Backstretch Motorsports

Kyle Busch’s loss was Scott Wimmer’s gain.

Busch dominated Saturday’s Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway but lost control of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota off Turn 4 after leading 125 of the first 162 laps.

That handed the lead to Richard Childress Racing’s Clint Bowyer, but RCR teammate Wimmer passed Bowyer for the lead with 20 laps to go to notch his first win in nearly five years.

Wimmer is also the first non-NASCAR Sprint Cup driver to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series race this season and the first since Jason Leffler won at O’Reilly Raceway Park last July.

“Stepping down and running a partial schedule in the Nationwide Series is not what I want to be doing, but those are the cards that are dealt to me right now,” Wimmer said. “I’m with a great team with Richard
Childress Racing and have great teammates. You can struggle in a single-car operation or a lower-budget team, but that’s not where any driver wants to be.

“I’m just trying to do the best I can for Richard right now, and hopefully, it’ll fall that someday I can get back to racing Nationwide full time or Sprint Cup full time. But right now, I’m having a good time.”

RCR has won the last two Nationwide Series races and swept the top three positions in last weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer finished second Saturday, with the third RCR driver, Stephen Leicht, finishing 12th.

Wimmer, who helped RCR’s No. 29 Chevrolet team to the owners championship last year, was winless in his last 57 races in the series and last scored a win in the series July 26, 2003 at Pikes Peak International Raceway.

Behind Wimmer and Bowyer were Carl Edwards in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth and Kelly Bires in fifth.

Sixth through 10th were David Stremme, Denny Hamlin, Cale Gale, David Reutimann and Nashville native Bobby Hamilton Jr.

Reutimann was running third when he had to pit for fuel with eight laps remaining. Wimmer, too, was close on gas, as his engine sputtered while he did celebratory burnouts.

“Extremely close,” Wimmer’s crew chief, Pat Smith, said. “We knew when that last caution came out, immediately when we went back [to green], I told Scott to start saving fuel then because I knew there was a chance [we were going to run out]. We were three laps short.”

Busch led the first 61 laps after winning the pole by more than two-tenths of a second earlier in the day.

He lost the lead in the pits, with Bowyer’s crew getting the No. 2 out first on Lap 62. Busch whipped into the lead two laps after the green flag waved, but Bowyer stayed with Busch and then passed him for the top spot on Lap 66.

Bowyer’s Chevrolet was able to stay out front for 29 laps before Busch’s car ran him back down, and he retook the lead on Lap 100.

Busch has now led 345 laps this season, yet is still without a victory.

“Just a stupid mistake on the driver’s part,” Busch said as he headed to his hauler.

NASCAR Race Number 6
Unofficial Race Results for the Pepsi “300″ - Saturday, March 22, 2008
Nashville Superspeedway - Nashville, TN - 1.33 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 225 Laps - 299.93 Miles - Purse: $1,120,955

