Busch Wins a Texas Snoozer
April 5, 2008 by Tim Zaegel
Filed under Racing
With qualifying rained out for the Nationwide’s trip to Texas for the O’Reilly 300, the field lined up on Saturday based on their position in the standings. Kyle Busch lined up 11th in the field, but that didn’t stop him from running competitively in the first portion of the race, and then putting an absolute stinkin’ on the rest of the field for the second half, leading 126 of the 200 laps in the race.
Saturday’s win was the first for Busch this season in the Nationwide Series. He’s come close a couple of times, running second at Daytona and California, and running very strongly in most races since then, only to run into troubles on the track. The victory is the third for Joe Gibbs Racing this season.
Kevin Harvick started the day on the pole and was looking for his fifth career Nationwide victory at Texas Motor Speedway, but it was not to be, as he found himself with a broken axel in the early goings en route to a 34th place finish.
Jeff Burton ran second in the race, followed by his RCR teammate and series points leader, Clint Bowyer. Bobby LaBonte and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Jason Leffler was the highest finishing Nationwide-only regular in ninth place, and Dario Franchitti was the highest finishing rookie in eleventh. The next stop for the series will be next Friday night at Phoenix International Speedway.
Complete Results (from nascar.com):
| FIN |
ST |
CAR |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 |
31 |
18 |
Kyle Busch |
Toyota |
DLP HDTV |
195/10 |
200 |
Running |
| 2 |
4 |
29 |
Jeff Burton |
Chevrolet |
Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express |
175/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 3 |
2 |
2 |
Clint Bowyer |
Chevrolet |
Camping World / RVs.com |
170/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 4 |
16 |
21 |
Bobby Labonte |
Chevrolet |
Prilosec OTC / Wal-Mart |
160/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 5 |
15 |
16 |
Jamie McMurray |
Ford |
CitiFinancial |
160/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 6 |
19 |
32 |
Brian Vickers |
Toyota |
Seymour of Sycamore / ABF |
150/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 7 |
10 |
5 |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
Chevrolet |
GoDaddy.com |
146/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 8 |
7 |
6 |
David Ragan |
Ford |
Discount Tire |
142/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 9 |
14 |
38 |
Jason Leffler |
Toyota |
Great Clips |
138/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 10 |
6 |
20 |
Tony Stewart |
Toyota |
Old Spice |
139/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 11 |
21 |
40 |
Dario Franchitti * |
Dodge |
Fastenal |
135/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 12 |
20 |
111 |
Jason Keller |
Chevrolet |
America’s Incredible Pizza Company |
127/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 13 |
3 |
60 |
Carl Edwards |
Ford |
Scotts Water Smart |
124/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 14 |
5 |
99 |
David Reutimann |
Toyota |
Aaron’s Dream Machine |
121/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 15 |
9 |
88 |
Brad Keselowski |
Chevrolet |
U.S. Navy |
123/5 |
199 |
Running |
| 16 |
23 |
66 |
Steve Wallace |
Chevrolet |
Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches |
115/0 |
199 |
Running |
| 17 |
12 |
47 |
Kelly Bires |
Ford |
Clorox |
112/0 |
199 |
Running |
| 18 |
24 |
59 |
Marcos Ambrose |
Ford |
Kingsford Hickory Charcoal |
109/0 |
199 |
Running |
| 19 |
43 |
12 |
Sam Hornish Jr. |
Dodge |
Penske Truck Rental |
106/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 20 |
8 |
22 |
Robby Gordon |
Dodge |
Supercuts |
103/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 21 |
11 |
9 |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
Hellmann’s |
100/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 22 |
26 |
27 |
Brad Coleman |
Ford |
Cottonelle BKB / Brookshire’s |
97/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 23 |
17 |
25 |
Bobby Hamilton Jr. |
Ford |
Eckrich |
94/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 24 |
