NASCAR : Wall, boos overcome by Busch
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/225385/
DARLINGTON, S. C. — Kyle Busch won the battle of attrition Saturday night as NASCAR’s least-popular driver overcame a pit-road penalty and several scrapes with the wall to win at Darlington Raceway.
Busch’s third Sprint Cup Series victory of the season hardly thrilled the crowd, which viciously booed him in prerace introductions and hadn’t softened by the time he took the checkered flag. Already loathed by many, he enraged Dale Earnhardt Jr. ’s massive fan base by wrecking him as they raced for the victory last week in Richmond, Va.
It created a frenzy of hatred toward Busch, but the 23-year-old driver tuned it out and focused on what he does best: winning races.
The victory was his eighth of the season spanning NASCAR’s top three series, and he has won most of them in very convincing fashion. This one was no different, as Busch led a race-high © of the 367 laps in a Toyota he described early in the race as the “most pathetic” he’d ever driven.
He also overcame every speed bump thrown his way on the track “Too Tough to Tame” en route to the victory.
“Darlington showed again tonight it’s one of the hardest places. Always has been, always will be,” Busch said in Victory Lane. “We’re going to go through a lot of Mac tools trying to fix this thing, but that’s OK. They gave me such a race car.”
An off-season repaving project smoothed the asphalt on the egg-shaped, 1. 366-mile superspeedway, and the new surface gave the entire field fits. It made the track extremely fast and grippy, forcing Goodyear to bring a very sturdy tire that could handle the speeds and survive long runs.
The combination of the smooth surface, hard tires and narrow racing line put passing at a premium, and forced several drivers into the wall for the infamous “Darlington stripe.”
Busch was no exception, bouncing hard off of it at least twice in what was an eventful fight to the finish. He was leading early in the race but was penalized when his crew left a lug nut off his rear wheel following a pit stop, dropping him to 29 th.
He battled his way back to the front, patiently picking off Jimmie Johnson, Earnhardt and finally seven-time Darlington winner Jeff Gordon to reclaim the top position. From there, the kid who chases the checkered flag every time he’s on the track pulled away, forcing his spotter to beg him to slow down a mere 50 laps from the finish.
But Busch seems incapable of going slow, and he stayed on the gas until the finish while stretching his Sprint Cup Series lead to 79 points over Jeff Burton.
“I can’t tell you how many times he tried to give the race away by slamming into the wall, his right side was destroyed,” said Gordon.
Carl Edwards finished second and was pleased with the outcome after initially loathing the new surface.
“Kyle had the best car. He was pretty unbeatable tonight,” Edwards said.
He was followed by Gordon, who was happy with the finish but frustrated he’s still searching for his first victory of the season.
“We know we have some work to do,” Gordon said.
Earnhardt finished fourth, David Ragan was fifth and was followed by Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin — Busch’s teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Travis Kvapil, Dave Blaney and Burton rounded out the top 10. Blaney drives for car owner Bill Davis of Batesville.
Almost every driver struggled in some sense, and the problems started early, with Elliott Sadler losing control of his car on the second lap of the race — squeezing Tony Stewart into the Turn 1 wall.
“I just made a huge mistake,” Sadler said. “I just went in too low into Turn 1. I was actually trying to give Tony more room and I just got loose under him and spun into him. I know he’s pretty mad at me, but nothing I did intentionally. I’ve never had any problems with him, and don’t want to start it tonight.”
The incident prevented Stewart, winner of Friday night’s Nationwide Series race, from ever running with the leaders and he finished a frustrating 21 st.
But Stewart’s angst was nothing compared to what pole-sitter Greg Biffle felt after leading 95 laps, only to end his night early with a broken timing belt. The part failed after he’d already overcome two loose wheels, and the crew errors had Biffle seething after his early exit.
“I give 110 percent as a driver all the time and you just want your equipment to last and be able to win these races,” said Biffle, a highly sought after free agent who has yet to reach a contract extension with Roush Fenway Racing.
