Backstretch Motorsports

Kyle Busch’s staggering numbers just got better.

With a dominating performance in Friday night’s rain-interrupted Dollar General 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race—the type of run that’s become commonplace—Busch drove his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to victory by .662 seconds over Jeff Burton.

Busch, who led 137 of 200 laps, pulled away after a restart with three laps left. The victory was his ninth in the series this year, the 20th of his career, and his 20th in NASCAR’s top three series combined this year.

Former series champion Brian Vickers ran third in a backup car after crashing during qualifying earlier in the day. Series points leader Clint Bowyer was fourth, followed by reigning series champion Carl Edwards. The margin between Bowyer and second-place finisher Edwards remained at 196 points because Edwards led a lap—worth a five-point bonus—and Bowyer didn’t.

Kevin Harvick, Kelly Bires, Brad Keselowski, polesitter Jamie McMurray and Mike Wallace completed the top 10.

“We’ve had a lot of phenomenal racecars this year,” said Busch, who started 16th and quickly worked his way to the front. “It’s just been one of those phenomenal seasons for us on the Nationwide side. You’ve just got to enjoy it while you can.”

For Burton, Friday’s race was his final start in the series this year, and he leaves without a victory.

“To their credit, they’ve been doing a great job, and Kyle’s been driving the hell out of it,” Burton said of the Gibbs effort this year.

Several drivers took issue with Busch’s approach to late-race restarts, where he appeared to slow and stacked up the field behind him. It was a wreck on a restart on Lap 194 that caused the 13th and final caution—one short of the track record—and set up the three-lap sprint to the finish.

Notes: Kasey Kahne provided a moment of levity during the second rain delay, when he momentarily forgot one of the Unilever brands sponsoring his Dodge. Kahne got “Ragu” right but couldn’t come up with “Hellman’s” until he read the name on the sleeve of his firesuit. … Edwards and Harvick scuffled in the garage on Thursday, but they didn’t take their issues onto the track. Early in Friday night’s race, they contested the fourth position side-by-side for four laps—without incident. … Justin Allgaier was impressive in his series debut, before Steve Wallace’s spinning Chevrolet clipped Allgaier’s No. 12 Penske Dodge on Lap 125. Hard contact with the frontstretch wall ended Allgaier’s race and dropped him to 34th at the finish

NASCAR Race Number 31
Unofficial Race Results for the Dollar General 300 - Friday, October 10, 2008
Lowe’s Motor Speedway - Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 300 Miles - Purse: $1,302,794

