NNS: Busch Wins At Gateway

Nationwide

NNS: Busch Wins At Gateway

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch earns sixth Nationwide Series race of season...

Lee Montgomery | http://www.scenedaily.com | Posted July 19, 2009 Madison, IL

Kyle Busch celebrates his victory at the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Kyle Busch won the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

The shoe really was on the other foot for Kyle Busch. Driving a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota sponsored by a shoe company, Busch took advantage of Kevin Harvick’s misfortune to win the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Speedway on Saturday night.

NATIONWIDE SERIES RESULTS GATEWAY

Harvick dominated the race by leading three times for 105 laps. But at the end of a long green-flag run with 28 laps to go, Harvick’s No. 33 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet ran out of fuel and coasted into the pits. He finished 17th, two laps down.

NATIONWIDE SERIES DRIVER POINT STANDINGS

That opened the door to Busch, who has seen more than his share of poor luck this season. Busch led the most laps in eight consecutive races earlier this season but won only two of those events.

At Gateway, though, Busch took control after Harvick ran out of fuel and outran Braun Racing’s Reed Sorenson to score his sixth victory of the season and 27th of his career. That ties him with Jeff Burton for fourth all-time in the series.

“That was a bummer, for sure,” Busch said of Harvick. “He really didn’t [get] very good fuel mileage at all, because they pitted six or seven laps before us on that first stint when we all had to do our green-flag stops there.

Kyle Busch STATS

“I feel for him, but I felt like if we could’ve pressured him, we had a little bit better car at that point in the race. I just had no point in going up there in racing him because we were racing our own race, trying to make it to the end.”

Busch also moved to 212 points ahead of Roush Fenway Racing’s Carl Edwards in the Nationwide standings.

Edwards finished third at Gateway, with Phoenix Racing’s Mike Bliss fourth and JGR’s Brad Coleman, who drove most of the race without a clutch, fifth.

Richard Childress Racing’s Stephen Leicht passed two cars in the final two laps to finish sixth, with Germain Racing’s Michael Annett seventh. Brad Keselowski (JR Motorsports) was eighth, with Jason Keller (Baker Curb Racing) ninth and Erik Darnell (Roush Fenway) 10th.

SceneDaily.com • Bobby Hamilton Jr to drive for Nationwide team he owns at ORP

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lee Montgomery

SceneDaily.com

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