2009 Atlanta Motor Speedway
photo credit: Darrell Ingham/Getty Images for NASCAR

a/k/a Fastlanta

A lot of attention will be paid to the drivers looking to make it into the championship hunt. Points leader Kevin Harvick and second-place driver in the standings, Jeff Gordon have already clinched their spot in this year’s Chase. Three drivers have a realistic shot to secure their berth while three other drivers have a remote chance to seal the deal this Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Current Driver Standings – Top 12

- Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin have favorable chances of locking into the Chase after Atlanta.

After his dominant win at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch only needs to finish 40th or better without leading any laps to clinch his spot in The Chase or 42nd or better with at least one lap led or 43rd or better with the most laps led.

“We’re working really hard,” Busch said. “Bristol was a big confidence booster for this team, so were hoping it gives us some momentum that we need during the Chase.” In his 12 Atlanta races, Busch has 1 win, 2 top-5 and 2 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 18.333).

Carl Edwards -21st or better, no laps led; 23rd or better, at least one lap led; 25th or better, most laps led

“I can’t wait to go to Atlanta,” Edwards said. “It’s multi-grooved, fast, fun and has a lot of history. I got my first win there back in 2005 and sure would like to get another one this weekend. We need a solid run to get locked into the Chase at Atlanta so we can go to Richmond next week and just focus on winning the race. We’ve got a sizeable lead on 13th place which is what we need with just two races remaining before the Chase.” In his 12 races at Atlanta, Edwards has scored 3 wins, 6 top-5 and 8 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 15.250).

Denny Hamlin – 20th or better, no laps led; 22nd or better, at least one lap led; 23rd or better, most laps led

“We’re in the position where if we don’t win, this weekend really doesn’t mean that much to us,” Hamlin said. “Our attitude is to throw whatever we can at the car. If we feel like we’re off, we’re going to take some risks and maybe run terrible, but maybe hit that magical setup and go out there and win and get 10 more bonus points for the Chase. Right now, it’s more about building momentum than anything.” Hamlin has yet to win at Atlanta after 10 races. He has posted 1 top-5 and 3 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 15.900).

- Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth have the potential to lock into the Chase leaving Atlanta.

Tony Stewart – 19th or better, no led; 21st or better, at least one lap led; 23rd or better, most laps led

“Everybody understands the system,” Stewart said. “We know that if the Chase were to start tomorrow, we’d start behind. So, it’s not a situation where you try to make up for it. That’s when you get yourself in trouble. It’s no different than gambling when you get off your game and you try to do something to get yourself back square, that’s when you get in trouble. We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing. That’s what got us here.” Stewart has won three times at Atlanta in 23 races with 8 top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes (and an average finish of 12.043).

Jeff Burton – 17th or better, no laps led; 19th or better, at least one lap led; 21st or better, most laps led

“Well, I was hoping that we could clinch a spot way before Atlanta,” Burton said. “It would be really nice to go to Atlanta and not worry about making a mistake and costing us the chance at making the Chase. It is what it is. But, our main goal every week is to race for the win. We’re certainly going to focus on that on Sunday but, at the same time, we’ll have to race smart to get locked in (the Chase) heading to Richmond. Then, that will be our complete focus at Richmond to win.” Burton hasn’t won at Atlanta after 32 tries, but he’s scored 7 top-5 and 13 top-10 finishes (with an average finish of 17.156).

Matt Kenseth – 15th or better, no laps led; 17th or better, at least one lap led; 19th or better, most laps led

“We need to get running better and get running more consistently in the top 10 ,” Kenseth said. “I mean, we finished 10th (at Bristol) but that needs to be your worst finish if you’re gonna ever contend for a championship, so we need to keep working on it and get a little better.” Kenseth is another top-12 driver who hasn’t yet won at Atlanta, but he has posted 8 top-5 and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 races (with an average finish of 13.143).

Current Driver Standings – Outside the Top 12

Several drivers are on the directly on the outside looking in which includes this year’s Daytona 500 winner, Jamie McMurray.

