Busch performs his victory-celebratory burnout after winning Saturday's Nationwide race at Texas.
'BOUT TIME
Kyle Busch scores 1st Nationwide Series triumph at Texas
By SceneDaily Staff
FORT WORTH, TX -- Kyle Busch recently said he's leaning toward not running the entire 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule.
More days like Saturday may change the Joe Gibbs Racing driver's mind.
Driving a Toyota that was rock solid from start to finish in the O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch moved forward quickly from a 31st-place starting spot and survived a restart with eight laps to go en route to his first Nationwide Series triumph of the season.
"This feels so good," said Busch, who also collected his first win at the 1.5-mile track. "This place is so hard to win at."
Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton placed second followed by RCR's Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte. Roush Fenway Racing's Jamie McMurray finished fifth.
Braun Racing's Brian Vickers, JR Motorsports' Dale Earnhardt Jr., Roush Fenway's David Ragan, Braun's Jason Leffler and Gibbs' Tony Stewart completed the top 10.
The race was slowed four times with the final caution coming out for the spinning car of Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyle Krisiloff with 10 laps to go. Busch, Burton and Ragan elected to stay on the track under the yellow while the other 11 lead lap cars came to pit road for fresh tires. Busch initially questioned his decision to stay out but it proved to be the right move.
"It was tough because I just wasn't sure why we wanted to come in and pit," he said. "I knew four tires were going to be fast but I didn't know if I could get back through traffic."
Burton managed to fend off those behind him with fresher tires but failed to challenge Busch on the final restart.
"The fastest car won today," Burton said. "The best car won today."
Bowyer, who made up only one position with his new tires after restarting fourth on the final restart, remains the series points leader, now by 57 points over Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards.
Posted April 05, 2008 , 9:47 pm EST Last Updated April 07, 2008 , 10:03 pm EST
