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Author: Barry Albert

  • Kyle Busch outduels Mark Martin, returns to Victory Lane at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – Kyle Busch held off Mark Martin to win the Sharpie 500 Saturday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway in front of the track’s 55th straight sold-out crowd.

    A four-lap shootout between Busch and Martin followed a 10-minute red-flag period started when Michael Waltrip blew a tire after contact with David Reutimann with nine laps to go. Busch and Martin battled side by side for three laps before the No. 18 pulled ahead for good on the final time down the backstretch.

    Busch climbed from his car, which went untouched by Martin during their battle for the lead, with more praise for Martin and the competition than himself.

    “Racing in the Sprint Cup Series with these guys is really an honor,” Busch said. “And Mark Martin, what a class act. He deserved to win this race.

    “We didn’t have the best car tonight, but we had a car capable enough of doing it if I drove it hard enough.”

    The same upbeat Busch appeared from his car in Victory Lane as did Wednesday after a Truck Series win, also at Bristol. Busch’s crew chief Steve Addington was feeling the same vibe as his team inched closer to the Race to the Chase cutoff line with the win.

    Addington said that even during Busch’s slump, which saw last season’s top seed in the Chase finish outside of the top 10 in 10 out of the series’ last 13 races, he never doubted the team’s potential to win.

    “That guy sitting behind that steering wheel right there is the man,” Addington said of his driver. “We’ve just got to get back on our track with giving him what he needs to win races. We’ll get this M&Ms Toyota in the Chase on way or another.”.

    Rookie Marcos Ambrose finished third, Greg Biffle fourth and Denny Hamlin fifth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. fell from fifth to finish ninth in the final four laps.

    Eleven yellow flags waved at Bristol for a total of 75 laps, with five caution periods occurring after lap 400 of the 500 scheduled. Rain threatened to stall the race after causing the race’s penultimate caution, but storms held off long enough for Busch to hand the checkered flag to a fan and do a reverse-direction victory lap.

    Shaking up the points battle were Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson, who struggled through radio problems and poor pit stops, respectively. Stewart remains ahead of Johnson by 220 points.

    Busch’s victory brought him to 33 points outside the Chase cutoff. After being involved in two separate incidents, Clint Bowyer’s Chase hopes were dashed.

  • Fireworks could fly between Kyle Busch, Brian Vickers during Bristol pre-race

    BRISTOL, Tenn. — Saturday night’s race at Bristol Motor Speedway could be interesting from before the start.

    After a press conference with reporters Friday, Brian Vickers once again criticized Kyle Busch for being “so mad about something so small.” Vickers was once again reacting to the end of last weekend’s Nationwide Series Race at Michigan, when Brad Keselowski flew by the two drivers on the outside as they fought amongst themselves for the lead.

    Both drivers are trying to make the Chase, and they qualified in close proximity — 14th and 15th.

    The pre-race procedures have been changed for Saturday’s Sharpie 500, as drivers will walk out of the Turn 3 tunnel to the tune of a song of their choice before entering a truck that will escort them around the track.  Both Vickers and Busch will ride in the same truck by virtue of their close qualifying positions.

    Here’s to both of them making it to the race in one piece.

  • Brad Keselowski wins Nationwide Series pole in telling day for his future

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – After leading Nationwide Series final practice, Brad Keselowski won the pole for Friday night’s Food City 250 at the Bristol Motor Speedway.

    Keselowski’s lap of 120.565 mph paced the field that will include Sprint Cup Series drivers Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and David Reutimann.

    While the No. 88 sat firmly on the pole, news leaked that the JR Motorsports driver would be headed to Penske Racing, which competes under the Dodge banner in the Sprint Cup Series, in 2009. Keselowski chose to remain mum on his future plans.

    “I really am not in a position to talk about any of that stuff right now,” Keselowski said. “I’m really not prepared to address any of the rumors about next year. I’m here to race the Nationwide car and win with it tonight and I am not going to let anything get in the way or distract us from that end.”

    Edwards will roll off second, Bowyer third, Kenseth fourth and hometown favorite Trevor Bayne rounds out the top five. The green flag is expected to fly shortly after 7:30 p.m. ET.