“It certainly is a better position to be in right now for us because there only is one person we have to pass,” McMurray said. “When you have three or four in between you, you have to hope all of them have something bad happen to all them.” McMurray has posted four top-10 finishes in 16 races at Atlanta.

“Anything can happen,” Martin said. “Where we are now, it would be a surprise to make up that kind of ground in two races. It would come at Clint’s (Bowyer) expense for sure. But, it’s important to us to continue to work on trying to get our cars faster and get stronger and better as a team. That’s the most important thing on our agenda. If we were able to go out and win Atlanta then we might think going into Richmond that we could get back in the Chase. Realistically it seems like we’ve got some work to do before we’re going to be a contender to win races. Really, that’s more important than talking about the Chase.” At this point last year, Martin had already won four races whereas this season he remains winless. In his 49 races at Atlanta, Martin has scored 2 wins, 14 top-5 and 23 top-10 finishes.

“We know we have a lot of ground to make up, and after the last race in Bristol, it looks like we need a win to gain in points,” Newman said. “We finished sixth in Bristol and went backwards in the standings. That’s a pretty good indicator about how fierce the competition is week in and week out.” Newman leads all active drivers with seven pole awards at Atlanta, but has yet to win there. In 17 starts, Newman’s posted 1 top-5 and 5 top-10 finishes.

Jeff Gordon leads all of the top-12 drivers with four Atlanta wins while Bobby Labonte leads all active drivers with six wins at the fast 1.54-mile track. This weekend bodes well for Gordon, Chevrolet leads all other manufacturers with the most wins at Atlanta with 35.

Kurt Busch is the only repeat winner in the past five races at Atlanta. He won the past two spring races there. There have been 42 different winners in Atlanta’s 50-year history of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing. Kasey Kahne is the defending race winner.

TV coverage of the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway starts at 7 pm this Sunday night on ESPN.

The Nationwide Series also race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. TV coverage of the Great Clips 300 begins at 7 pm on ESPN2.

The Camping World Truck Series will race at Kentucky Speedway on Friday night. TV coverage of the Built Ford Tough 225 presented by the Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealers will begin at 7:30 pm on SPEED.

photo credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

Said took the lead for the first time on the final restart after a 12 minute and 59 second red flag. Max Papis, driving the #33 Chevrolet for Kevin Harvick Inc, briefly passed Said entering the final chicane and it was a drag race to the finish line.

“I don’t think we had the fastest car today, but we definitely had the smartest race strategy,” said Boris. “It was really about managing the race track, managing your brakes. I had great breaks all the way to the end and that’s what counts and we got the victory. I am just shocked… overwhelmed.”

Just how close was close? .012 seconds was the margin of victory -- the fifth closest finish in series history.

“I came here with expectation of finishing top-five,” runner-up Papis said. “Kevin Harvick came me the opportunity to sit in an amazing car. We came into the last corner with a win to grasp. I went in so deep in the last corner to pass Boris, barely hit the chip in second gear and I really pushing the car, pushing against the seat belt like in a go-kart to try to get to go faster… At the end of the day it was an amazing race. I had a blast.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZZnwApcipA

Local favorite Jacques Villeneuve, whose father the track was named after, was solid throughout the day and in the hunt at the end.

“It was fun,” Villeneuve said after his third-place finish. “The beginning of the race was a little bit boring — the amount of caution. Once we got going it was fun. Today, I think Marcos Ambrose and ourselves with the Dollar General car were the two fastest cars out there. But, this race always happens in the last 10 laps anyway.”

Three drivers dominated the afternoon, but ended up with disappointing results.

Starting from the pole, Marcos Ambrose clearly looked like the one to beat leading twice for twenty-five laps, until car problems took him out.

“We just had an alternator or a battery lay down on us and the engine went into half RPM,” Ambrose said about his day. “I held the lead for a long time. I had to turn all the fans off for the brakes and the engine and me. We all got hot and damaged. Eventually, the motor got so bad we had to change the battery and then I broke something in the left front suspension.” Ambrose ended up 33rd.

Defending race winner, Carl Edwards took advantage after Ambrose’s problems. Edwards lead a race-high twenty-nine laps, but he too, experienced car issues as the laps were ticking down. With just 9 laps remaining, the track bar broke on the #60 Ford sending Edwards to the garage for repairs. Edwards went home 20th.

