Kyle Busch blows them away in Loudon

Kyle Busch leads teammate Joey Logano
CIA Stock Photo

Kyle Busch added a few more records to his impressive resume Saturday.

He became the NASCAR Nationwide Series' all-time lap leader in winning the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, and he also broke veteran Mark Martin's laps-led mark in 45 fewer races than it took Martin to set the record of 8,083 laps.

Busch has now led 8,117 laps. Afterward, he heaped praise on his Joe Gibbs Racing team, under the leadership of crew chief Jason Ratliff.

Points leader Brad Keselowski finished second with Carl Edwards, third, Joey Logano fourth and Trevor Bayne fifth.

Justin Allgaier was sixth followed by Kevin Harvick, Reed Sorensen, Paul Menard and Brenden Gaughan, respectively, to round out the top 10.

The victory was Busch's sixth of the season. He’s running a part-time series schedule as the defending champion. Saturday’s victory also marked the first time a driver has won two NASCAR Nationwide Series events at New Hampshire. Saturday’s was the series’ 24th race there; Busch also won the track’s June event a year ago.

Indy Racing League star Danica Patrick had another luckless day, finishing 30th, five laps behind, after an early-race shunt with Morgan Shepherd damaged her car.

Skies were overcast when the race began, and a threat of rain put a little more urgency in the start. Pole winner Keselowski pulled out front and Allgaier moved into second.

Patrick's day took a miserable turn on Lap 7 when the veteran Shepherd ducked beneath her in Turn 1, lost control and spun, collecting Patrick in the process.

When the green fell again, Kyle Busch took the lead but Keselowski went back to the front a couple laps later. Patrick, the center of attention in pre-race publicity and promotions, was relegated to 38th, a lap down, as a result of her spin.

At 30 laps, it appeared Keselowski was in for a good afternoon, but Harvick, Busch, Edwards, Logano and Allgaier were hanging within striking distance. Sorensen, Steve Wallace, Lofton and Dillon rounded out the top 10.

Patrick, meanwhile, had dropped another lap by Lap 40, putting her two laps down.

Harvick took the top spot on Lap 45 and Busch went with him, putting Keselowski in third. A lap later, Busch went back out front.

On Lap 94, Taylor Malsam and Ricky Stenhouse got together to bring out the second caution of the day. The leaders pitted again, some for two tires and some for four. Busch and Harvick took four while Logano and Allgaier took two. Keselowski didn't pit this time around.

On the restart, just past the halfway point of 100 laps, Keselowski led with Busch a little over a second behind. Logano was third, Edwards fourth and Harvick fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Sadler, Menard, Allgaier, Bayne and Sorensen.

Busch, however, chased Keselowski down and passed him for the lead on Lap 120.

Results

Pos

Driver Lap Behind Led Points
1 Kyle Busch 200 0.000 192 2140
2 Brad Keselowski 200 0.644 64 2641
3 Carl Edwards 200 4.261 0 2394
4 Joey Logano 200 4.500 3 1758
5 Trevor Bayne 200 7.567 0 1721
6 Justin Allgaier 200 7.777 0 2201
7 Kevin Harvick 200 8.031 6 2003
8 Reed Sorenson 200 8.707 0 1548
9 Paul Menard 200 9.661 0 1998
10 Brendan Gaughan 200 9.990 0 1819
11 Steve Wallace 200 10.184 0 1804
12 Colin Braun 200 11.223 0 1151
13 Elliott Sadler 200 12.490 1 129
14 Jason Leffler 200 14.198 0 1718
15 Jason Keller 200 14.442 174 1202
16 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 200 14.917 1 1139
17 Justin Lofton 200 15.440 0 164
18 Tony Raines 200 16.346 0 1613
19 Michael Annett 200 20.620 0 1595
20 Michael McDowell 199 1 Lap 0 1363
21 Sean Caisse 198 2 Laps 0 291
22 Morgan Shepherd 197 3 Laps 0 797
23 Joe Nemechek 197 3 Laps 0 1228
24 Willie Allen 197 3 Laps 0 880
25 Austin Dillon 196 4 Laps 0 88
26 Brian Scott 196 4 Laps 0 1603
27 Robert Richardson Jr. 196 4 Laps 0 922
28 Mike Wallace 196 4 Laps 0 1464
29 Eric McClure 196 4 Laps 0 1343
30 Danica Patrick 195 5 Laps 0 256
31 Charles Lewandoski 195 5 Laps 0 70
32 Kenny Wallace 181 19 Laps 0 1494
33 Mark Green 170 30 Laps 0 763
34 Mike Bliss 147 53 Laps 0 1380
35 Tayler Malsam 91 109 Laps 0 339
36 Brad Baker 35 165 Laps 0 55
37 Danny OQuinn 25 175 Laps 0 444
38 David Gilliland 20 180 Laps 0 326
39 Brian Keselowski 9 191 Laps 0 925
40 Johnny Chapman 5 195 Laps 0 187
41 Josh Wise 3 197 Laps 0 1010
42 Kevin Swindell 3 197 Laps 0 37
43 Dennis Setzer 2 198 Laps 0 433