Image via WikipediaMake it an even dozen for Kyle Busch. He picked up the victory Saturday in the Nationwide Series race at Fontana to extend the record he set last weekend for most series wins in a season to twelve.Busch battled hard to keep the lead on the final restart then gradually pulled away from the field to win the CampingWorld.com 300, crossing the finish line 1.034 seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski. Kevin Harvick was third, followed by Carl Edwards and Joey Logano. (Race results)
It was Busch's fourth victory at the two-mile track and the 42nd of his career. He is now just six wins behind Mark Martin for the Nationwide Series career win record.
Busch overcame a pit road speeding penalty on Lap 87 (of 150). That dropped him back to 15th, but he worked his way through the field and was back in the lead on Lap 112. This was Busch's third victory of the season after a speeding penalty.
Harvick, who led a race-high 86 laps, had a better car than Busch on the long runs, but was frustrated by slow pit stops that cost him positions. He came into the pits with the lead on Lap 134 (of 150) but came out sixth. Two cautions in the final 17 laps kept him from challenging Busch for the win.
Danica Patrick, starting her eighth Nationwide race and her second at Fontana, was having her best run of the season until misfortune struck again. Just after a restart with the field still tightly packed, Patrick was running 17th, looking for her first Top 15 finish and her first lead lap finish. She got too close to James Buescher and squeezed him into the wall. A lap later she got close to Buescher again and he turned into her rear, turning her into the wall. Ricky Carmichael and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. also got caught up in the incident that brought out the sixth and final caution and set up the five-lap dash to the finish. Patrick would finish 30th.
Keselowski should start clearing out a space in his trophy case. He now leads Edwards by 384 points in the series standings with just five races to go.
No comments:
Post a Comment