Robby Gordon was the next contender for the race win leading seventeen laps, until he ran out of gas on the final restart.

“I love coming here. It’s a great town,” Gordon said. “Every time we come here we at least put ourselves in a position to win the race. Sometimes you beat yourself and sometimes you get beat. This time here maybe we beat ourselves because we shot for that lap number 74 number, and if that would have happened we were fine. How do you say it — if I go an eighth of a mile more, now we’ve taken the white flag, the caution comes out, we win. So many different scenarios.” Gordon was 14th.

It was a great day for the points leader. Keselowski finished fourth.

“I’m pleased with the results today,” Keselowski said. “I feel like I have room to improve as a driver, but I’m pleased with the results today. This was a true team effort. We raced in the top five, top 10 all day, just solid, strong and smooth. It sure was a lot of fun. We were sure fast on the straightaways, great engines. We had a solid platform today. It was fun to drive. We had a few close calls, got into a couple of cars, but that’s part of racing at road courses.”

Brad Keselowski leads the point standings by 365 points over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards.

Paul Menard finished fifth followed by Joey Logano, J.R. Fitzpatrick, Parker Kligerman, Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 7 caution flags for 19 laps: 4-6 (Debris Turn 14); 9-10 (#11, 23 Accident Turn 3); 13-17 (#01, 6, 07, 34, 59, 87, 97 Accident Turns 6 and 7); 22-24 (Oil on the track); 67-68 (#15 Accident Turn 4); 70-71 (#10, 16, 18, 22, 26, 38, 99 Accident Turn 2); 74-75 (#38 Accident Turn 3 [Red Flag 12 min 59 sec]).

There were 11 lead changes among 8 drivers: M. Ambrose 1-20; T. Ave 21; R. Gordon 22-28; C. Edwards 29-35; M. Ambrose 36-40; C. Edwards 41-44; J. Villeneuve 45; B.Keselowski 46; M. Papis 47; C. Edwards 48-65; R. Gordon 66-75; B. Said 76-77

Next:
Sept. 4th -- Atlanta 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

photo credit: Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

With the Sprint Cup Series off this weekend, what’s a racer to do other than race?!

Starting fourth, it didn’t take Busch long to get to the lead. Try lap 13. Busch dominated the night leading three times for 121 laps.

“It was really fun out there tonight. This Toyota Tundra was awesome tonight,” Busch said. “It’s just real fun to drive these trucks. I love coming to Chicago. It’s kind of like a second home for me. I look forward to coming back here next year.”

The race wasn’t a little drama. The race was sent into four laps of overtime after Timothy Peters blew an engine which brought out the final caution of the night. Busch had to hold off points leader Todd Bodine on the green, white, checkered finish.

“I was concerned. I remember last year it was real tough to get away from side-by-side,” Busch said. “This year, I got clear on him (Todd Bodine) just going down the front straightaway getting into turn one there. From there on out I was worried that he would get a draft on me. These trucks, man, they draft so easy. That’s how I ran him down and got to him the first time. He just didn’t quite have enough to pass us. He had enough to hang with us all night and it was fun man. Really cool to be out here.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRHvawnRcvY

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of6Nyy0lw7s

This is the second consecutive truck race win for Busch and his fourth of the season. Busch swept all three national series races last weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s his 17th NASCAR win this season across the top 3 touring seasons: 3 Sprint Cup Series wins, 10 Nationwide Series wins and 4 Camping World Truck Series wins.

“We’re going for five in Kentucky next week -- so watch out,” Busch said.

It’s the second time in Busch’s NASCAR career that he has won four consecutive races. He accomplished the feat in May. Busch ties that four-time winning record with Billy Wade (1964), David Pearson (1966, 1968), Cale Yarborough (1976), Darrell Waltrip (1981) and Mark Martin (1993). Richard Petty’s 10-race win streak in 1967 is the longest winning streak in NASCAR history.

Starting from the pole, Todd Bodine lead three times for 17 laps.

