Backstretch Motorsports

SONOMA, CA. — Kyle Busch is definitely the real deal. He won NASCAR’s Sprint Cup race here Sunday, completely dominating the race from shortly before the halfway point to the wild, caution-filled finish.

Three late-race caution flags bunched the field after young Busch had literally left all challengers in the California dust on a sunny California Sunday.

Busch led 75 laps en route his first road course victory, coming from 30th starting position to the front.

It was a typically wild road course race, especially at the end. Kevin Harvick, running near the front as he had most of the afternoon with three laps remaining, prompted a three-car spin in the horseshoe turn when his brakes locked up. He slid sideways, collecting Tony Stewart and Ron Fellows in the process.

When a green, white, checkered restart got the field going again for the final time, Busch pulled away from runner-up David Gilliland and third-place finisher Jeff Gordon, who struggled all afternoon with an ill-handling car.

Clint Bowyer was fourth and Casey Mears fifth. Juan Pablo Montoya, who was accidentally spun by Australian Marcos Ambrose, raced back into contention and finished sixth. Ambrose, unfortunately, suffered a mechanical failure while running second and fell out of the race. Rounding out the top 10 were Ryan Newman, Matt Kenseth, Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Stewart roared from 19th after his accident to finish 11th.

Two-time champion Jimmie Johnson, one of the early-race leaders, finished 16th after an accident put him back in the field.

This was one of those twisting, turning, up and down days for NASCAR’s “turning left” stars who are not accustomed to right-hand turns and hills. Several teams brought in road course ringers to increase their chances for a win. Boris Said, Fellows, Max Pappis, Ambrose and Scott Pruett brought impressive sports car racing resume’s to Sunday’s 110-lap, high speed party.

Bobby Labonte lost his grip on the second lap in the hairpin turn and spun off the track, dropping from fourth to 30th position.

Johnson passed pole winner Kasey Kahne for the lead on the sixth lap. Several laps later, Kurt Busch passed Kahne, as did Robby and Jeff Gordon. Ambrose was holding on to fifth place in the Wood Brothers Ford.

At 20 laps, it was Johnson, Kurt Busch, Robby Gordon, Carl Edwards, who won the NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Milwaukee Saturday night, Ambrose, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Newman, defending race champion Montoya and Biffle.

Two laps later, Edwards charged into second place. Biffle was the first of the frontrunners to pit on lap 25, hoping to make only one additional pit stop as opposed to more. Harvick and teammate Burton also stopped early.

David Ragan brought out a caution a few laps after the early pit stops when he rammed a stack of safety tires on the inside of the hairpin turn.

When racing resumed, Biffle had the lead but spun in the second turn and dropped way back in the field. Kyle Busch took the lead with Montoya and McMurray in tow. Johnson had dropped back to 10th spot. Kurt Busch got an unwelcome bump from Scott Pruett which cost Busch valuable time. Just a few laps later, Denny Hamlin spun in the hairpin dropping him back in the field.

At the 55-lap, halfway point of the race, it was Kyle Busch leading, Montoya second, McMurray third, followed by Stewart, David Gilliland, Edwards, Harvick, Robby Gordon and Elliott Sadler. Ambrose had dropped to 11th.

Race Results
Infineon Raceway
Toyota/Save Mart 350
UNOFFICIAL
Fin Str Car Driver Team Lap Pts BPts Status TLd LLd
1 30 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota 112 195 10 Running 2 78
2 31 38 David Gilliland freecreditreport.com Ford 112 170 Running
3 5 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 112 165 Running
4 19 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 112 160 Running
5 23 5 Casey Mears Kellogg’s/CARQUEST Chevrolet 112 155 Running
6 21 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 112 150 Running
7 9 12 Ryan Newman alltel Dodge 112 146 Running
8 33 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 112 142 Running
9 12 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 112 143 5 Running 1 2
10 39 20 Tony Stewart Home Depot Toyota 112 134 Running
11 10 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 112 135 5 Running 1 1
12 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard/AMP Energy 112 127 Running
13 20 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Mobility Chevrolet 112 124 Running
14 26 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 112 121 Running
15 2 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 112 123 5 Running 1 27
16 25 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats 112 115 Running
17 11 45 Terry Labonte Wells Fargo Dodge 112 112 Running
18 18 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 112 109 Running
19 6 19 Elliott Sadler Stanley Dodge 112 106 Running
20 16 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 112 103 Running
21 34 00 Michael McDowell # NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 112 100 Running
22 41 28 Travis Kvapil California Highway Patrol Ford 112 97 Running
23 37 10 Patrick Carpentier # Valvoline Dodge 112 94 Running
24 38 6 David Ragan AAA Insurance Ford 112 91 Running
25 35 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 112 88 Running
26 24 78 Joe Nemechek Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 112 85 Running
27 13 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Office Toyota 112 82 Running
28 40 8 Aric Almirola U.S. Army Chevrolet 112 79 Running
29 22 01 Ron Fellows Principal Financial Group/DEI 112 76 Running
30 32 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 112 73 Running
31 17 77 Sam Hornish Jr. # Mobil 1 Dodge 112 70 Running
32 3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 111 67 Running
33 1 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Dodge 111 69 5 Running 1 4
34 29 15 Paul Menard Menards/Johns Manville 111 61 Running
35 28 66 Max Papis Haas Automation Chevrolet 111 58 Running
36 8 7 Robby Gordon Camping World/RVs.com Dodge 110 55 Running
37 36 84 AJ Allmendinger Red Bull Toyota 109 52 Running
38 27 41 Scott Pruett Target Dodge 108 49 Accident
39 4 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 103 46 Electrical
40 42 44 David Reutimann UPS Toyota 99 43 Accident
41 14 60 Boris Said Slurpee/No Fear Energy Ford 94 40 Shocks
42 7 21 Marcos Ambrose Little Debbie Honey Buns Ford 83 37 Transmission
43 43 34 Brian Simo No Fear Ford 20 34 Transmission

# = Rookie, Fin = Finish, Str = Start, Pts = Total Points, BPs = Lap Leader Bns Pts, TLd = Times Led, LLd = Laps Led
Average Speed: 76.445 MPH Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 54 Mins, 56 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.716 Seconds
Lead Changes: 5 among 5 drivers Cautions: 6 for 14 laps Attendance: 100,000