RSS
Home
Busch gets second win of weekend
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Kyle Busch reaches for the checkered flag after winning the O'Reilly Challenge on Saturday.
Following Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski that the No. 18 and No. 20 cars of Joe Gibbs Racing just have more power than everybody else.
Joey Logano, driving the No. 20 car, fell victim to a tire that practically exploded, causing him to hit the wall, ending his day early. Busch, in the No. 18, on the other hand, used that "alleged" extra power to pilot his car to the win and to victory lane to collect his second victory of the weekend (Busch also won Friday night's Camping World Truck Series event).
The win was Busch's fourth-straight Nationwide victory at Texas Motor Speedway and tied him with Kevin Harvick for most series wins overall in the Lone Star State.
"This track's fun," Busch said in victory lane.
After leading 179 laps of the 200-lap race, Busch extened his points lead over second-place Carl Edwards to 272 points with only two races remaining in the 2009 campaign. He can clinch the Nationwide Series title at Phoenix next Saturday with a finish of 15th or better.
After starting in the back due to his No. 60 team making a shock change after qualifying, Edwards moved through the back half of the field relatively quickly. He did have more trouble with the top-10 cars, however, and wound up finishing in the ninth spot.
Keselowski, who is third in points, finished the race in fifth to make up some points on Edwards. Keselowski now trails Edwards by 20 heading into the final two races. While Busch has all but locked in on the championship, Edwards and Keselowski will spend the final two races fighting what has become a close battle for the runner-up spot.
Meanwhile, Casey Mears piloted the No. 29 car -- originally scheduled to be raced by fellow-Richard Childress Racing driver Jeff Burton -- claimed the runner-up spot in Saturday's race despite not being behind the wheel of a Nationwide Series car for nearly two years prior to Friday's qualifying session.
"I hadn't driven one of these cars in a long time," Mears said.
Burton, though cleared to race on Saturday, was sidelined by team owner Richard Childress after a practice crash earlier in the weekend.
Jason Leffler, who said before the race that his focus was on winning races as he sits fourth in points with a large cushion both in front of and behind him in the points standings, raced his way to a third-place finish. He was the only non-double duty driver in Texas to finish in the top-five.
Although it wasn't a win, Leffler was happy with his third-place run.
"I usually don't run well here," he said after the race.
Matt Keseth finished fourth.
While Edwards and Keselowski battle for second over the final two races, a slightly tighter battle will wage for the fifth position. Rookie Justin Allgaier was in the fifth position heading into Saturday's O'Reilly Challenge. He still holds the spot, but a pit miscue early and then being involved in a three-car accident later on in a finish of 25th for Allgaier, as Mike Bliss posted a top-10 finish by finishing 10th to close to within 10 points of him for the fifth spot.
To be informed of when new articles are posted, follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/nascarexaminer or become a fan of NASCAR Examiner on Facebook.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