“It was good racing with him,” Bodine said about Kyle. “It’s fun to race with a guy you can trust. Of course, he was having to trust me because I was one the behind. It was a good night. I can’t complain. I built the points lead back up to where it was before Bristol. Another good run. You hate to run second, especially to Kyle (Busch), but we’ll take it and we’ll go to the next one.”

Bodine leads the standings by 236 points over 2nd place driver Aric Almirola.

Ron Hornaday finished third followed by Johnny Sauter, Justin Lofton, Aric Almirola, Matt Crafton, Rick Crawford, Austin Dillon and David Starr completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 5 cautions for 21 laps and 9 lead changes among 5 drivers: Bodine 1-6, Dillon 7-12, K. Busch 13-80, Starr 81, Bodine 82-83, Hornaday Jr 84-88, Bodine 89-97, K. Busch 98-126, Hornaday Jr 127-130, K. Busch 131-154

Next:
Friday, Sept. 3rd -- Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway
TV coverage begins at 7:30 pm on SPEED

photo credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images

“To be the first in NASCAR history to win three races in a weekend is awesome,” Busch said. “I have been trying to do this my whole career, and it came true today. This is history and I am real proud to make it.”

It was Busch’s fifth attempt to pull the perfect trifecta. Busch won the Nationwide Series race the night before and the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

“It’s pretty cool because when you come so close and then don’t get it, it’s pretty frustrating,” Busch said. “I mean, last year we won the truck race and were leading the Nationwide race and we got crashed out, and then we ended up winning the Cup race, so this is probably a year delayed.”

After starting 19th, Busch worked his way to the front and took the lead from Jimmie Johnson on lap 172. He led four times for a race-high 282 laps. As the laps wound down, Busch had to hold off David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray to secure his lead.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=otdUGq7NYjk

This is Busch’s third win of the season and 19th career victory. It’s his fourth win at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch moved up five spots in the standings and now sits third. He’ll clinch his spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup if he finishes 40th or better after the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

“He’s pretty good, you know, at what he does,” Joe Gibbs Racing Team President J.D. Gibbs said. “I think this weekend, that probably was appropriate, doing what he did, the first time; the truck thing, gets a little harder Nationwide and a little harder for the Cup thing, and to do all three of those back-to-back was a big deal. I think that’s one of those things that will go down in the record books, and years from now I’ll be able to say, hey, I remember when, and that was a lot of fun for us.”

“Kyle is a special driver and in my opinion the most talented driver on the circuit,” said Dave Rogers, Busch’s crew chief. “I told him before the race, there’s a lot of fans out there booing him and some wise guys saying some things that were somewhat unprofessional, but it’s an absolute honor to work with Kyle Busch. I couldn’t be happier to do so.”

And what does Kyle have to say about the NASCAR fans in the grandstands that boo him?

“I feel like I just come out here to do my job,” Busch explained. “I do what I’m supposed to do, and to win races is my job and what that entails. And secondly, it’s to make J.D. happy and Dave and the sponsors and those guys happy. And then thirdly, it’s to try to sell souvenirs. The fans are what drives this sport and what makes us go round and get us here every week. So it’s cool to have them here, and they’re passionate about who they like and who they don’t like. I feel like to me I’ve been in this position since the upstart of my career, since I was 16, and it hasn’t changed, and I don’t foresee it changing any time soon. We’ve asked this question about 50 million times and I’ll probably get it 25 million more times. You know, you just deal with it, man. You just go out there and do what you can.”

David Reutimann scored a runner-up finish despite having suffered from food poisoning over the weekend.

“It was a good race,” Reutimann said. “I enjoyed racing the guys up front, Jamie and Kyle and those guys.  You know, it’s just a…. I feel really, really good about the finish, but I’m not feeling so hot right now, so I’m ready to go to sleep at some point.”

Jamie McMurray finished third.

“We had an issue on pit road with a lug nut and had to go to the tail end, but fortunately it happened early enough in the race that we were able to recover from that,” McMurray said. “You know, we had that long 130-lap run and just had a really fast car throughout that, was able to drive up to the lead.  And then we put our last set of tires on.  The tires just felt flat in the front and I couldn’t get my car to roll through the center as quick as it had earlier in the night.  It wasn’t way off, but it was off just enough that I couldn’t compete with the 18 (Kyle Busch) there.”

