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The Hot Pass: Busch makes history at Darlington
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Oh yeah, and the victory was the ninth of his 125-race Sprint Cup Series career.
"I can't tell you guys how proud of you I am," Busch said to his crew as he rounded the final corner and headed to the checkered flag. "It's pretty awesome. Darlington obviously showed again tonight that this is one of the hardest places — always has been and always will be. Even with the fresh asphalt, this place is tough."
Busch started sixth and effortlessly moved to the point for the first time on the frontstretch of Lap 17. Polesitter Greg Biffle offered the No. 18 competition throughout the early stages of the event, but then, Busch hit his first speed bump of the race as NASCAR penalized him to the rear of the field due to a loose lugnut on Lap 141.
Even though he restarted 23rd after the pit road miscue, Busch showed his strength by climbing back into the top 10 by Lap 172.
After battling back into the lead pack, Busch got his opportunity to take over the race once again when Biffle's engine expired on Lap 234. However, Busch would have to keep his No. 18 Toyota Camry in one piece, and that was not an easy task as he was one of several drivers who had issues with the handling of his machine.
Despite control issues and late race challenges from Gibbs teammate Denny Hamlin and rivals Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished second, third and fourth, respectively, a call for two tires on the final pit stop on Lap 303 enabled Busch to capture and maintain the lead for the final 64 circuits.
"It was an up and down sort of race," Busch said. "At the beginning of the race we were battling Biffle and got into lapped traffic. We were making adjustments all night. We dropped a lugnut there and fell back but rebounded nicely from the guys giving me good pitstops on pit road. I was driving up through the field there and fortunately we had the strategy at the end that got us into clean air."
Gordon led three times for 24 laps, but the seven-time Darlington winner had nothing for Busch in the closing laps.
"The No.18 was in an unbelievable class of his own," Gordon said. "Carl and his crew got their stuff better there at the end. We tried and tried and tried a lot of things and every time we got it a little bit better.
"But every time we tried to get it better than that, we went the wrong way with it. So, we just had to settle for a car that was a third-place car and hope we could get track position and we did."
Busch has won eight NASCAR races this season among the top three series and has been victorious for the last six weeks. Still, the response in the stands has been overwhelmingly negative. Busch the racer, however, just blows it off.
"I don't care," said Busch, who extended his points lead by 79 over Jeff Burton. "I'm here to race. I'm here to win. If I win, it just makes them more upset and crying on their way home."
Guess who's getting the last laugh?
Time will tell
At the start of the season, did you pick David Ragan as a Chase for the Sprint Cup contender?
With two top five's in the last three races, Ragan, 22, has jumped from 18th to 12th in the point standings. His fifth-place finish at Darlington places him ahead of his veteran Roush Fenway Racing teammates Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth. Ragan currently trails Biffle by 42 points.
"That's an awesome run," Ragan said. "Whether we were at Daytona, Talladega, Richmond or Bristol, that would be great, but to do it at Darlington is just something special. Darlington is an awesome track. You're running laps out there and you think about the guys that made this place famous like Cale Yarborough and (Bill) Elliott and David Pearson and people like that. It just makes you realize how fortunate we are to come out here and race at such a cool track. It's definitely one of the best tracks on the circuit.
"We had a lot fun. Our pit crew did an awesome job today. We picked up spots every time and it was an overall great run. We're getting this deal somewhat figured out. We've had some good race cars — we just have to fine tune a little bit to try and win one of these things."
Sweet surprise
Two weeks ago Dave Blaney watched the Talladega race from his couch after missing the show. Saturday night he found himself running as high as second before finishing the night in ninth place.
With both his future and the future of the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota team in question, Blaney has posted his top two finishes of the year in the past two weeks. Prior to his first top 10 in 2008, Blaney's best finish this season was 18th last week at Richmond. Blaney's career-high third-place finish at Darlington came in March 2003.
Better late than ...
Friday's Nationwide Series race winner Tony Stewart had his chances for a Darlington sweep thwarted when Elliott Sadler slid him into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 2. Stewart dropped from sixth to 40th, but with major adjustments throughout the race, he was able to finish 21st and didn't lose his eighth-place position in the standings.
