Kyle Busch sets record in Bristol

Kyle Busch celebrates
Busch nips Toyota teammate Joey Logano at the line
Getty Images for NASCAR

At age 26, Kyle Busch made history in Friday night's Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

In beating Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano to the checkered flag in a near dead heat (.019 seconds), Busch won his 50th race in the Nationwide Series, breaking a tie with Mark Martin for the top spot on the career victory list.

The margin of victory was the smallest for a race at Bristol since the institution of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.

"It's awesome," Busch said of the 50th win, his 23rd in his past 51 Nationwide starts. "We had Mark with us there in Loudon [when Busch tied the record July 16], and it was a phenomenal way to win 49 races and tie Mark Martin. And then to come here and to be able to beat his record here at Bristol, one of my favorite places and one of the team's favorite places, it was certainly an awesome race."

Behind Busch and Logano, Clint Bowyer ran third, followed by Carl Edwards and Aric Almirola.

"I don't know where he [Logano] came from," said Busch, the first driver to win three consecutive Nationwide races at the .533-mile track. "He had a rocket ship there at the end. I just kept getting a little bit looser and a little bit looser the more we ran there.

"I thought maybe the top [lane] was going to win the thing, and I was just trying to pinch him down a little bit — he used me up."

On pit road after the race, Logano eyed Busch's celebration in Victory Lane with envy.

"I did everything I could possibly do, looking back at it," said Logano, whose ploy to stay out on old tires during the final caution nearly paid off. "I did everything I could have done besides wrecking him, but that ain't the right thing to do when he's your teammate — so we did everything we could do."

Michael Annett, Jason Leffler, Elliott Sadler, Parker Kligerman and Brian Scott completed the top 10. Sadler trimmed the series lead of 11th-place finisher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to five points.

Busch led the first 112 laps of the 250-lap race, until Bowyer passed him in traffic for the top spot on Lap 113. Bowyer was still out front when Jeremy Clements' blown tire brought out the second caution of the race on Lap 124. That gave Bowyer and Busch, who had not yet pitted, a chance to come to pit road for tires and fuel on Lap 127.

Bowyer led the field to a restart on Lap 132, but three laps later, Kenny Wallace blew a tire in Turn 3 and smacked the outside wall to cause caution No. 3. It was the second of three quick yellow flags, the last of which was for Kligerman's spin in Turn 2 on Lap 145.

Bowyer again led the field to green on Lap 151, but Busch powered past Bowyer's No. 33 Chevrolet at the start/finish line on Lap 163. On Lap 187, Bowyer retook the lead but surrendered it two laps later. The top two cars ran side by side until David Starr plowed into the Turn 1 wall on Lap 191 to force the fifth caution.

Busch, Bowyer and Edwards all came to the pits for tires on Lap 193, while Logano, Leffler and Sadler stayed on the track and inherited the top three positions for a restart on Lap 198. Logano grabbed the lead on the restart, with Busch surging into second behind him. Those two cars pulled away, with Bowyer in pursuit.

Busch soon dispatched Logano, and the top three drivers — Busch, Logano and Bowyer — opened a wide gap over Leffler and Edwards in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Z-Line Designs 0 250 Running
2 2 20 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop 0 250 Running
3 9 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Rheem.com 0 250 Running
4 6 60 Carl Edwards Ford Fastenal 0 250 Running
5 16 88 Aric Almirola Chevrolet Degree Men Adrenaline Series 39/0 250 Running
6 21 62 Michael Annett Toyota Pilot Flying J 38/0 250 Running
7 5 30 Jason Leffler Chevrolet AccuDoc Solutions 37/0 250 Running
8 3 2 Elliott Sadler Chevrolet OneMain Financial 36/0 250 Running
9 12 22 Parker Kligerman Dodge Discount Tire 0 250 Running
10 11 11 Brian Scott Toyota Shore Lodge 34/0 250 Running
11 10 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford Fastenal 33/0 250 Running
12 18 32 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet Dollar General 32/0 250 Running
13 7 16 Trevor Bayne Ford Fastenal 31/0 250 Running
14 15 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 5-Hour Energy 30/0 250 Running
15 8 31 Justin Allgaier Chevrolet Brandt 29/0 250 Running
16 19 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com 28/0 250 Running
17 13 70 David Stremme Chevrolet USA Sealants / Blue Devil 0 250 Running
18 20 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 26/0 250 Running
19 17 38 Kasey Kahne Chevrolet Great Clips 0 248 Running
20 14 164 David Reutimann Toyota Aspen Dental 0 248 Running
21 22 97 Joe Nemechek Toyota AMFMEnergy.com / Pellet & Wood Stoves 23/0 247 Running
22 30 15 Timmy Hill * Ford Lilly Trucking of Virginia 22/0 247 Running
23 40 81 Blake Koch * Dodge Daystar.com 21/0 247 Running
24 37 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing 20/0 246 Running
25 33 28 Derrike Cope Chevrolet Maxelence.com 19/0 246 Running
26 39 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet G&K Services 18/0 245 Running
27 36 14 Eric McClure Chevrolet Hefty BlackOut / Reynolds 17/0 245 Running
28 26 104 Benny Gordon Ford Samuel Metals 16/0 244 Running
29 34 87 Kevin Conway Toyota Extenze 0 243 Running
30 41 39 Fain Skinner Ford Carport Empire 14/0 242 Running
31 42 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet Means Racing 13/0 241 Running
32 25 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet 7 Select / Mahle 12/0 219 Running
33 24 05 David Starr Chevrolet Texas Farm and Ranch / 31-W Insulation 0 187 Accident
34 38 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet Victory In Jesus 10/0 161 Vibration
35 32 23 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet Anderson's Maple Syrup 9/0 137 Susp.
36 4 09 Kenny Wallace Toyota Federated Auto Parts 8/0 136 Accident
37 23 103 Scott Riggs Chevrolet North Texas Pipe 7/0 19 Overheating
38 27 49 Mark Green Chevrolet Anderson's Maple Syrup 6/0 11 Rear Gear
39 28 142 Tim Andrews Chevrolet Key Motorsports 0 11 Electrical
40 29 146 Chase Miller Chevrolet Key Motorsports 4/0 7 Brakes
41 31 171 Matthew Carter Ford Lilly Trucking of Virginia 3/0 7 Brakes
42 35 147 Brian Keselowski Chevrolet Key Motorsports 0 6 Brakes
43 43 44 Jeff Green Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 1/0 4 Vibration

* Denotes Rookie