Nationwide Series – Ford 300

Kyle Busch wins the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway Saturday…

…after he won the 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship!

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

“It was a tough race, for sure,” Busch said. “We weren’t the best car here for a long time. All these guys made some great race calls — (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliff) and everybody else. That’s why we’re a championship team. That’s why we made it here tonight, because these guys can fight through stuff.”

With 35 laps to go, Busch passed polesitter Carl Edwards for the lead and held on until victory lane for his 9th series win this season. Busch only needed to start the race to win his first NASCAR championship. “What an awesome race,” Busch said. “Carl and Jeff Burton put on a whale of a show up there, Jeff on the bottom, Carl up top, and at the end of the race with Carl coming through on tires, it was such a fun deal.  Fun to watch and fun to be a part of at the end.  Glad we were able to hold them off and come out here and win this thing.  This is another racetrack that I can mark off my list of venues I haven’t won at, and so really excited to be able to do that. I felt like I wasn’t the best driver here tonight, but the guys gave me a car capable enough of winning.”

The series champ hasn’t won the season finale since Sam Ard in 1983. It was win #20 for Busch across NASCAR’s top 3 series this season.

“It wasn’t a cake walk this year,” Busch said. “It was a tough year.  You know, Carl and Brad both kept it very close.  You know, we didn’t have the deal sewed up until we came down here and started the race. It shows the competition and the stress of the series that it puts on you and on the teams and everybody involved.  It was a battle down to the end for the fifth place spot as well, too, in order to have those guys get to the banquet.  There was battles at every arch.

“Really it’s a great accomplishment to be able to set out and get the series most points in a season.  I mean, that just shows you the consistency we had, the amount of wins we had, the bonus points that we had being able to lead the most races, the most laps in some of those races.  I mean, it’s just Jason (Ratcliff, crew chief) can even allude to it, too.  When all things fall into place and work together, it just seems like sometimes nothing can go wrong, and yet, you know, those disappointing finishes of second place and third place, you know, those are the days where you have to cherish and look at and say, this is what’s going to win us this championship, instead of trying too hard and wrecking out or taking a second place finish to a 17th. But I still missed Dover and Darlington where we should have, could have won those races, too, but having flat tires on the last restarts hurt us.”

After losing the lead with 35 to go, Carl Edwards held on to finish 2nd. “Well, it was close,” Edwards said. “You know, we tried really hard.  I drove my heart out there at the end, and I just wasn’t going to be able to catch him and pass him the right way.  So we got second. My guys worked really hard.

“The best thing is we had a good race car for the first time at a mile and a half in a long time.  We had a car that could win, and that was a lot of fun.  There was one point in the race where me and Kyle and Joey and Jeff were racing really hard.  It was really fun.  I mean, that was really fun to be a part of.  I had a good time.”

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jeff Burton finished 3rd. “Yeah, obviously we’re a little disappointed with third, but it was fun,” Burton said. “Early in the race it got a little strung out, but it was okay because we were leading.  But once the caution came Carl got real fast, and it was a race from then on, and I thought that was a lot of fun to be part of, and it’s    the cool thing is all those guys we were racing with you know you can race hard and everybody is going to treat each other with respect and race hard and run hard, which is what we’re supposed to do, but treat each other with respect, and that’s a lot of fun.”

Joey Logano finished 4th followed by Denny Hamlin, David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Steve Wallace, Scott Speed and Matt Kenseth round out the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here.

The Keselowski vs. Hamlin rivalry added a new chapter. After contact at Phoenix International Raceway last week, Hamlin vowed to ‘get back’ at Keselowski. Hamlin made good on his promise on lap 34.  Hamlin tapped the rear bumper on the #88 which sent Keselowski spinning down the front stretch. Luckily, Keselowski didn’t hit anything or collect anybody else.

“I don’t hold any grudges, and I’m ready to move on,” Keselowski said. He finished 12th.

NASCAR penalized Hamlin for aggressive driving and held him in his pit box for 1 lap. “I feel great right now. It was well worth it,” Hamlin said. “The scales are tipped a little bit more in my favor, but they’re not tipped that much.” Hamlin won the lucky dog after a debris caution on lap 91. He would go on to finish 13th. “I challenge anybody to get wrecked as much as we have by one driver to not do anything,” Hamlin said. “The weekend ain’t over, either.”

There were 7 cautions for 27 laps and 20 lead changes among 8 drivers: C. Edwards 1-11; K. Busch 12-24; J. Keller 25-27; K. Busch 28-42; J. Burton 43; K. Busch 44-46; J. Burton 47-81; M. Wallace 82; K. Busch 83-86; J. Logano 87-95; K. Busch 96; J. Logano 97-100; K. Busch 101; C. Edwards 102-135; J. Burton 136-144; C. Edwards 145-146; S. Wallace 147; D. Hamlin 148-154; J. Burton 155-158; C. Edwards 159-164; K. Busch 165-200

The 2009 (unofficial) driver standings:

1.  Kyle Busch 5682
2.  Carl Edwards 5472
3.  Brad Keselowski 5364
4.  Jason Leffler 4540
5.  Mike Bliss 4075
6.  Justin Allgaier 4049
7.  Steve Wallace 4007
8.  Jason Keller 3960
9.  Brendan Gaughan 3914
10. Michael Annett 3598

For more, click here.

The 2010 season will start on February 13th at Daytona International Speedway.