He may be accused of a number of things, but no one will ever accuse of Kyle Busch of doing anything half way. Take his last few runs at Bristol for example. Saturday, he misses a win in the Nationwide Series due to a pit penalty. Last summer, Shrub led most of the race before getting the short end of a paint exchange with Carl Edwards. Busch adds a little fireworks by giving some the paint back to Cousin Carl during his victory celebration. Then last spring, his power steering goes away, making the way clear for a 1-2-3 Richard Childress finish featuring Jeff Burton out front.
In Sunday’s win at Bristol, Busch didn’t just dominate- he took the bullring by the horns, kicked it in the hindquarters and danced on it’s head for good measure- leading 378 of 503 laps. Finishing right behind Busch was teammate Denny Hamlin for a 1-2 Joe Gibbs finish.
It wasn’t complete domination that Cale Yarborough enjoyed when he ran out front from flag-to-flag in 1973, but the 2009 Food City 500 was far from the spring of ‘91 race where the lead changed hands 40 times. Ryan Newman quickly took the lead from pole sitter Mark Martin on lap 3, but surrendered it to Jimmie Johnson- who took the lead by virtue of staying out during the first caution of the race caused by John Andretti’s spin out on Turn Two.
For Johnson, the race represented a huge improvement over his last four finishes at Bristol: 33rd, 18th, 21st and 16th. The 3-time defending Cup champion held the lead until lap 70, when the “18″ passed him on the outside to take the lead.
Kyle’s brother Kurt- a 5-time winner at Thunder Valley- was not quite as fortunate. The Blue Deuce got collected in a chain collision triggered when Michael Waltrip put Todd Bodine in the wall. The crash did damage to the nose of Kurt’s car- as well as the Saturday Nationwide winner Kevin Harvick- demonstrating in the words of the old Mark Knopfler tune “sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.”
Kurt Busch finished 11th and actually moves up to second in the season points. Harvick- not so happy- finished 30th. It was a rough weekend for the “29″ from the moment they unloaded their piece.
The next 53 laps after Kyle took the lead passed with relative quiet until a little love fest broke out between Jamie Mc Murray and Juan Pablo Montoya. It seems JPM took a little exception to the contact from Jamie Mac and sent him for a little ride into the wall.
Adding insult to injury, Mc Murray ends up missing his pit box as he comes in for a stop. Mc Murray would tangle with Montoya later in the race. For Montoya, the race represents his best finish of the season (9th) and look out world, he’s crept up to 15th in the standings.
Marcos Ambrose also had a field day- finishing 10th- this after losing a cylinder with 50 laps to go. Actually, if you think about, the Australian by way of Tasmania seems to thrive on contact and it will be interesting to see if Ambrose can follow the g’day with another good run at Martinsville.
After briefly giving the lead to David Reutimann (who had another solid day with a 12th place run), Busch regained the lead at lap 130.
After that, most of the racing occurred behind Busch- with Johnson, Hamlin, Reutimann and points leader Jeff Gordon all jockeying for position. Ambrose joins the fray, and in the midst of the action, he gets a little close for comfort for Hamlin.
It took some time to get there, but the FedEx Camry of Hamlin caught his teammate at lap 318. This was also a day of redemption of sorts for the Virginian as a fuel related issue derailed a potential victory run by Hamlin in this race in 2008.
A caution flag triggered by Brian Vickers (a cut tire) cuts short Hamlin’s run out front as Johnson wins the race off pit road. By this point time, the steadily improving Kasey Kahne enters the fray, working his way into the top 5. Kahne’s 5th place finish is his best of the season and his second consecutive top 10.
In a replay from earlier in the race, “Wild Thing” makes an outside pass on Johnson to re-take the lead at lap 369. From there, it was smooth sailing for Busch, though Johnson would challenge him a little in the middle of tight traffic with 80 laps to go.
Really about the only racing occurred behind Busch. Johnson would challenge Hamlin for second on the green/white/ checkered and would settle for third. Jeff Gordon wound up 4th. In what proved to be a pleasant surprise to himself, HMS teammate Mark Martin ran 6th, Ryan Newman 7th, and last year’s winner Jeff Burton finished 8th.
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS
If you take his comments at face value, Busch is working on making mental improvements. He made an effort to shake off the effects of Saturday’s pit mishap and address the matter with a true team mentality.
No movement in or out of the top 35. Top 10s by Martin and Newman keep them safely north of the “Mendoza Line.” Rookies Joey Logano and Scott Speed sit 34th and 36th respectively- no pressure here boys.
Should Junior fans be bothered he was pretty pleased with a 14th place finish? For Earnhardt, the race marked continued improvement from the way the season started…but others take as Junior being all too willing to settle for less.
Marcos Ambrose gets my “Rocky Balboa” Award for piloting a car down a cylinder to a top 10.
It’d be a bummer to see it happen, but it looks like the “28″ of Travis Kvapil may be done- a casualty of tightening sponsorship dollars. Too bad, I think you put Kvapil in the right situation he can be as good as anyone- I think at least a top 20. This is a former truck champion here. Here’s hoping he lands on his feet.
The Busch brothers now take aim at history when they unload in Martinsville. A victory by Kurt or Kyle would tie a record of 4 consecutive wins by racing brothers.