Clint Bowyer finished fourth followed by Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

After starting from the pole, Jimmie Johnson led 175 of the first 200 laps, but tangled with Juan Pablo Montoya and hit the wall on lap 263. The #48 team worked quickly on getting Johnson back out on the track, but finished 35th. Johnson dropped four spots in the standings to 9th.

“I thought I left him (Montoya) enough room, but I got hooked with the fence and around I went,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it was intentional.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPBs-dqx9Ek

There were 7 caution flags for 39 laps: Laps: 58-61 (#38 Accident Turn 3); 127-131 (#6, 14, 34, 43, 78 Accident Turn 1); 136-140 (#78 Accident Turn 2); 194-199 (#82 Accident Backstretch); 254-261 (#09 Accident Turn 2); 263-268 (#42, 48 Accident Backstretch); 410-414 (Debris Backstretch).

There were 15 lead changes among 9 drivers: J. Johnson 1-61; T. Stewart 62; J. Johnson 63-128; T. Kvapil 129; J. Johnson 130-171; Kyle Busch 172-194; J. Johnson 195-199; Kyle Busch 200-254; J. Johnson 255; Kyle Busch 256-388; J. McMurray 389-399; C. Bowyer 400; J. Gordon 401-402; M. Martin 403; D. Reutimann 404-428; Kyle Busch 429-500.

Just two races remain until the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup begins. Kevin Harvick continues to the lead the standings by 279 points over 2nd place driver, Jeff Gordon. Harvick has already locked himself into the Chase to compete for the championship.

Top 12 Driver Standings (After Bristol)

1.   Kevin Harvick, 3521
2.   Jeff Gordon, -279
3.   Kyle Busch, up five spots, -351
4.   Carl Edwards, up two spots, -408
5.   Denny Hamlin, down two spots, -413
6.   Tony Stewart, down two spots, -414
7.   Jeff Burton, -420
8.   Matt Kenseth, up one spot, -426
9.   Jimmie Johnson, down 4 spots, -444
10.  Kurt Busch, -448
11.  Greg Biffle, -466
12.  Clint Bowyer, -601

Next:
Sunday, Sept. 5th -- EMORY HEALTHCARE 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

Busch tied Sam Ard’s 1983 Nationwide Series record for most race wins in a season.

“That’s pretty cool,” Busch said. “I forgot all about that. It didn’t matter to me. What’s more special is this car and this is (chassis) 61. This car has won now that a half-mile, a three-quarter mile, a mile, a mile and a third, mile and a half. I don’t think there are any mile and three quarters, but it’s won at a two-mile race track as well. So, it’s won everywhere. This baby, it’s an awesome race car.” Chassis 61 has won eight races.

Busch led a race-high 116 of 250 laps, but had to fight for the win -- almost literally.

The Finish:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UenyD-uZro

Keselowski vs. Busch:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5uIIJ5Bmds

Kyle’s post-race reaction:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WXfol912x4

Kyle Busch: I raced and raced and raced him (Brad Keselowski) and I don’t know for 12, 15 laps and my Z-Line Camry was pretty awesome tonight. The guys did a great job. It was loose, but it was good. I thought I had him cleared on the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an Earnhardt crossover move he decided that he would just run into the back of me and put me in the fence. So, that’s Brad Keselowski. So, you know, I went down into the next corner and dumped him. He does it to everybody else. Why can’t I do it to him? So, whatever.

Brad Keselowski: Early in the race, I had the lead on a restart and he (Kyle Busch) ran me up the track in (Turns) 3 and 4 and I lifted, gave him the lane there when I didn’t have too. Just being a good guy, because I’m a member of the good guy club. But when the end of the race comes, man you don’t let people in line. They ought to know better than try and take it. That answers it all right there. I’m on probation for racing hard and that allows everyone to intentionally wreck me. We made good moves in the race and worked our way to the front. We had a great car. The fans saw what happened. He’ll get his.

