After a stellar race at Bristol, Kyle Busch was able to barely hold off Kyle Larson to win his second NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the year. In this case, barely means barely. The eventual margin of victory was twenty three hundredths of a second. It was the second closest finish in Bristol Nationwide Series History behind the 2011 Food City 250 finish between Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, which had a margin of victory of nineteen hundredths The other story behind the race was the way that lapped cars affected the picture of the race. From causing tremendous battles to occur to causing the leader to have an incident, the lapped cars affected every aspect of the race. If you aren't interested yet, you might want to check your pulse.
Qualifying had occurred a couple of hours before the race and Justin Allgaier grabbed the pole position. The race began and he was able to lead the first lap. From the drop of the green flag, the top ten were getting very dicey. Brad Keselowski and Austin Dillon traded a little paint early, but it did not affect anything that happened in the race. The first caution of the race came out on lap 27. Mike Harmon, one of the lapped cars who affected the race, was going very slow in turn 3. Sam Hornish Jr. tried to pass him, but Hornish got tapped while he was going by. Hornish saved his car, but he was forced up into Jamie Dick. Jamie spun harmlessly and continued on. Brad Sweet, who was involved in a nasty wreck in practice on Friday, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and continued on until the second caution of the afternoon on lap 59. Brad Sweet got loose in turn 2 and went for a spin. He was able to keep the car from receiving major damage and he continued on. No drivers received the lucky dog. After the caution, one of the contenders to begin the race had trouble.
When the green flag waved after the second caution, Elliott Sadler had trouble. He began to slow down and he reported to his crew that he had no fuel pressure. This meant that the fuel was not reaching the engine like it should be. This caused the car to run slow and he lost two laps. He was running so slow, in fact, that NASCAR had to black flag him for not reaching the minimum speed. He went into the pits and his crew sent him to the garage, ending his day. Shortly after this, the third caution of the day came out on lap 105. Coming out of turn 4, Brian Vickers had no room and Jamie Dick came down on him. Jamie slid down the frontstretch and slammed in to the inside wall, but the worst was yet to come. Nelson Piquet Jr. was attempting to slow down, but Parker Kligerman bumped him. Piquet slid down the track in turn 1 and plowed into Jamie. Both cars were destroyed beyond repair. Josh Wise received the lucky dog. The race went back green and it continued on until the fourth caution of the day on lap 121. Allen Bestwick and the guys in the booth were talking about Jeremy Clements, who was in twelfth position at the time. As they were talking about him, Clements blew a tire and went into the wall and brought out a caution for debris. Hal Martin received the lucky dog, but his race went bad right after this.
The race went back green and continued on until the fifth caution on lap 159. Hal Martin went up on Brad Teague, another lapped car who affected the race, coming out of turn 4. Martin slid down the frontstretch and pounded into the inside wall. Martin went up the track and Jeffrey Earnhardt could not avoid. He hit Martin and received a good bit of damage. Reed Sorenson and Austin Dillon also got involved. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went back green once again and it was a short time before the sixth caution of the day came out on lap 177. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 4. Austin Dillon, who was in the previous wreck, received the lucky dog. The green flag went back out and it got dicey for the leaders on lap 189. Brad Keselowski and Regan Smith were running side by side and they were catching the lapped car of Dexter Stacey. Both drivers were deciding what line to use and when Stacey got close, Smith began to get loose. He was able to save it, but he had to use Keselowski's car to do it. Keselowski began to experience a tire rub and the tire eventually blew out. This resulted in the seventh caution of the day on lap 195 for debris from his tire. John Wes Townley received the lucky dog. The race went green once again and the longest green flag run of the day ended with the eighth and final caution on lap 264. Jason White got loose in turn 2 and went up into the wall. Alex Bowman received the lucky dog. Now, the final dash to the finish was set and it was one for the books.
Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, and Brian Vickers started out as the top three on the restart. Kyle Larson was able to stay ahead of Vickers and make it a race between him and Busch. The two stayed on the top side just waiting to see what moves they should make. In a flash, the white flag was out and Larson had only two chances to get by Busch. Larson didn't make the move in turn 1, but he got ready for turn 3. But Kyle Busch did something that could have possibly taken the win out of his hands. He moved to the inside line in turn 3 and Larson had the top side, the preferred groove, to make the pass. Little did we know, Kyle Busch knew what he was doing. Two lapped cars, Reed Sorenson and Brad Teague, were battling in front of the two leaders. Sorenson, the faster of the two cars, was on the bottom. Thus, the quicker lane was the bottom. All four drivers shot out of turn 4 and the two Kyles began to beat and bang. It was close, twenty three hundredths to be exact, but Kyle Busch was able to win. It was by far one of the most interesting finishes this season and, like usual, “The World's Fastest Half-Mile” did not disappoint.
The racing was great and we saw the present and future of the sport battle for a win at one of the most exciting circuits in the sport. You couldn't ask for a better race or a greater finish. Well, unless you wanted Kyle Larson to win, but that is not the point. With this win, Kyle Busch now has two awards from the weekend: the winning trophy from the Nationwide Series and the pole award for tomorrow's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. Busch hopes to pull the sweep at Bristol tomorrow and I hope you can tune in to see it. Let me tell you, it won't disappoint and I have never been so sure of that.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 27- Sam Hornish got up into Jamie Dick in turn 3 and Jamie spun harmlessly.
2nd Caution: Lap 59- Brad Sweet got loose in turn 2 and spun out.
3rd Caution: Lap 105- Jamie Dick came down on Brian Vickers. Jamie slid down the frontstretch and slammed into the wall. Nelson Piquet Jr. piled into Jamie, destroying both cars.
4th Caution: Lap 121- Jeremy Clements blew a tire and hit the wall, leaving debris on the track.
5th Caution: Lap 159- Hal Martin went up the track on Brad Teague coming out of turn 4. Martin slid down the frontstretch and slammed into the wall. Jeffrey Earnhardt ran into him and received some damage. Reed Sorenson and Austin Dillon also got involved.
6th Caution: Lap 177- Debris was spotted in turn 4.
7th Caution: Lap 195- Debris from Brad Keselowski's tire was spotted on the track.
8th Caution: Lap 264- Jason White got loose in turn 2 and went up into the wall.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Brad Sweet
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Josh Wise
4th Caution: Hal Martin
5th Caution: None
6th Caution: Austin Dillon
7th Caution: John Wes Townley
8th Caution: Alex Bowman
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Kyle Larson
3rd: Brian Vickers
4th: Sam Hornish Jr.
5th: Kevin Harvick
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Regan Smith
11th: Austin Dillon
12th: Trevor Bayne
15th: Brad Keselowski
16th: Travis Pastrana
36th: Elliott Sadler
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Jeff_Foxworthys_Grit_Chips_300/B
-Image:
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/si/dam/assets/130316173322-kyle-busch-single-image-cut.jpg
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