Kyle Busch holds off Logano

Kyle Busch
Getty Images for NASCAR

Apparently tired of his recent pattern of leading the most laps and finishing somewhere other than first, Kyle Busch took a different tack in Saturday's Camping World RV Sales 200.

Busch saved his surge to the front for the final green-flag run in the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano for the lead on Lap 165 of 200, Busch stayed in front the rest of the way.

In the final 10 laps, Logano closed up to the rear bumper of Busch's No. 18 Toyota in lapped traffic, but Busch eventually pulled away to win his fifth race of the season by .617 seconds over his teammate.

Brad Keselowski finished third at the Magic Mile, followed by Mike Bliss, who stayed out on old tires during the third and final caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 162. Kevin Harvick came home fifth in his own No. 33 Chevrolet.

Busch collected the 26th Nationwide victory of his career, fifth-best all-time and one behind fourth-place Jeff Burton. In posting his 13th top 10 in 16 starts this season, Busch extended his lead over sixth-place finisher Carl Edwards to 162 points in the series standings.

Though Busch talked with crew chief Jason Ratcliff about being patient and taking his time during the first 51-lap green-flag run, he said his methodical approach was a matter of necessity, not choice.

"I wanted to be (up front) — I just couldn't get there," said Busch, who started from the ninth position and became the 23rd different winner in 23 Nationwide races at NHMS. "These flat tracks, you just can't do stuff like that. You don't have the room to do stuff like that.

"Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta — all those big tracks — Kansas, Chicago, you've got room. You can go way up to the wall and run around the outside and pass guys, and you've got the whole racetrack to use. Here, Milwaukee, Phoenix, you've got one, one-and-a-half lanes to use in order to get through guys and make it up towards the front. So you've got to be methodical about it, think about it and try not to get into anybody."

Logano, on the other hand, got a taste of the frustration that has haunted Busch, who had led 1,486 of the 2,787 laps he had completed in the first 15 races this season.

"I guess this is how Kyle feels lately — leading the most laps and not winning," said Logano, who led a race-high 108 laps.

Sprint Cup teammates Scott Speed and Brian Vickers — driving cars for different Nationwide owners — tangled in Turn 3 on the final lap and lost chances for top-five finishes. As the cars entered pit road following the race, Vickers (who came home 12th) bumped his Red Bull Racing teammate (who ran eighth).

Speed explained that he had carried more speed than the cars ahead of him into the final set of corners.

"He said I slowed down going into the corner," Vickers said. "No (kidding)!"

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 9 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Z-Line Designs 190/5 200 Running
2 1 20 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop 180/10 200 Running
3 7 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet GoDaddy.com 165/0 200 Running
4 10 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Championship Oct. 15-18 165/5 200 Running
5 5 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Copart 155/0 200 Running
6 2 60 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Ortho 155/5 200 Running
7 6 16 Greg Biffle Ford CitiFinancial 146/0 200 Running
8 4 99 Scott Speed Toyota Red Bull 142/0 200 Running
9 11 6 Erik Darnell * Ford Northern Tool + Equipment 138/0 200 Running
10 12 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 134/0 200 Running
11 24 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet US Fidelis 130/0 200 Running
12 8 32 Brian Vickers Toyota Dollar General 127/0 200 Running
13 13 12 Justin Allgaier * Dodge Verizon Wireless 124/0 200 Running
14 3 29 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 121/0 200 Running
15 16 47 Michael McDowell * Toyota Tom's Snacks 118/0 200 Running
16 14 11 Scott Lagasse Jr. * Toyota America's Incredible Pizza Company 115/0 200 Running
17 20 40 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Stop Repair B ills.com 112/0 200 Running
18 28 10 Elliott Sadler Toyota Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper 109/0 200 Running
19 31 15 Michael Annett * Toyota Pilot Travel Centers 111/5 200 Running
20 21 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet U.S. Border Patrol 103/0 200 Running
21 38 62 Brendan Gaughan * Chevrolet 5-Hour Energy Extra Strength 100/0 200 Running
22 43 2 Sean Caisse Chevrolet Richard Childress Racing 97/0 198 Running
23 23 27 Jason Keller Ford Scott Products / Wal-Mart 94/0 198 Running
24 35 61 Matt Carter Ford Specialty Racing 91/0 196 Running
25 30 23 Ken Butler III * Chevrolet Aaron's Dream Machine 88/0 196 Running
26 39 01 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Chevrolet SponsorDavis.com 85/0 196 Running
27 18 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet NEMCO Motorsports 82/0 196 Running
28 36 09 John Wes Townley * Ford Zaxby's 79/0 196 Running
29 25 81 Bobby Hamilton Jr. Dodge D.H. Griffin Companies 76/0 196 Running
30 40 234 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 73/0 196 Running
31 34 172 Benny Gordon Ford Samuel Metals / VSI Racing 70/0 196 Running
32 42 07 Chase Mattioli Chevrolet Qik Joe 67/0 192 Running
33 41 24 Eric McClure Ford Hefty 64/0 176 Engine
34 26 26 Brian Keselowski Dodge Fischer Honda 61/0 92 Overheating
35 15 198 Paul Menard Ford Richmond / Menards 58/0 50 Engine
36 32 49 Mark Green Chevrolet GetMoreVacati ons.com 55/0 23 Brakes
37 33 173 Derrike Cope Dodge Derrike Cope Inc. 52/0 19 Overheating
38 29 31 Travis Kittleson Chevrolet Bob Steele Chevrolet 49/0 13 Overheating
39 27 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet Means Racing 46/0 13 Ignition
40 22 05 Casey Atwood Chevrolet 31-W Insulation 43/0 8 Rear End
41 19 91 Kelly Bires Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 40/0 4 Brakes
42 37 196 Willie Allen Dodge ConelyAuto.com 37/0 3 Parked
43 17 90 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 34/0 2 Brakes

* Denotes Rookie