    Qualifying Results

    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time Bnd
    1 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 120.565 15.915
    2 60 Carl Edwards Ford 120.444 15.931 -0.016
    3 29 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 120.429 15.933 -0.018
    4 16 Matt Kenseth Ford 120.354 15.943 -0.028
    5 99 Trevor Bayne Toyota 120.301 15.95 -0.035
    6 12 Justin Allgaier* Dodge 120.278 15.953 -0.038
    7 20 Brad Coleman Toyota 120.022 15.987 -0.072
    8 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet 119.985 15.992 -0.077
    9 6 David Ragan Ford 119.85 16.01 -0.095
    10 5 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 119.581 16.046 -0.131
    11 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 119.388 16.072 -0.157
    12 1 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 119.351 16.077 -0.162
    13 15 Michael Annett* Toyota 119.328 16.08 -0.165
    14 10 Kasey Kahne Toyota 119.18 16.1 -0.185
    15 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 119.099 16.111 -0.196
    16 11 Brian Scott Toyota 119.091 16.112 -0.197
    17 27 Jason Keller Ford 118.995 16.125 -0.21
    18 177 Peyton Sellers Chevrolet 118.988 16.126 -0.211
    19 26 Michael McDowell* Dodge 118.929 16.134 -0.219
    20 62 Brendan Gaughan* Chevrolet 118.841 16.146 -0.231
    21 9 John Wes Townley* Ford 118.672 16.169 -0.254
    22 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 118.613 16.177 -0.262
    23 1 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Chevrolet 118.591 16.18 -0.265
    24 5 Casey Atwood Chevrolet 118.591 16.18 -0.265
    25 61 Matt Carter Ford 118.584 16.181 -0.266
    26 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 118.459 16.198 -0.283
    27 7 Chase Austin Chevrolet 118.379 16.209 -0.294
    28 47 Coleman Pressley Toyota 118.306 16.219 -0.304
    29 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 118.291 16.221 -0.306
    30 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 118.087 16.249 -0.334
    31 178 Kevin Lepage Dodge 118.029 16.257 -0.342
    32 173 Derrike Cope Dodge 117.971 16.265 -0.35
    33 172 Benny Gordon Ford 117.848 16.282 -0.367
    34 91 Terry Cook* Chevrolet 117.804 16.288 -0.373
    35 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet 117.516 16.328 -0.413
    36 52 Brad Teague Chevrolet 117.487 16.332 -0.417
    37 87 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 117.15 16.379 -0.464
    38 23 Ken Butler III* Chevrolet 116.957 16.406 -0.491
    39 24 Eric McClure+ Ford 116.474 16.474 -0.559
    40 81 Sean Murphy+ Dodge 116.284 16.501 -0.586
    41 32 David Reutimann+ Toyota 116.08 16.53 -0.615
    42 234 Tony Raines+ Chevrolet 115.968 16.546 -0.631
    43 198 Paul Menard Ford 117.343 16.352 -0.437

  • Mark Martin on pole for fifth time this season at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – Mark Martin will start from the pole for the fifth time in the 2009 season Saturday night at the Bristol Motor Speedway in the Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500.

    Martin’s lap of 124.484 mph was just good enough for first, edging second-place Greg Biffle by just over two one hundredths of a second.

    “We just ran so many really special laps,” Martin said. “I believe the law of averages caught up with us. I didn’t need to choke today.

    “We got a great lap again, and so that was really really good.”

    Rookie Scott Speed qualified fourth in his effort to return the No. 82 team back to the top-35 in points, Dave Blaney drove his start-and-park operation to a season-high fourth and Matt Kenseth will roll off fifth.

    Qualifying Results

    Pos. No. Driver Make Speed Time Bnd
    1 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 124.484 15.414
    2 16 Greg Biffle Ford 124.307 15.436 -0.022
    3 82 Scott Speed* Toyota 124.146 15.456 -0.042
    4 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 123.969 15.478 -0.064
    5 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 123.897 15.487 -0.073
    6 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 123.89 15.488 -0.074
    7 7 Casey Mears Chevrolet 123.754 15.505 -0.091
    8 20 Joey Logano* Toyota 123.706 15.511 -0.097
    9 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 123.642 15.519 -0.105
    10 43 Reed Sorenson Dodge 123.61 15.523 -0.109
    11 171 David Gilliland Chevrolet 123.586 15.526 -0.112
    12 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 123.586 15.526 -0.112
    13 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 123.538 15.532 -0.118
    14 83 Brian Vickers Toyota 123.451 15.543 -0.129
    15 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 123.435 15.545 -0.131
    16 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 123.34 15.557 -0.143
    17 26 Jamie McMurray Ford 123.245 15.569 -0.155
    18 0 David Reutimann Toyota 123.126 15.584 -0.17
    19 44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge 123.103 15.587 -0.173
    20 96 Bobby Labonte Ford 123.047 15.594 -0.18
    21 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 122.984 15.602 -0.188
    22 8 Terry Labonte Toyota 122.842 15.62 -0.206
    23 6 David Ragan Ford 122.787 15.627 -0.213
    24 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet 122.756 15.631 -0.217
    25 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 122.67 15.642 -0.228
    26 4 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 122.646 15.645 -0.231
    27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 122.584 15.653 -0.239
    28 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 122.576 15.654 -0.24
    29 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge 122.537 15.659 -0.245
    30 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 122.521 15.661 -0.247
    31 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 122.482 15.666 -0.252
    32 99 Carl Edwards Ford 122.419 15.674 -0.26
    33 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 122.411 15.675 -0.261
    34 12 David Stremme Dodge 122.31 15.688 -0.274
    35 37 Tony Raines Dodge 122.217 15.7 -0.286
    36 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota 122.115 15.713 -0.299
    37 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 122.108 15.714 -0.3
    38 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 122.053 15.721 -0.307
    39 187 Joe Nemechek Toyota 121.566 15.784 -0.37
    40 36 Mike Skinner Toyota 121.497 15.793 -0.379
    41 98 Paul Menard Ford 121.389 15.807 -0.393
    42 34 John Andretti Chevrolet 121.243 15.826 -0.412
    43 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 120.626 15.907 -0.493