“You can deal with a flat tire or something like that, but when it’s self-induced, it makes it even harder. It makes it so hard to swallow.” NASCAR-Sprint-Dodge Challenger 500 results Saturday At Darlington Raceway Darlington, S. C. Lap length: 1. 366 miles (Start position in parentheses ) 1. (6 ) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 367 laps, 138. 6 rating, 195 points, $ 313, 700. 2. (36 ) Carl Edwards, Ford, 367, 98. 1, 170, $ 241, 850. 3. (8 ) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 367, 116. 5, 170, $ 194, 236. 4. (2 ) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 367, 117. 7, 165, $ 138, 100. 5. (15 ) David Ragan, Ford, 367, 97. 5, 160, $ 123, 375. 6. (34 ) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 367, 89. 7, 155, $ 146, 016. 7. (21 ) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 367, 99. 1, 151, $ 131, 941. 8. (24 ) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 367, 94. 8, 147, $ 121, 789. 9. (13 ) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 367, 100. 4, 138, $ 111, 283. 10. (12 ) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 367, 89. 4, 134, $ 134, 858. 11. (25 ) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 367, 80. 9, 135, $ 95, 925. 12. (5 ) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 367, 95. 9, 132, $ 87, 650. 13. (3 ) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 367, 98. 0, 124, $ 137, 061. 14. (22 ) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 367, 100. 8, 126, $ 116, 383. 15. (38 ) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 367, 67. 6, 118, $ 99, 750. 16. (27 ) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 367, 70. 7, 115, $ 117, 908. 17. (9 ) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 367, 74. 1, 112, $ 99, 008. 18. (10 ) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 367, 75. 0, 109, $ 119, 011. 19. (30 ) David Reutimann, Toyota, 367, 74. 9, 106, $ 81, 300. 20. (33 ) David Gilliland, Ford, 367, 63. 4, 108, $ 97, 333. 21. (4 ) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 366, 53. 8, 100, $ 125, 061. 22. (42 ) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 366, 60. 3, 102, $ 109, 091. 23. (19 ) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, 366, 46. 6, 94, $ 107, 183. 24. (37 ) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 365, 51. 1, 91, $ 86, 008. 25. (28 ) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 365, 67. 0, 88, $ 76, 950. 26. (31 ) J. J. Yeley, Toyota, 365, 57. 3, 90, $ 84, 675. 27. (26 ) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, 364, 48. 2, 82, $ 72, 475. 28. (18 ) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 364, 48. 5, 79, $ 85, 872. 29. (16 ) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 363, 58. 5, 76, $ 82, 625. 30. (20 ) Bill Elliott, Ford, 363, 38. 1, 73, $ 92, 795. 31. (17 ) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 363, 49. 9, 70, $ 71, 200. 32. (39 ) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 362, 34. 4, 67, $ 98, 239. 33. (40 ) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 361, 46. 8, 64, $ 79, 800. 34. (14 ) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 350, 50. 3, 61, $ 78, 725. 35. (29 ) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 341, 63. 0, 58, $ 88, 475. 36. (41 ) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 340, 40. 2, 55, $ 78, 325. 37. (32 ) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 295, 39. 0, 52, $ 112, 200. 38. (23 ) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 270, 33. 2, 49, $ 115, 475. 39. (11 ) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 265, 71. 7, 46, $ 116, 711. 40. (43 ) Patrick Carpentier, Dodge, engine, 261, 42. 1, 48, $ 69, 625. 41. (35 ) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 250, 25. 3, 40, $ 69, 500. 42. (7 ) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 247, 26. 4, 37, $ 95, 750. 43. (1 ) Greg Biffle, Ford, Engine, 234, 108. 6, 39, $ 83, 164. RACE STATISTICS Average Speed of Race Winner: 140. 350 mph. Time of Race: 3 hours, 34 minutes, 19 seconds. Margin of Victory: 3. 115 seconds. Caution Flags: 8 for 31 laps. Lead Changes: 35 among 15 drivers. Lap Leaders: G. Biffle 1; D. Earnhardt Jr. 2-16; Ky. Busch 17-39; G. Biffle 40-59; Ku. Busch 60; T. Kvapil 61-62; M. Kenseth 63-64; K. Kahne 65 J. Yeley 66; P. Carpentier 67-69; D. Gilliland 70; Ky. Busch 71-109 G. Biffle 110-121; J. Gordon 122; D. Hamlin 123; P. Carpentier 124 Ky. Busch 125; G. Biffle 126-127; Ky. Busch 128-140; G. Biffle 141 D. Earnhardt Jr. 142-159; G. Biffle 160-193; M. Truex Jr. 194-201 D. Earnhardt Jr. 202; M. Kenseth 203; D. Ragan 204-205; J. McMurray 206-208; G. Biffle 209-233; M. Truex Jr. 234-236; D. Hamlin 237-250 J. Gordon 251-269; Ky. Busch 270-280; J. Gordon 281-284; Ky. Busch 285-302; D. Earnhardt Jr. 303; Ky. Busch 304-367. Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led ): Kyle Busch 7 times for © laps; Greg Biffle 7 times for 95 laps; Dale Earnhardt Jr. 4 times for 35 laps; Jeff Gordon 3 times for 24 laps; Denny Hamlin 2 times for 15 laps; Martin Truex Jr. 2 times for 11 laps; Patrick Carpentier times for 4 laps; Matt Kenseth 2 times for 3 laps; Jamie McMurray 1 time for 3 laps; Travis Kvapil 1 time for 2 laps; David Ragan 1 time for 2 laps; Kurt Busch 1 time for 1 lap; David Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap Kasey Kahne 1 time for 1 lap; J. J. Yeley 1 time for 1 lap. Top 10 in Points: 1, Ky. Busch, 1, 690; 2, J. Burton, 1, 611; 3, D. Earnhardt Jr., 1, 556; 4, D. Hamlin, 1, 500; 5, C. Bowyer, 1, 490; 6, J. Johnson 1, 442; 7, C. Edwards, 1, 400; 8, T. Stewart, 1, 397; 9, K. Harvick, 1, 396 10, J. Gordon, 1, 326.