Darlington 101
A funny thing happened to David Pearson on his way to the raceway on Friday. A security guard didn't recognize the 10-time Darlington winner and refused to let the former NASCAR champion into the facility. Finally, someone who was acquainted with both a grandstand and a local track artery that bears the legends name allowed Pearson access into the track.
Member Comments
Hey "Shrubies": Shrub has more wrecks than wins... let's see how the rest of the season plays out before getting too full of yourselves.<br /><br />I think it's funny that most of you were no where to be seen until recently. For the most part, you all appear to be just Junior haters like LadyDink and not real fans of NASCAR. If Shrub starts wrecking instead of winning again, I imagine you'll all crawl back into the holes you came out of.
leftturns1905/14/2008 14:58:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Jr Sr Rule... it is apparent that your hatred for Busch and people who like race car drivers that win races stems from the fact that Sr can't anymore and Lesser is looking for more AMP and Wrangler commercials...
grummy5/14/2008 12:38:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
"Hey Lesser Nation... your guy has not won in 2 years... where are you going to go when he does??? " We're going to Disney World!!!"... "Hey Lesser Nation.. when you go to Disney Worl, are ya going to do any commericals? cause it'll be another 2 years before you win again!!!"
grummy5/14/2008 12:36:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Oh, yeah, the year just started... We'll have 12 wins in the first 5 years. Then you can go pick on the next guy that passes up your little buddy in stats. Who the hell cares about busch championships? Carl Edwards and "Mr. Replacement" Kevin Harvick?
DROCKSinCity1735/14/2008 9:39:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Not so sure that you can call MR. SHRUB (if you will)fans "retarded". <br /><br />And if you want to talk about winning races, just look at this year you idiot...<br /><br />Road race win, truck wins, saturday wins, sunday wins, win, win, win... Need I say more?<br /><br />Kyle could win in a station wagon. Junior couldn't win in the "Mach 5" . You can't do anything without a heart and BALLS.<br /><br /> Ask Senior,... if you could.
DROCKSinCity1735/14/2008 9:30:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
to all the retarded shrub fans thinking Jr get favoritism:<br />Let's take a look at the numbers , shall we?<br />Jr - 17 cup wins (9 in his first 5 yrs) 2 busch championships<br /><br />Lil Shrub - 7 Cup win (5yrs) and 0 Championships<br /><br />and shrub is going to be the next Dale Sr? lets get real
Jr_SrRule5/14/2008 9:06:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
OOOPs jr fans that would be all yr,so far. Hey and Kyle's comming to jr stompin ground this week, get ready
runwhatyabrung5/13/2008 17:38:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
AmpGuard: i dont think ppl hate jr but his fans????Hey jr fans do us a faver, when you see jrs not going to win, do what sr fans did getup and leave.
runwhatyabrung5/13/2008 17:33:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Sin: Wow, you two sound pretty chummy! Does he let you rub his ears too?
leftturns1905/13/2008 16:42:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I emailed Kyle and told him that he should just GIVE UP in respect to idiotic Earnhardt fans. I explained how supprised he would be if he saw these posts online...He quickly replied with the fact that he was unaware that they could read, or even owned computers. I'm sure that you will see an immediate change in his ways.
DROCKSinCity1735/13/2008 14:46:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I think Kyle Wild Thing Busch will win 10 more sprint cup races this year and win the championship, 8 more nationwide races and the championship, 6 more truck races, a win at slinger and hells corner in Wisc., and I forgot a win in the allstar race, 5 more dirt races, a F1 race, 4 World of out laws races, 5 legand races, the soap box race, a trans am race and maybe the INDY 500, WILD THING you make my heart sing, WILD THIND I want to know for sure, WILD THING.
