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Kyle Busch started on the pole. It was his tenth NASCAR Nationwide Series pole of 2013. The race went green and Busch cruised around to lead the first lap of the race. As Busch crossed the line to lead lap one, the first caution of the day waved. Eric McClure broke loose in turn 3 while in traffic. He slid up the track and made slight contact with the outside wall. He had a good bit of right rear end damage, but he would be able to continue on in the race. No drivers received the lucky dog since it was so early in the event. The accident scene was cleaned up and the race went back green. Kyle Busch quickly took the lead on the restart and he ran away. The laps began to click by as Busch continued to be the class of the field. After an early caution, the race continued on until the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 76. All the drivers came down pit road and Kyle Busch cycled back to the lead after they were completed. Busch held a nice advantage over the field and he was beginning to run away. Busch's huge lead would be taken away as the second caution of the race waved on lap 105. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1. Alex Bowman received the lucky dog. A good bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Brian Scott, Kevin Harvick, Austin Dillon, and others took two tires, but some decided to take rights while others took lefts. Sam Hornish Jr., who was struggling with his car, was the lone lead lap driver to take four tires. It would be interesting to see which strategy worked to give a driver the win.
The race went back green and Brad Keselowski made a huge power move on the outside of Kyle Busch to take the lead. Keselowski ran away from the field a little bit, but Busch's car was too good and he sailed past Keselowski on lap 121 for the lead. Ten laps later, the third caution of the race waved on lap 131. Brad Sweet broke loose in turn 2 due to possible brake problems. His car slid around and went up the track. It quickly began to sweep down the track and right in front of Mike Bliss. Somehow, Bliss avoided him and Sweet lazily reached a stop on the apron of the track. He did not have damage and he could continue on. Ryan Reed received the lucky dog. The final pit stops of the race led to the strategy that ultimately affected the outcome. Justin Allgaier, Regan Smith, and Brian Scott took fuel only while Kyle Busch and the rest of the drivers who pitted took two tires. Sam Hornish Jr. and Trevor Bayne decided to stay on track. It would be interesting to see if these drivers could hold onto these top spots and end up with good finishes.
The race went back green and Justin Allgaier took the lead from Trevor Bayne as a rash of caution flags began to wave with the fourth caution of the race on lap 138. Drew Herring bumped Kevin Swindell entering turn 3. Swindell went for a slide up the track and made slight contact with the outside wall. He had a little bit of damage, but he would be able to continue on. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. The race went back green and Justin Allgaier began to battle with Trevor Bayne as the fifth caution waved on lap 143. Brian Scott got extremely loose in turn 3. He drifted up the track trying to save it and made slight contact with Brad Keselowski. Keselowski went around and backed into the outside wall. Keselowski had a good bit of damage and his owner's points lead was damaged like his car. He made it to pit road and his team made enough repairs so that he could continue. Nelson Piquet Jr. received the lucky dog. The accident scene was once again cleaned up and the race went back green. Justin Allgaier held the lead as the sixth caution waved on lap 149. Jamie Dick bumped Kevin Swindell in turn 3. Swindell went around and backed hard into the outside wall. He drove away with more damage than he had received in his previous wreck and his race would be finished. Brad Keselowski, who had just been involved in an accident, received the lucky dog. The race once again went back green and Kyle Busch took the lead from Justin Allgaier. The race would go a few laps before the seventh and final caution waved on lap 156. Kyle Larson went a little high exiting turn 4. He made contact with the outside wall and lost a right front tire. He drove slowly into turn 1, but he still made contact with the wall and received more damage. He coasted to pit road, but he had a lot of damage and he would fall out of contention. Jeffrey Earnhardt received the lucky dog. Now, the final run to the checkered flag would be set up and it would be interesting to see where the championship contenders ended up.
