NNS Recap: Busch’s Nationwide Win Sets Up Try For Triple
Kyle Busch came close to a triple in February, when he won the truck and Nationwide events at Auto Club Speedway in California and finished third in the Cup race. If he completes the weekend sweep at Texas on Sunday, he'll do so in crew chief Dave Rogers' debut on the pit box. Rogers replaced Steve Addington as Busch's Cup crew chief after last Sunday's race at Talladega.
By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Two down. One to go.
Kyle
Busch moved one race closer to an unprecedented weekend triple Saturday
-- and, oh, by the way -- a giant step closer to his first title in a
major NASCAR touring series.
Busch
dominated the 300-mile O'Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway,
leading 179 of 200 laps and pulling away after a restart on Lap 187 to
beat substitute driver Casey Mears to the finish line by 3.154 seconds
to win his eighth Nationwide Series race of the season and the 29th of
his career.
More important
from a historical perspective, perhaps, Busch has the opportunity to
become the first driver to win races in each of NASCAR's top three
series at the same track on the same weekend. Busch won Friday night's
Camping World Truck Series race at the 1.5-mile speedway. On Sunday
he'll start fifth in the Dickies 500 Sprint Cup race at Texas.
"Four
in a row at Texas, baby!" Busch shouted after crossing the finish line,
referencing his fourth straight Nationwide win at the track.
Mears
took his first ride in the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet
after Jeff Burton, who was supposed to drive the car, was banged up in
a Friday crash during Sprint Cup practice. Burton was not seriously
hurt, but owner Richard Childress made the switch as a precaution, and
Mears validated the decision in his first Nationwide appearance since
2007.
Busch opened a
272-point lead in the Nationwide standings over ninth-place finisher
Carl Edwards. Brad Keselowski, who ran fifth Saturday, is 292 points
back in third place. Busch can clinch the series title outright next
Saturday at Phoenix International Raceway by finishing 15th or better.
He also clinches with a finish of 34th in the final two events of the
season.
Jason Leffler came home third Saturday, followed by polesitter Matt Kenseth.
Busch
came close to a triple in February, when he won the truck and
Nationwide events at Auto Club Speedway in California and finished
third in the Cup race. If he completes the weekend sweep at Texas on
Sunday, he'll do so in crew chief Dave Rogers' debut on the pit box.
Rogers replaced Steve Addington as Busch's Cup crew chief after last
Sunday's race at Talladega.
"We
qualified better than we expected -- fifth, so that's cool," Busch said
when assessing his chances for the Cup victory. "The car wasn't bad in
practice (Saturday). There were some areas where we felt really good
about it; there were some other times when we didn't feel so good about
it.
"I like what's going on
there. I think we've got about a fifth-to-10th-place car right now, and
if we can just hang there throughout the day -- make some good changes,
make some good adjustments, have Dave learn some things, maybe -- that
we can be contenders. And if you're contenders at the end of the race,
you never know."