22 |
1 |
Mike Bliss |
Chevrolet |
Miccosukee Resort & Gaming |
91/0 |
197 |
Running |
| 25 |
13 |
7 |
Mike Wallace |
Toyota |
GEICO |
88/0 |
197 |
Running |
| 26 |
25 |
28 |
Kenny Wallace |
Chevrolet |
U.S. Border Patrol |
85/0 |
196 |
Running |
| 27 |
41 |
30 |
Stanton Barrett |
Chevrolet |
NOS Energy Drink |
82/0 |
196 |
Running |
| 28 |
42 |
170 |
Mark Green |
Chevrolet |
Foretravel Motorcoach |
79/0 |
194 |
Running |
| 29 |
29 |
4 |
Robert Richardson, II |
Chevrolet |
Jay Robinson Inc. |
76/0 |
194 |
Running |
| 30 |
33 |
81 |
D.J. Kennington |
Dodge |
Mahindra Tractors / NPPL |
73/0 |
190 |
Running |
| 31 |
27 |
161 |
Kevin Lepage |
Ford |
Courtyard Dallas Arlington by the Ballpark |
70/0 |
189 |
Running |
| 32 |
34 |
01 |
Kertus Davis |
Chevrolet |
RaceGirl |
67/0 |
189 |
Running |
| 33 |
28 |
41 |
Kyle Krisiloff |
Dodge |
Polaroid |
64/0 |
184 |
Off Track |
| 34 |
1 |
33 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
RoadLoans.com |
66/5 |
179 |
Running |
| 35 |
18 |
64 |
David Stremme |
Chevrolet |
Atreus Homes & Communities |
58/0 |
163 |
Running |
| 36 |
32 |
24 |
Eric McClure |
Chevrolet |
Hefty |
55/0 |
145 |
Out of Race |
| 37 |
36 |
52 |
Derrike Cope |
Chevrolet |
Means Racing |
52/0 |
42 |
Out of Race |
| 38 |
35 |
05 |
Brett Rowe |
Chevrolet |
31-W Insulation / CertainTeed |
49/0 |
40 |
Out of Race |
| 39 |
37 |
90 |
Johnny Chapman |
Chevrolet |
MSRP Motorsports |
46/0 |
33 |
Out of Race |
| 40 |
30 |
37 |
Burney Lamar |
Ford |
Baker Curb Racing |
43/0 |
29 |
Out of Race |
| 41 |
39 |
91 |
Larry Gunselman |
Chevrolet |
MSRP Motorsports |
40/0 |
23 |
Out of Race |
| 42 |
38 |
89 |
Morgan Shepherd |
Dodge |
Victory In Jesus |
37/0 |
17 |
Out of Race |
| 43 |
40 |
84 |
Mike Harmon |
Chevrolet |
James Otto / Muzik Mafia |
34/0 |
13 |
Out of Race |
Nationwide Standings (from nascar.com):
| RANK |
+/- |
DRIVER |
POINTS |
BEHIND |
STARTS |
POLES |
WINS |
TOP 5 |
TOP 10 |
| 1 |
– |
Clint Bowyer |
1047 |
Leader |
7 |
0 |
1 |
4 |
5 |
| 2 |
– |
Carl Edwards |
990 |
-57 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| 3 |
– |
David Reutimann |
927 |
-120 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
4 |
| 4 |
– |
David Ragan |
913 |
-134 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
| 5 |
+6 |
Kyle Busch |
888 |
-159 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
| 6 |
– |
Brad Keselowski |
879 |
-168 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| 7 |
-2 |
Mike Bliss |
848 |
-199 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 8 |
+2 |
Jason Leffler |
841 |
-206 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| 9 |
-1 |
Kelly Bires |
820 |
-227 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 10 |
-3 |
Kevin Harvick |
817 |
-230 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
4 |
| 11 |
-2 |
Mike Wallace |
794 |
-253 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 12 |
– |
Bobby Hamilton Jr. |
766 |
-281 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 13 |
+1 |
Jason Keller |
760 |
-287 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 14 |
-1 |
David Stremme |
723 |
-324 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
| 15 |
– |
Steve Wallace |
673 |
-374 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 16 |
– |
Marcos Ambrose |
661 |
-386 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 17 |
+3 |
Dario Franchitti* |
655 |
-392 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 18 |
– |
Brad Coleman |
630 |
-417 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| 19 |
+4 |
Tony Stewart |
611 |
-436 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
| 20 |
-1 |
Kenny Wallace |
608 |
-439 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 21 |
+8 |
Jeff Burton |
588 |
-459 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
3 |
| 22 |
+6 |
Bobby Labonte |
575 |
-472 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| 23 |
-1 |
Kevin Lepage |
543 |
-504 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 24 |
-7 |
Greg Biffle |
540 |
-507 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
| 25 |
-1 |
Robert Richardson, II |
537 |
-510 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