The race went back green with about forty laps to go and Kyle Busch held onto the lead. He drove away from the field as Austin Dillon took second, Justin Allgaier took third, Regan Smith took fourth, and Sam Hornish Jr. took fifth. Busch continued to hold the lead as the laps clicked down. Sam Hornish Jr. began to battle hard with Matt Kenseth, but he was doing everything in his power to keep Kenseth out of the top 5. Pretty soon, only ten laps remained with Kyle Busch still holding a comfortable advantage over Austin Dillon. Justin Allgaier began to close on Dillon as only five laps remained. Kyle Busch continued to run away as he had all day and he kept a constant hold on the lead. Finally, Busch took the white flag as Justin Allgaier passed Austin Dillon for second. Dillon would try to pass him back heading into turn 3, but he did not have enough momentum. This did not affect Busch as he cruised to his twelfth NASCAR Nationwide Series victory of 2013 and the sixty third of his career. There was a little discussion on pit road after the race. Austin Dillon talked with Justin Allgaier about the move on the final lap. Dillon felt Allgaier bumped him, but Allgaier felt it was clean racing. The argument did not escalate and Dillon walked away with a third place finish. It was a very gratifying performance for Kyle Busch, but this race could be more memorable for affecting the championship.
Wow, what a turnaround year it has been for Kyle Busch. After failing to capture a win in the #54 in 2012, he has rallied back to twelve wins, twenty top 5s, and twenty one top 10s in the same exact car in 2013. Plus, he has continued to win races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. It has been a very welcome change for Busch and one that could continue even with only three races left remaining in all three series of NASCAR. Brad Keselowski definitely had a struggle of a day. He had that incident with Brian Scott and lost a lot of points in the owner's points battle as Busch cruised to the victory. Joey Logano returns to the #22 next week and he will look to take the title for Roger Penske and his gang. I want to point you guys to something that could be interesting when the champion is decided at Homestead next week. In the final few laps of the race, Sam Hornish Jr. held off Matt Kenseth and finished fifth. Justin Allgaier was able to pass Austin Dillon on the final lap to take second. That is one point in favor of Hornish and the deficit is only eight instead of nine. What does this have to do with anything? You may recall the 2011 battle for the Sprint Cup title between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. On the last lap at the penultimate race in Phoenix, Stewart passed Jeff Burton on the final lap to finish third while Edwards finished second. At Homestead, the two eventually tied and Stewart took the title based on a tiebreaker. The two ended up tied just because of that pass Stewart made on the last lap that week before. That pass Justin Allgaier made on Austin Dillon could just decide who wins the championship next week at Homestead. Plus, if the championship came into a tiebreaker situation, Sam Hornish Jr. would take the title based on his win at Las Vegas. I hope that point gets you guys thinking as the NASCAR Nationwide Series heads to the final race of the season next week at Homestead. Will Austin Dillon walk away with his first NASCAR Nationwide Series title as he heads to Cup in 2014 or will Sam Hornish Jr. overtake Dillon and get his career in NASCAR back on track? We will have to wait until next Saturday to have these questions answered and a whole lot more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 2- Eric McClure got loose in turn 3 and made slight contact with the outside wall.
2nd Caution: Lap 105- Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1.
3rd Caution: Lap 131- Brad Sweet broke loose in turn 2 due to brake problems and slid down the track towards the apron.
4th Caution: Lap 138- Kevin Swindell made contact with the outside wall in turn 3 after contact with Drew Herring.
5th Caution: Lap 143- Brad Keselowski backed into the outside wall in turn 3 after Brian Scott made contact with him due to a loose condition.
6th Caution: Lap 149- Kevin Swindell backed hard into the outside wall in turn 3 after contact with Jamie Dick.
7th Caution: Lap 156- Kyle Larson went high exiting turn 4 and made contact with outside wall. He would make further contact in turn 1 after blowing a right front tire.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Alex Bowman
3rd Caution: Ryan Reed
4th Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
5th Caution: Nelson Piquet Jr.
6th Caution: Brad Keselowski
7th Caution: Jeffrey Earnhardt
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Justin Allgaier
3rd: Austin Dillon
4th: Regan Smith
5th: Sam Hornish Jr.
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Matt Kenseth
7th: Trevor Bayne
8th: Elliott Sadler
9th: Kevin Harvick
19th: Brad Keselowski
21st: Travis Pastrana
32nd: Kyle Larson
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html?intid=lapbylap_lapbylapleaderboard_08292013
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nationwide-series/live-standings.html
http://www.jayski.com/news/nationwide/2013/story/_/page/2013nns-32phoenix#rundown
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_ServiceMaster_200/B
-Image:
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/nationwide/story/_/id/9953044/kyle-busch-earns-12th-nationwide-series-victory-season
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