, 24 accident Backstretch [None]); 66-70 (debris [47]); 93-98 (#61 stopped on track [32]); 107-111 (#10, 15, 36 accident Turn 4 [6]); 131-137 (#15 accident Turn 2 [11]); 205-209 (#89 stopped on track [47]); 221-228 (#23 accident Turn 2 [5]); 234-242 (#10, 29, 38, 88 accident Backstretch [27]); 244-245 (#28 accident Turn 1 [None]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers: M. Kenseth 1-2; K. Busch 3-12; M. Bliss 13-70; K. Busch 71-94; M. Bliss 95-98; K. Busch 99-157; C. Edwards 158-228; K. Busch 229-250.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 1,414;(2) C. Edwards 1,332;(3) J. Leffler 1,216;(4) J. Logano 1,213;(5) Brad Keselowski 1,201;(6) D. Ragan 1,139;(7) J. Keller 1,063;(8) M. Mcdowell # 1,021;(9) S. Lagasse Jr. # 998;(10) S. Wallace 967.
Coors Light Pole Award : , #16 (124.821 mph) Featherlite Most Improved Driver : , #66 (23 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder : , #18 Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : , #47
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : , #47 Reigning Champion/Next Highest : Carl Edwards, #60
Sunoco Diamond Performance : , #18 WIX Lap Leader : , #1 (62 Laps)
Next Race: May. 8, 2009 - Darlington Raceway