  • David Ragan earns second Nationwide Series win after showdown with Carl Edwards at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – David Ragan shot ahead of Carl Edwards in a green-white-checkered finish to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series Food City 250 Friday night by a 1.379-second margin.

    Debris on the .5-mile oval’s frontstretch brought out the race’s final caution with eight laps remaining, setting up a two-lap run to the finish four laps after regulation. Ragan, who earlier in the race saw Edwards jet ahead on the outside line on a double-file restart, elected to take to the outside as the leader.

    “The outside was just great all night,” Ragan said. “I really struggled passing cars on the bottom.

    “I just can’t say enough about our Nationwide team and everybody back at the Roush Fenway shop.”

    The win was Ragan’s second Nationwide Series victory this season, his first coming at Talladega last spring. Ragan gained the lead after maneuvering lapped traffic to where he could pin Edwards in the preferred middle groove and drive by on the bottom.

    Edwards said he hesitated to overdrive his car and hit Ragan, his teammate, on the restart with a good points day the risk.

    “David’s car was just so much faster through the center,” Edwards said. “I just can’t say enough about David Ragan. We didn’t come here to finish second, but he’s a great guy.”

    Points leader Kyle Busch was involved in an incident with the lapped car of Chase Austin on lap 54 while leading. Busch came out from the garage after repairs and ended up 28th, 59 laps down.

    Busch led one lap before contact with Austin, but his points lead was cut to 248 with Edwards’ second-place finish. The series heads to Montreal next weekend, where Edwards will again look to slim Busch’s lead down.

    Pole-sitter Brad Keselowski finished third after an eventful night that saw him nudge leader Justin Allgaier, cut down Allgaier’s tire and sustain enough front-end damage to head to pit road off sequence.

    The incident, which Keselowski said was “100 percent” his fault, sent Allagaier spinning for the first time of the night.

    “I just was racing hard and I guess I was racing a little too hard,” Keselowski said. “I feel terrible about it. He had a really great car and could have won the race.”

    Allgaier’s second spin on lap 250 ended the race before the white-flag lap was completed.

    Kevin Harvick, who won at Bristol in the spring, was fourth and Matt Kenseth fifth after recovering from a spin on lap seven.

