Backstretch Motorsports

By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, Del. (September 20, 2008) — With a committee of crew chiefs — and in the face of some wishful thinking on the part of Mike Bliss — Kyle Busch won Saturday’s Camping World RV Sales 200 Nationwide Series race at Dover International Speedway in dominating fashion.

Busch led 157 of 207 laps in a race that ended with a green-white-checkered-flag finish after Landon Cassill and Steven Wallace collided on Lap 199 to bring out the seventh and final caution and send the event seven laps beyond its scheduled distance.

It was Busch’s eighth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of the year, matching his total in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and the 19th of his career.

“Why the hell did he pick this race to run?” asked Bliss, who crossed the finish line in second place, .866 seconds behind the winner. “I wish he had skipped this race. I’m pretty happy, but these guys (on the No. 1) Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet team) deserve a win.

“We were really fast on long runs, but the short runs just weren’t quite there.”

With regular No. 18 Toyota crew chief Jason Ratcliff suspended indefinitely — the result of a rules infraction discovered at Michigan — Joel Wideman made the pit calls for Busch on Saturday, with Busch’s NASCAR Sprint Cup crew chief, Steve Addington, serving in an advisory capacity. Wideman was the third different crew chief in the last three races with the No. 18 car.

“It was a great effort by this whole team,” said Busch, who drove the same chassis his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, powered to victory at Dover in May. “Joel Wideman — he did a great job calling the race. It wasn’t easy for us, but it was a pretty flawless day. Just a phenomenal racecar, and a lot of fun to drive.”

Brad Keselowski finished third, followed by Scott Wimmer and Carl Edwards. Hamlin (driving the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota this week), Jason Leffler, Jamie McMurray, David Ragan and series leader Clint Bowyer completed the top 10.

Bowyer’s lead in the NASCAR Nationwide championship took an unfortunate hit, thanks to a collision on pit road with Edwards, his closest pursuer. Exiting pit road on Lap 100, Bowyer’s No. 2 Chevrolet was outside Edwards’ No. 60 Ford when David Reutimann pulled out of his pit stall and forced Edwards wide.

Contact from Edwards’ Ford knocked Bowyer into the outside pit wall, damaging both front fenders. But Bowyer remained on the lead lap and salvaged the 10th-place finish to keep his points loss to a minimum. Edwards gained 21 points on the series leader but remains 186 behind with six events remaining.

