Busch hangs on in Nationwide win
LOUDON, N.H. — Kyle Busch needed some OT to grab that checkered flag.
Once he did, he bowed twice to the crowd.
He could have done it one more time one for each green-white- checkered finish he needed to survive to win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Busch dominated in regulation, then proved he had the car to beat in three attempts of NASCAR’s version of overtime to win the Nationwide Series race.
Busch needed to drive 213 laps of a scheduled 200-lap race to win his seventh race of the season. He snapped a four-race winless streak and won his 58th career Nationwide race.
He had enough fuel left in the tank to win from the pole for the fourth time this season.
Busch then used it all up with one big burnout.
“We didn’t want to have those late restarts,” Busch said. “We felt like we had just enough fuel to make it to the end.”
Who knew they’d need every drop?
The bonus racing stretched just about every car on the track. Not everyone made it.
Brian Vickers ran out of gas just as he crossed the finish line.
Busch pitted for the final time two laps after Vickers, on lap 119. He tried to conserve fuel through various methods and pad his stats for total laps led. He passed the 12,000 mark in career laps led and has 12,085 now.
“It’s just about being out front and setting your own pace,” Busch said. “It’s kind of like minding your own business. I like everyone away from me and to be doing my own thing.”
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Busch (141), Vickers (63) and Matt Kenseth (nine) led every lap in the race.
Vickers was second and Austin Dillon third. Brian Scott and Michael Annett round out the top five.Busch’s four victories from the pole matched Sam Ard’s record set in 1983.
“Every time I get in Victory Lane, there’s some sort of record I tie or break,” Busch said.
OTHER RACES
IndyCar of Toronto: Scott Dixon passed Sebastien Bourdais with nine laps to go Saturday to win on the street course at Toronto, where controversy invaded Victory Lane.
Dixon’s win, his second consecutive after picking up his first victory of the season last weekend at Pocono, was clean and clear. It was the 31st of his career and moved him into a tie for seventh on the all-time win list with teammate Dario Franchitti, Bourdais and Paul Tracy.
Bourdais was second in his first podium finish since the 2007 Champ Car season, but his celebration was short-lived: The glass trophy he received slipped off the stand as it was handed to him and shattered into thousands of pieces.
Franchitti, meanwhile, was handed the thirdplace trophy only to learn sometime during the podium celebration he’d been stripped of the finish for blocking Will Power on the final lap.
However, two hours later, Franchitti won his appeal
His Ganassi team presented car data that showed steering and braking points from the incident. Race control also viewed additional video in restoring Franchitti’s third-place finish.
Before the reversal, Franchitti was highly critical of the penalty. “There’s a lot of frustrations with IndyCar, and this says a lot.”