Brad’s post-race reaction:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-64gUY-XFMY

Keselowski led 62 laps himself and appeared to be a definite contender for the win as the laps ticked down.

“We ran a heck of a race,” Keselowski said. “We got up to the front legitimately. I’m proud of my team for that and then we got intentionally wrecked. It is what it is. We’ll go to work and work on beating his (Kyle’s) ass.”

Keselowski leads the standings by 313 points over 2nd place driver, Carl Edwards.

It’s the second win for Busch this week at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch also won the Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night. It’s the fifth time in his career that he has won a truck and Nationwide Series race in the same race week, but can he pull off the perfect trifecta and win the Sprint Cup Series race Saturday night at Bristol?

“I just hope that I have a good enough race car to do it,” Busch said. “It’s going to be difficult, but coming down to decision time at the end of the race, if you’ve got an opportunity to do it and it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity as we’ve seen. I haven’t been able to get it done yet. I’ve been close a few times, but it seems like the last one is always the hardest one to get. You never know what happens. It’s 500 laps of racing at Bristol under the lights so we could have something bad happen early on and be done right there. If we can get to the end of the race and have a shot, I wouldn’t want anything other than that and to take that Doublemint Camry to victory lane would be pretty special. To do the triple here at Bristol, where no one has ever done it ever in NASCAR I think would be cool too.”

Series regular Jason Leffler finished second.

“First lap on the track I knew we were going to have a good day, Leffler said. “Track position was really important here at Bristol, but on the long run my car really hauled butt. That was good. And then the last couple of restarts worked out really well for me where I was able to restart on the outside line which helped a lot. It’s easy to get pinched down here, but the racing is great here at Bristol.”

Elliott Sadler finished third followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson, Parker Kligerman and Joey Logano completed the top-10.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were 8 caution flags for 48 laps: 57-61 (Debris -- Turn 3); 83-90 (#12, 38, 99 Accident -- Frontstretch); 118-123 (#1 Accident -- Turn 2); 159-165 (#01, 21, 39, 87 Accident -- Frontstretch); 188-192 (#7, 12, 35 Accident -- Turn 4); 220-224 (#18, 22 Accident -- Turn 4); 227-233 (#10, 15, 20, 21, 22, 32, 66, 98 Accident -- Frontstretch); 236-240 (#05, 11, 62 Accident -- Turn 2)

Kasey Kahne, Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne were involved in a scary crash on lap 83.

“They pushed me into the wall, I had nowhere really to go except lift,” Kahne said. “I lifted and hit the wall. It’s disappointing. We’ve always had pretty fast cars here and I never seem to finish very well.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZ9uiZUUnk

Kahne is ok. He was cleared at the infield care center soon after the accident and will be able to drive in Saturday night’s Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol.

There were 10 lead changes among 6 drivers: E. Sadler 0; J. Logano 1-30; K. Busch 31-57; B. Keselowski 58-61; K. Busch 62-118; B. Keselowski 119; C. Edwards 120-128; E. Sadler 129-154; C. Bowyer 155-161; B. Keselowski 162-218; K. Busch 219-250

Next:
Sunday, August 29th -- NAPA AUTO PARTS 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villenueve

photo credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

The win didn’t come 1,2,3 easy for him. Busch had to start in the back of the field and gamble on fuel to collect the checkers.

“Unfortunately, we had a miscue with the engine (in qualifying),” Busch said. “We qualified on the pole but had to start at the back of the field and drive up through everybody and get up toward the front. We had the right pit strategy. Fortunately, Eric (Phillips, crew chief) made a nice call to pit when we did. We saved fuel for the rest of the day. I wasn’t 100 percent aggressive on saving fuel, but I was 92 percent and we were able to prevail and get up front. We led the most laps and ultimately got to victory lane. Being in victory lane at Bristol is pretty cool.”

Busch pitted just once on lap 30 and had no choice but to ride it out after a six truck accident pushed the race six laps into overtime.

“We didn’t make any adjustments all night,” Phillips said. “We pitted so early that we didn’t run enough green to make a good decision on what to do so we left it alone. We were a little free all night, but Kyle (Busch) did a great job. The guys did a good job and he saved gas. That was the biggest key.”