5/13/2008 12:16:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Oh Nascardumbest, you obviously have the gift of prophecy... do tell us... all of us... when Lesser will win another race? DEI??? When will they win another race??? Blind loyalty is kind of like rooting for Hillary or Obama... neither one is good for NASCAR or its fans... but you can guarantee that those 2 will get some of the Lesser Nation's votes and then they will realize that they are demographically not rooting for you or your families... you do not fit their idea of what an American should look like, act like or anything else... but watch, if either of those communists are elected, it will be the undying loyalty of lesser nation to the democratic party... just watch.
grummy5/13/2008 10:24:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
This little punk, kyle buschbag, dis-respects the drivers, the fans, NASCAR and NASCAR's history, and scumbgas like lee spencer, not only condone it, they encourage it. I guarantee that kyle buschbag's career is short lived!
wb4dei5/13/2008 10:18:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
You watch the NASCAR prerace soap opera and see the likes of Elliott Sadler and brother "Hermie" (always loved that farm boy name) weeping over their love for their mother and preparing for another day in the stands or behind the wall with a wrecked car or a couple laps down and you realize that these folks are nice guys without a prayer of winning, so you can love the loveable loser... but when it comes to the Varsity teams of JGR, Roush and HMS, you realize that selling on monday only works for soccer mom's and followers of the Lesser Nation. I cannot tell you how much it gets in my craw when I see drunk slobs and johnny come lately's rooting for Lesser E. The guy is a nice, weepy eyed shadow of a once great champion son. If you look at the rest of the Earnhardt lineage, you notice everyone still is praying for Greater E to come back from the dead and race again.... so... unwilling to take a chance and root for a winner, they will follow the shallow stream of the Lesser Nation, wade in the shallow end of the swimming pool , afraid they will be found out by the Big Boys that they can't swim... so rather than get caught with a minimember, they throw beer cans, flick their middle finger and whine about what a bad sport Kyle Busch is... is it just this ole dumb double master's degree graduate over here or is that kind of ironic??? Bubba Gump and the rest of the Lesser Nation Shrimp boaters need to get a life, reassess what a race is all about and leave the selling on Monday to the marketers and go back to rooting for drivers that can flat out drive... enough choir boys that pout and do commercials... give me Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin who are cranky, daring and willing to win the races they enter... it just can't be satisfying to wait for the commercials to see your driver in his hey day.... I like seeing my JGR guys in victory lane... Lesser Nation, I am hereby giving you permission to think for yourself, find a driver that wins and boost NASCAR sales by buying winning drivers memorabilia and gear... you are hereby freed from feeling empty week in and week out with Lesser snatching defeat from the clutches of victory... Plenty of room on the JGR bandwagon to spare... or... you are free to enjoy throwing beer cans at my team as they cruise to victory lane... the choice is yours... cross over to the winning side...
grummy5/13/2008 10:15:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
You know... I am a Redskins fan and I root for them even when they are horrible, terrible, lousy and even home-boy-esque, ao I guess at some level I can understand why people are Jr fans... no need to win races... you can still root for a beer commercial... a pair of wranglers... a color or a number... no need for there to be any talent... even with the HMS superpower driving him around... same Jr, same result... the lesser nation must need a Kyle busch to hate and blame the worlds' woes on because otherwise, they would have to come out of the proverbial closet and realize that Jr is just not a good race car driver and coming out of closets just isn't a strong southern pride behavior... so let's blame busch for Jr not winning a race in 2 years....
grummy5/13/2008 8:42:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
jr572cubicinches- Do you really think a win for Jr would bring millions to Nascar? He might get a spike in sales, but most of his fans are loyal and have been for years. He is still #1 in merchandise sales, so i dont think it would make much of a difference. What Nascar needs, is drivers that are willing to drive their arse off, and willing to have the balls to lead and not follow.
Kevdog5/13/2008 8:26:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
ok, goodbye anyone thats still on here!
AmpGuard885/12/2008 19:24:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Dale has class, his own style and will win a championship, the old fashioned way, by earning it!! GO AMP ENERGY #88!!!!!
pioneerof505/12/2008 19:17:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Anyways, I love coming on here now and defending my favorite driver...it's just a shame that people want to hate him though...
AmpGuard885/12/2008 19:03:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
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