NASCAR Race Number 29
Unofficial Race Results for the Camping World Rv Sales “200″ Supporting
The Childress Institute For Pediatric Trauma - Saturday, September 20, 2008
Dover International Speedway - Dover, DE - 1 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 207 Laps - 207 Miles - Purse: $1,163,459
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Winnings Status Times Laps
1 1 18 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 207 195 10 $50,595 Running 3 157
2 5 1 Mike Bliss Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 207 175 5 $45,718 Running 1 44
3 12 88 Brad Keselowski U.S. NAVY Chevrolet 207 165 $31,293 Running
4 10 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 207 165 5 $28,243 Running 1 5
5 8 60 Carl Edwards World Financial Group Ford 207 155 $21,000 Running
6 3 32 Denny Hamlin Hass Avocados from Mexico Toyota 207 150 $18,500 Running
7 16 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips/Comcast Toyota 207 146 $26,228 Running
8 7 17 Jamie McMurray CitiFinancial Ford 207 142 $18,020 Running
9 4 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 207 138 $17,175 Running
10 22 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 207 134 $18,275 Running
11 27 64 David Stremme Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet 207 130 $23,043 Running
12 19 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 207 127 $23,268 Running
13 18 22 Josh Wise Supercuts Dodge 207 124 $23,218 Running
14 9 20 Joey Logano GameStop Toyota 207 121 $22,693 Running
15 14 25 Bobby Hamilton, Jr. Smithfield Ford 207 118 $23,368 Running
16 13 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford Tailgate Ford 207 115 $22,543 Running
17 20 99 David Reutimann XM Radio Toyota 207 112 $16,000 Running
18 11 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Chevrolet 207 109 $22,418 Running
19 17 27 Jason Keller Depend/Rite Aid Ford 207 106 $22,368 Running
20 29 9 Patrick Carpentier Hellmann’s Dodge 205 103 $23,118 Running
21 34 81 Kevin Hamlin Vector Security Dodge 204 100 $22,468 Running
22 28 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory In Jesus Dodge 204 97 $15,700 Running
23 26 61 Brandon Whitt Ford 202 94 $22,793 Running
24 37 24 Eric McClure Hefty Odorblock Chevrolet 201 91 $22,043 Running
25 25 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 199 88 $23,168 Accident
26 36 01 Danny Efland sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 196 85 $21,943 Suspension
27 31 30 Stanton Barrett NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet 191 82 $21,893 Running
28 6 33 Kevin Harvick Camping World Chevrolet 163 79 $15,375 Running
29 30 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 149 76 $21,768 Engine
30 21 09 John Wes Townley Zaxby’s Ford 143 73 $15,250 Engine
31 23 11 Scott Lagasse Jr America’s Incredible Pizza Co. Chevrolet 138 70 $21,913 Accident
32 39 4 Derrike Cope JVC Chevrolet 115 67 $21,603 Suspension
33 15 40 Bryan Clauson # Fastenal Dodge 97 69 5 $21,543 Accident 1 1
34 2 47 Kelly Bires The Animal Adoption League Ford 70 61 $21,508 Accident
35 24 05 Burney Lamar 31-W Insulation/CertainTeed Ford 26 58 $15,010 Electrical
36 41 0 Larry Gunselman sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 19 55 $14,985 Handling
37 32 49 Kertus Davis In Memory of Kenneth Campbell Chevrolet 10 52 $14,965 Brakes
38 38 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 9 49 $14,900 Rearend
39 33 73 Kevin Lepage Dodge 7 46 $14,865 Rearend
40 35 78 Johnny Sauter Dodge 4 43 $14,815 Rearend
41 40 31 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet 2 40 $14,795 Electrical
42 43 91 Justin Hobgood MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 1 37 $14,760 Ignition
43 42 52 Donnie Neuenberger Plan B Technology Dodge 1 34 $21,174 Handling
Race Comments: In front of an estimated crowd of 52,000 - Kyle Busch won the Camping World RV Sales 200 Supporting the Childress Institute for Pediatric Trauma, his 19th NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the green flag the following driver droppped to the rear for the reason indicated: #52 Neuenberger (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: N/A
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 55 Mins, 59 Secs. Average Speed: 107.084 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.866 Seconds
Caution Flags: 7 for 34 laps: Laps: 71-76 (#47 accident turn 3); 89-91 (Debris); 99-104 (#40 accident frontstretch); 142-147 (#4,11 accident turn 4); 160-163 (#5 accident turn 4); 191-193 (Debris); 200-205 (#5,66 accident frontstretch).
Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers: K. Busch 1-72; B. Clauson # 73; K. Busch 74-98; M. Bliss 99-142; S. Wimmer 143-147; K. Busch 148-207.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 4,222;(2) C. Edwards 4,036;(3) Brad Keselowski 3,974;(4) M. Bliss 3,779;(5) D. Ragan 3,721;(6) D. Reutimann 3,676;(7) K. Busch 3,673;(8) M. Wallace 3,381;(9) J. Leffler 3,348;(10) M. Ambrose 3,321.
Coors Light Pole Award : Kyle Busch, #18 (155.246 mph) Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Jason Leffler, #38 (9 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Kyle Busch, #18 Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : Mike Bliss, #1
Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Landon Cassill, #5 Sunoco Diamond Performance : Kyle Busch, #18
WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Mike Bliss, #1 (44 Laps)
Next Race: Sep. 27, 2008 - Kansas Speedway