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Total Award Status Times Laps
1 14 29 Scott Wimmer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 225 190 5 $57,313 Running 2 22
2 7 2 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet 225 175 5 $35,500 Running 3 75
3 4 60 Carl Edwards Scotts Miracle-Gro Ford 225 165 $32,075 Running
4 8 88 Brad Keselowski NAVY Chevrolet 225 165 5 $28,693 Running 1 2
5 5 47 Kelly Bires Clorox Ford 225 160 5 $29,943 Running 1 1
6 11 64 David Stremme Atreus Homes & Communities 225 150 $26,193 Running
7 21 32 Denny Hamlin Dollar General Toyota 225 146 $16,875 Running
8 13 33 Cale Gale # Camping World Chevrolet 225 142 $23,293 Running
9 19 99 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 224 138 $15,550 Running
10 17 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Smithfield Ford 224 134 $23,568 Running
11 2 22 Mike Bliss Supercuts Dodge 224 130 $21,668 Running
12 6 21 Stephen Leicht Racing Gearz - The Game Chevrolet 224 127 $21,593 Running
13 23 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 224 124 $21,893 Running
14 16 9 Chase Miller # Valvoline Dodge 224 121 $21,418 Running
15 9 16 Colin Braun CitiFinancial Ford 224 118 $22,193 Running
16 1 20 Kyle Busch Z-Line Designs Toyota 223 125 10 $17,800 Running 4 125
17 18 40 Bryan Clauson # Fastenal Dodge 223 112 $21,593 Running
18 25 11 Jason Keller Incredible Pizza Chevrolet 223 109 $21,493 Running
19 22 5 Landon Cassill # National Guard Chevrolet 223 106 $21,018 Running
20 24 7 Mike Wallace GEICO Toyota 223 103 $21,968 Running
21 26 6 David Ragan Discount Tire/Coats Ford 223 100 $14,725 Running
22 20 1 Sterling Marlin Miccosukee Resorts Chevrolet 222 97 $20,858 Running
23 15 59 Marcos Ambrose Kingsford with Hickory Ford 222 94 $21,223 Running
24 3 66 Steve Wallace Jimmy John’s Chevrolet 222 91 $20,788 Running
25 31 41 Kyle Krisiloff Polaroid Dodge 221 88 $20,918 Running
26 29 70 Mark Green ForeTravel Motorcoach/Biomet 221 85 $14,230 Running
27 10 27 Brad Coleman Cottonelle Ford 221 82 $20,653 Running
28 12 37 Brad Baker Make a Wish Foundation Ford 219 79 $20,618 Running
29 27 61 Kevin Lepage Skeets Ford 218 76 $20,583 Running
30 34 01 Kertus Davis RACEGIRL Chevrolet 218 73 $14,330 Running
31 30 24 Eric McClure Hefty Brand Chevrolet 218 70 $20,513 Running
32 32 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 217 67 $20,468 Running
33 38 95 Willie Allen Wide Open Energy Drink Dodge 216 64 $13,935 Running
34 28 81 D.J. Kennington Mahindra Tractors/N.P.P.L. Dodge 216 61 $13,915 Running
35 42 4 Robert Richardson Jr. Phantom EFX Chevrolet 211 58 $20,363 Running
36 41 84 Mike Harmon James Otto/Muzik Mafia Chevrolet 72 55 $13,875 Handling
37 35 0 Danny Efland Chevrolet 61 52 $13,855 Transmission
38 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Victory in Jesus Racing Dodge 54 49 $13,835 Handling
39 39 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Ford 46 46 $13,805 Electrical
40 40 52 Derrike Cope Hilton Garden Inn Chevrolet 38 43 $13,750 Transmission
41 43 55 Brad Teague Bennett Classics Museum Ford 29 40 $13,725 Vibration
42 37 91 Larry Gunselman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 23 37 $13,705 Brakes
43 36 05 Brett Rowe CertainTeed/31W Insulation Chevrolet 9 34 $13,625 Accident
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 34,500, Scott Wimmer won the Pepsi 300, his sixth career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Before the green flag the the following drivers, under penalty, dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: #55 Brad Teague (unapproved adjustments), #95 Willie Allen (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 57 Jerick Johnson, 36 Ruben Pardo.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 14 Mins, 12 Secs. Average Speed: 134.095 MPH Margin of Victory: .578 Seconds
Caution Flags: 3 for 20 laps: Laps: 10-21 (#05 oil on track); 61-64 (Debris); 157-160 (Debris).
Lead Changes: 10 among 5 drivers: K. Busch 1-61; C. Bowyer 62-65; K. Busch 66-70; C. Bowyer 71-99; K. Busch 100-124; S. Wimmer 125; K. Bires 126; B. Keselowski 127-128; K. Busch 129-162; C. Bowyer 163-204; S. Wimmer 205-225.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) C. Bowyer 877;(2) C. Edwards 866;(3) D. Reutimann 806;(4) D. Ragan 771;(5) M. Bliss 757;(6) Br. Keselowski 756;(7) K. Harvick 751;(8) K. Bires 708;(9) M. Wallace 706;(10) J. Leffler 703.
Coors Light Pole : Kyle Busch, #20 (163.726 mph) Edwards/Next Highest 06 Point Finisher : Carl Edwards, #60
Featherlite “Most Improved Driver” : Kelly Bires, #47 (15 Places) Mahler Clevite : Scott Wimmer, #29
Mobil 1 Oil Command Performance : David Stremme, #64 Raybestos “Rookie of the Race” : Cale Gale, #33
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Scott Wimmer, #29 WIX Filters “Lap Leader” : Scott Wimmer, #29 (22 Laps)
Next Race: Apr. 5, 2008 - Texas Motor Speedway