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 16 18 Kyle Busch NOS Energy Drink Toyota 200 195 10 $73,295 Running 4 137
2 2 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 200 175 5 $55,250 Running 3 7
3 42 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Toyota 200 170 5 $42,050 Running 1 5
4 5 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 200 160 $31,750 Running
5 3 60 Carl Edwards Scotts Winterguard Ford 200 160 5 $29,125 Running 1 1
6 6 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Chevrolet 200 150 $24,150 Running
7 9 47 Kelly Bires Samaritan’s Feet Ford 200 146 $31,703 Running
8 30 88 Brad Keselowski U.S. NAVY Chevrolet 200 142 $28,238 Running
9 1 17 Jamie McMurray CitiFinancial Ford 200 143 5 $29,575 Running 1 15
10 31 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 200 134 $27,968 Running
11 33 9 Kasey Kahne Hellmann’s Dodge 200 130 $18,975 Running
12 12 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 200 127 $18,875 Running
13 13 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. America’s Incredible Pizza Company Chevrolet 200 124 $24,693 Running
14 4 20 Joey Logano Farm Bureau Insurance Toyota 200 126 5 $26,418 Running 2 32
15 7 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford Tailgate at Home Ford 200 118 $24,468 Running
16 26 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 200 115 $23,768 Running
17 8 10 Dave Blaney Dollar General Toyota 200 112 $16,850 Running
18 18 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 200 109 $23,068 Running
19 29 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 200 111 5 $22,893 Running 1 3
20 36 22 Andrew Ranger Wal-Mart/Tide/Supercuts Dodge 199 103 $25,743 Running
21 35 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 197 100 $22,593 Running
22 40 24 Eric McClure Hefty Chevrolet 195 97 $22,493 Running
23 41 01 Danny Efland Shred 360 Chevrolet 194 94 $22,793 Running
24 15 99 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 194 91 $15,825 Running
25 39 81 DJ Kennington Vector Security Dodge 193 88 $22,368 Running
26 37 52 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s/Weber Chevrolet 190 85 $22,118 Accident
27 43 09 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Ford 186 82 $15,525 Accident
28 22 30 Stanton Barrett Donatos Pizza Chevrolet 186 79 $21,918 Running
29 34 27 Jason Keller Kleenex/Bi-Lo Ford 179 76 $21,868 Running
30 24 40 Bryan Clauson # Fastenal Dodge 175 73 $23,068 Running
31 32 64 David Stremme AVIS Chevrolet 163 70 $21,763 Running
32 19 66 Steve Wallace 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet 159 67 $21,703 Running
33 10 5 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 140 64 $15,200 Accident
34 14 12 Justin Allgaier Penske Truck Rental Dodge 125 61 $15,140 Accident
35 21 31 Jeff Green Key Motorsports Chevrolet 121 58 $15,110 Accident
36 20 19 Chase Miller Verizon Wireless/Motorola Dodge 80 55 $15,075 Accident
37 28 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Curly’s BBQ Ford 79 52 $21,508 Accident
38 25 05 Burney Lamar 31W Insulation/CertainTeed Ford 42 49 $21,453 Vibration
39 27 73 Kevin Lepage Dodge 31 46 $14,935 Transmission
40 23 35 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Ford 22 43 $14,915 Electrical
41 11 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 8 40 $21,358 Vibration
42 17 91 Terry Cook MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 8 37 $21,318 Vibration
43 38 4 Derrike Cope ALLINENERGY.COM Chevrolet 3 34 $21,272 Suspension
Race Comments: In front of an estimated crowd of 60,000 - Kyle Busch won the Dollar General 300 - his 20th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following drivers droppped to the rear for the reasons indicated: #09 Townley, #32 Vickers, #81 Kennington (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: (10) 70 Mark Green, 49 Kertus Davis, 93 Kenny Hendrick, 02 Andy Ponstein, 89 Morgan Shepherd, 78 Johnny Sauter, 00 Josh Wise, 0 Larry Gunselman, 03 Justin Marks, 23 Robert Richardson Jr..
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 53 Mins, 40 Secs. Average Speed: 103.647 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.661 Seconds
Caution Flags: 13 for 58 laps: Laps: 3-5 (#40 accident turn 2); 8-15 (#31 accident turn 4 [RedFlag-10:58-lap 8 Rain]); 50-53 (Debris); 82-89 (#19,25,27 accident backstretch [RedFlag-59:27-lap 83 Rain]); 97-99 (#64 accident turn 2); 101-103 (#7,17 accident frontstretch); 107-109 (#20 accident turn 4); 118-121 (#5 accident backstretch); 127-134 (#12,31,66,99 accident turn 4); 169-172 (#22 accident turn 3); 182-184 (Debris); 190-192 (#10,38 accident turn 2); 194-197 (#09,1,22,52,59 accident frontstretch).
Lead Changes: 12 among 7 drivers: J. McMurray 1-15; J. Burton 16-17; J. Logano 18-46; J. Burton 47-50; J. Logano 51-53; K. Busch 54-85; C. Edwards 86; M. Bliss 87-89; K. Busch 90-117; B. Vickers 118-122; K. Busch 123-168; J. Burton 169; K. Busch 170-200.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 4,552;(2) C. Edwards 4,356;(3) Brad Keselowski 4,266;(4) M. Bliss 4,017;(5) D. Ragan 4,013;(6) K. Busch 3,931;(7) D. Reutimann 3,882;(8) M. Wallace 3,633;(9) J. Leffler 3,599;(10) M. Ambrose 3,574.
Coors Light Pole Award : Jamie Mcmurray, #17 (184.508 mph) Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Andrew Ranger, #22 (11 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Kyle Busch, #18 Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Kelly Bires, #47
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Bryan Clauson, #40 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kyle Busch, #18
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Joey Logano, #20 (32 Laps)
Next Race: Oct. 25, 2008 - Memphis Motorsports Park