Busch Toyota wins easily in Texas

In his seventh NASCAR Nationwide Series start of the season, Kyle Busch finally got a result befitting his performance.

Entering Saturday's O'Reilly 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch had led a series-best 345 laps without a win. After finishing second to Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart in the first two races of the season, a series of mishaps had blocked the Toyota driver's path to victory lane.

That changed at Texas, where Busch ran away from the competition to post his first Nationwide win of the season and the 12th of his career. Though he had to survive a restart on Lap 194 of 200, Busch pulled away over the final seven laps and crossed the finish line 1.041 seconds ahead of runner-up Jeff Burton.

Series points leader Clint Bowyer finished third, followed by Bobby Labonte and Jamie McMurray. Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., David Ragan, Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart completed the top 10.

Busch, who had posted second-place finishes at Texas in 2004 and 2007, led four times for 126 laps, including the final 43. His winning average speed of 151.707 mph was a track record, eclipsing the 145.710 mph posted by Kevin Harvick in the 2006 fall race.

"This feels so good," Busch said after he climbed from the winning No. 18 Camry. "It's great to give (sponsor) DLP their first NASCAR win, and it's great to bring Toyota to victory lane here. It's so hard to win at this place. I want to thank my fans for sticking with me. We've been through some tough times in the Nationwide Series."

Busch had opened a lead of almost four seconds when Kyle Krisiloff's spin on Lap 190 brought out the fourth and final caution of the race. Busch and Burton remained on the track during the caution, while the 11 lead-lap cars behind them came to the pits for tires.

Busch said it was a difficult choice to stay out.

"It was tough," he admitted. "I know four tires would be fast, but I didn't know if I'd be able to get back through traffic."

Burton initially second-guessed crew chief Pat Smith's decision to not to bring him to the pits, but changed his mind after hanging on to the runner-up spot.

"Kyle's car was really fast," Burton said. "He was really fast on old tires. That said, holding the (second) spot was probably good enough. I don't think we could have gotten past him."

Notes: Harvick, who started on the pole after Thursday's qualifying session was rained out, broke an axle on his first pit stop and lost 21 laps while his crew replaced it. He finished 34th. . . Stewart lost a lap with an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 71, after cutting his right rear tire. He had run over a lug nut on pit road during a green-flag pit stop on Lap 56. . . Fourteen cars finished on the lead lap.

Results

FIN

ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 31 18 Kyle Busch Toyota DLP HDTV 195/10 200 Running
2 4 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 175/5 200 Running
3 2 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Camping World/ RVs.com 170/5 200 Running
4 16 21 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet Prilosec OTC / Wal-Mart 160/0 200 Running
5 15 16 Jamie McMurray Ford CitiFinancial 160/5 200 Running
6 19 32 Brian Vickers Toyota Seymour of Sycamore / ABF 150/0 200 Running
7 10 5 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 146/0 200 Running
8 7 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 142/0 200 Running
9 14 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 138/0 200 Running
10 6 20 Tony Stewart Toyota Old Spice 139/5 200 Running
11 21 40 Dario Franchitti * Dodge Fastenal 135/5 200 Running
12 20 111 Jason Keller Chevrolet America's Incredible Pizza Company 127/0 200 Running
13 3 60 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Water Smart 124/0 200 Running
14 5 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 121/0 200 Running
15 9 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 123/5 199 Running
16 23 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Jimmy John's Gourmet Sandwiches 115/0 199 Running
17 12 47 Kelly Bires Ford Clorox 112/0 199 Running
18 24 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Hickory Charcoal 109/0 199 Running
19 43 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental 106/0 198 Running
20 8 22 Robby Gordon Dodge Supercuts 103/0 198 Running
21 11 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Hellmann's 100/0 198 Running
22 26 27 Brad Coleman Ford Cottonelle BKB / Brookshire's 97/0 198 Running
23 17 25 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Ford Eckrich 94/0 198 Running
24 22 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 91/0 197 Running
25 13 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 88/0 197 Running
26 25 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 85/0 196 Running
27 41 30 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet NOS Energy Drink 82/0 196 Running
28 42 170 Mark Green Chevrolet Foretravel Motorcoach 79/0 194 Running
29 29 4 Robert Richardson, II Chevrolet Jay Robinson Inc. 76/0 194 Running
30 33 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge Mahindra Tractors / NPPL 73/0 190 Running
31 27 161 Kevin Lepage Ford Courtyard Dallas Arlington by the Ballpark 70/0 189 Running
32 34 01 Kertus Davis Chevrolet RaceGirl 67/0 189 Running
33 28 41 Kyle Krisiloff Dodge Polaroid 64/0 184 Off Track
34 1 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet RoadLoans.com 66/5 179 Running
35 18 64 David Stremme Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 58/0 163 Running
36 32 24 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty 55/0 145 Out of Race
37 36 52 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Means Racing 52/0 42 Out of Race
38 35 05 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 31-W Insulation / CertainTeed 49/0 40 Out of Race
39 37 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 46/0 33 Out of Race
40 30 37 Burney Lamar Ford Baker Curb Racing 43/0 29 Out of Race
41 39 91 Larry Gunselman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 40/0 23 Out of Race
42 38 89 Morgan Shepherd Dodge Victory In Jesus 37/0 17 Out of Race
43 40 84 Mike Harmon Chevrolet James Otto / Muzik Mafia 34/0 13 Out of Race