    Unofficial Race Results

    Pos. St. No. Driver Make Pts. Bon. Laps Status
    1 9 6 David Ragan  Ford 190 5 254 Running
    2 2 60 Carl Edwards  Ford 175 5 254 Running
    3 1 88 Brad Keselowski  Chevrolet 170 5 254 Running
    4 11 33 Kevin Harvick  Chevrolet 170 10 254 Running
    5 4 16 Matt Kenseth  Ford 155 0 254 Running
    6 26 38 Jason Leffler  Toyota 150 0 254 Running
    7 3 29 Clint Bowyer  Chevrolet 146 0 254 Running
    8 13 15 Michael Annett * Toyota 142 0 254 Running
    9 43 198 Paul Menard  Ford 138 0 254 Running
    10 19 26 Michael McDowell * Dodge 134 0 254 Running
    11 41 32 David Reutimann  Toyota 130 0 254 Running
    12 25 61 Matt Carter  Ford 127 0 254 Running
    13 10 5 Ryan Newman  Chevrolet 124 0 254 Running
    14 30 28 Kenny Wallace  Chevrolet 121 0 253 Running
    15 37 87 Mike Bliss  Chevrolet 118 0 253 Running
    16 17 27 Jason Keller  Ford 115 0 253 Running
    17 8 66 Steve Wallace  Chevrolet 112 0 253 Running
    18 33 172 Benny Gordon  Ford 109 0 252 Running
    19 20 62 Brendan Gaughan * Chevrolet 111 5 252 Running
    20 40 81 Sean Murphy  Dodge 103 0 252 Running
    21 22 40 Scott Wimmer  Chevrolet 100 0 251 Running
    22 38 23 Ken Butler III * Chevrolet 97 0 251 Running
    23 42 234 Tony Raines  Chevrolet 94 0 250 Running
    24 5 99 Trevor Bayne  Toyota 91 0 250 Running
    25 39 24 Eric McClure  Ford 88 0 249 Running
    26 32 173 Derrike Cope  Dodge 85 0 236 Running
    27 6 12 Justin Allgaier * Dodge 87 5 226 Running
    28 15 18 Kyle Busch  Toyota 84 5 195 Running
    29 7 20 Brad Coleman  Toyota 76 0 177 Running
    30 16 11 Brian Scott  Toyota 73 0 162 Accident
    31 18 177 Peyton Sellers  Chevrolet 70 0 161 Accident
    32 23 1 Danny O’Quinn Jr.  Chevrolet 67 0 137 Accident
    33 21 9 John Wes Townley * Ford 64 0 133 Susp.
    34 36 52 Brad Teague  Chevrolet 61 0 79 Ignition
    35 12 1 Reed Sorenson  Chevrolet 58 0 52 Accident
    36 27 7 Chase Austin  Chevrolet 55 0 51 Accident
    37 14 10 Kasey Kahne  Toyota 52 0 30 Overheating
    38 29 49 Mark Green  Chevrolet 49 0 25 Brakes
    39 28 47 Coleman Pressley  Toyota 46 0 23 Overheating
    40 31 178 Kevin Lepage  Dodge 43 0 13 Ignition
    41 24 5 Casey Atwood  Chevrolet 40 0 12 Transmission
    42 34 91 Terry Cook * Chevrolet 37 0 3 Brakes
    43 35 90 Johnny Chapman  Chevrolet 34 0 2 Ignition

  • Kyle Busch snaps Ron Hornaday’s winning streak with come-from-behind effort at Bristol

    BRISTOL, Tenn. – As evidenced by a wide smile and upbeat attitude in the Bristol Motor Speedway’s Victory Lane, his swagger was back, his style no longer cramped.

    Kyle Busch ended Ron Hornaday’s Camping World Truck Series streak Wednesday night at the .5-mile bullring, winning the O’Reilly 200 for the second year in a row. The victory was Busch’s first in 17 NASCAR National Touring Series races and third in the Truck Series with Billy Ballew Motorsports.

    “For some reason I’ve really taken to the new surface,” Busch said. “I loved the old surface. I love the new one.”

    Since being wrecked by Tony Stewart approaching the checkered flag in July’s Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona, Busch has slipped to 15th in the series standings, three spots outside the Chase for the Cup cutoff line officially drawn after only three more races.

    While winning in the Truck Series doesn’t help his Cup car get faster, Busch said it will aid his confidence as a driver.

    “It just gets the momentum going. It just tells you that you can do it,” Busch said. “I’m my myself’s biggest critic. This definitely helps out. Gets me back in the right mindset. Gets me back in the right frame.”

    The race wasn’t decided after pit strategy played out. Busch and crew chief Richie Wauters elected to come in under the race’s first caution, take four tires and stay out for the remainder of the race. The strategy worked out, but not before Busch picked off most of the field’s lead-lap cars along with Jason White, who led 86 laps in a gutsy bid to win his first Truck Series race.

    Wauters said the tire compound keyed the No. 51 team’s strategy.

    “The tires, they’re so hard here. They’re not falling off,” Wauters said. “It seems like when they cool down you can run just like you have stickers on again, so we decided to stay out. It was the right call tonight.”

    Busch finished ahead of the second-place car of Matt Crafton and third-place Hornaday. The two are locked in a points battle that was trimmed to 211 points following 200 laps at Bristol, where Hornaday has multiple wins but hasn’t fared as well on the track’s revamped surface.

    Wednesday night, a pit-stop error would doom any chance of Hornaday continuing his record streak, which hasn’t seen the No. 33 team anywhere but in Victory Lane since the series visited the Milwaukee Mile in June.

    “We ran good, we just ran into some bad luck,” Hornaday said. “Kyle was just so dominant up top, and he had his truck free enough in the beginning. I learned that, and when he pitted and came right back in for fuel, that’s hurt us right there.

    We lost too much track position right there. It was my own fault. I should have been paying more attention.”

    The race was slowed five times for a total of 32 laps.

    Pole-sitter Ryan Newman, who competed in the NASCAR Modified Series race earlier in the day, finished fourth. Brian Scott rounded out the top-five finishers with a no-tire strategy, still recovering from an accident at Michigan that broke his arm.