After working his way through the field, Busch took the lead on lap 91 and dominated the rest of the race.

“It worried me a little bit just having to start back there and try to come through traffic,” Busch said. “This is Bristol, anyway. It turned out everything was all right. We got up through there. We were passing guys one at a time, just kind of biding our time getting our way up there. I think we were as high as maybe 12th or 14th when we decided to pit on lap 30 or 31, whatever it was. It was a bummer deal that we didn’t get to start from the pole and kind of lead the laps and play our strategy out a little bit, but it was still cool coming from the back I guess. I wish there was an award for it or maybe a bonus for sitting on the pole, then starting in the back and coming up through there and winning. That’s just me.”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThHUlHs1H1o

This is win #19 for Busch in the series and his third win of the season. Busch is running a partial schedule in the Camping World Truck Series this season.

Second in the standings, Aric Almirola finished second and gained 20 points in his championship hunt.

“Finally! We had a good truck tonight,” Almirola said. “I was down in the dumps all day because we didn’t have any speed. It just ran the same speed — it never went faster, it never went slower — it just ran the same speed no matter what we changed. It did the same thing again tonight when we took off for the race. We started 19th and we ran the same speed. Everybody seemed to fall back and come back to us. Then Richie (Waters, crew chief) made a great call there at the end of the race to come in and get four tires with about 50 laps to go and tires were really big. It seemed like a lot of people were getting really loose off. Great call by him to get our Graceway Pharmaceuticals truck back up front.”

The runner-up finish came just hours after it was announced that Almirola has signed a multi-year contract with JR Motorsports to drive the #88 Chevrolet in the Nationwide Series.

“The chance to drive full time in the Nationwide Series with a top caliber team is something I am extremely excited about,” Almirola said. “I was at the shop yesterday, and Kelley (Earnhardt, JR Motorsports General Manager) gathered all the employees around to announce our deal. The energy and excitement was addicting. We raced at ORP together a month ago and had a really good run.  There is no reason why we cannot compete like that every race, and there is no reason why we shouldn’t be running for a championship. I would expect nothing less.”

And what about the points leader? Todd Bodine finished 6th.

“I was pretty disheartened about how the truck was running in practice and really didn’t think we had a good truck and we didn’t,” Bodine said. “The Valvoline Toyota Tundra just was loose in, tight in the middle and tight off, loose off, loose in the middle, I mean I could never make it do the same thing twice. We kept fighting it and adjusting and fighting and adjusting and I ended up sixth. That’s what you have to do to win championships. I’ve said it all along. If you have a bad night, just finish in the top-10 and get the best finish you can. It’s not what we wanted for Valvoline or Toyota, but we only lost a few points to Aric (Almirola) and we will go get them at Chicago next. I love Chicago.”

Bodine now has a 211-point lead over 2nd place driver, Aric Almirola.

Ron Hornaday Jr finished third followed by Mike Skinner and rookie Justin Lofton rounded out the top-5.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here (nascar.com)

There were a record-setting 13 cautions for 71 laps and 4 lead changes among 4 drivers: K. Busch 0; E. Sadler 1-17; T. Peters 18-37; M. Skinner 38-90; K. Busch 91-206

Busch is one of three drivers pulling “triple duty” at Bristol Motor Speedway this week. Elliott Sadler and Brad Keselowski are the other two.

Sadler, driving for Kevin Harvick Inc, lead the first 17 laps and raced in the front much of the night. While battling for second with truck regular Timothy Peters late in the race, contact between the brought out the third to last caution on lap 165. Soon after, Sadler blew a tire and hit the wall ending his night on lap 190. Sadler finished 26th.

Keselowski stayed out of the typical Bristol trouble and went home 7th.

Next:
Aug. 27th -- EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway

“The adjustments and realignment of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule will make for an exciting race season next year,” NASCAR Chairman and CEO Brian France said at the press conference held in Daytona Beach this past Wednesday afternoon. “The revised schedule provides better situated dates for the tracks, a more challenging lineup for the drivers and ultimately more intrigue for the fans.”

The schedule is as follows:

2011 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE