Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch led 142 of the 200 laps in Saturday’s Nationwide Series Dollar General 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, ending an 18-month dry spell for the winningest driver in Nationwide Series history.
Busch earned the pole for the race earlier in the day with a lap of 133.057 mph (27.056 seconds). The driver of the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota Camry led from the start until hitting the pits during a caution following a Lap 38 incident. Busch overshot his pit stall during the stop, forcing him to take a penalty and restart the race back in 22nd. By Lap 64, Busch made his way back into the top five.
The biggest challengers to Busch in the race were his JGR teammate Matt Kenseth in the No. 18 Reser’s Toyota, who led 41 laps while Busch made his march to the front, and 2012 Sprint Cup champ Brad Keselowski, who led 10 laps following a late-race caution and the ensuing pit stops.
Keselowski finished second, followed by Justin Allgaier, Trevor Bayne and a third JGR Toyota, the No. 11 OneMain Financial Camry, driven by Elliott Sadler. Brian Vickers, in the No. 20 Dollar General Toyota, finished one lap down in 17th.
The Nationwide Series gets back on track next Saturday, March 9th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the Sam’s Town 300; qualifying is at 10:05 a.m. PT, and the race goes green at 1:15 p.m. PT.
Follow the action in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway at www.nascar.com and joegibbsracing.com.
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