McMurray Holds Off Kyle Busch

Jamie McMurray celebrates his first NASCAR Nationwide Series win of the season
John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

Jamie McMurray held off Kyle Busch and stopped Busch one spot short of a historic win Saturday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Driving JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet, McMurray asserted his superiority over the final 40 of 195 laps to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series Great Clips 300 at the 1.54-mile racetrack. The victory, the eighth of McMurray’s NASCAR Nationwide career, was his first since November 2004 at Darlington.

Busch is tied with Sam Ard for the series’ single-season wins record with 10.

Carl Edwards ran third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth. Joey Logano, Jason Leffler, Ryan Newman, Paul Menard and rookie Ricky Stenhouse Jr. completed the top 10. Series points leader Brad Keselowski finished 12th.

Harvick took four tires under caution on Lap 62, while Busch and most other contenders chose to restart on old rubber when the field came to green on Lap 65. After restarting 12th, Harvick passed McMurray for the lead on Lap 70.

By Lap 112, he had the rest of the field at least one lap down, after Busch and other drivers on old tires came to the pits under green. Harvick gave up the lead to Busch when he made a green-flag stop for tires and fuel on Lap 120.

Harvick left the pits eight seconds behind Busch but cut that margin in half before Ryan Newman spun Trevor Bayne on the backstretch to cause the third caution of the race and bunch the field. McMurray was first out of the pits under caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 153.

McMurray stayed out front until contact from Stenhouse sent Reed Sorenson’s Toyota hard into the outside wall on Lap 168. Keselowski and 11th-place finisher Josh Wise stayed on the track under the caution, but they quickly surrendered the top two spots when the field restarted.

McMurray surged to the front with Busch in pursuit, but Busch was unable to make up significant ground in the closing laps and finished 0.286 seconds back.

Results

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 7 88 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet Hellman's / BJ's 190/5 195 Running
2 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota NOS Energy Drink 180/10 195 Running
3 5 60 Carl Edwards Ford Fastenal 165/0 195 Running
4 8 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Rheem Heating, Cooling & Water Heating 165/5 195 Running
5 18 16 Matt Kenseth Ford World Financial Group 155/0 195 Running
6 10 20 Joey Logano Toyota GameStop 150/0 195 Running
7 12 10 Jason Leffler Toyota ABF Freight 146/0 195 Running
8 4 1 Ryan Newman Chevrolet Pit Road Pets / Phoenix Construction 142/0 195 Running
9 9 98 Paul Menard Ford Tarkett / Menards 138/0 195 Running
10 13 6 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. * Ford Blackwell Angus Beef 134/0 195 Running
11 6 7 Josh Wise Chevrolet JR Motorsports 130/0 195 Running
12 15 22 Brad Keselowski Dodge Discount Tire 132/5 195 Running
13 20 12 Justin Allgaier Dodge Verizon Wireless 124/0 195 Running
14 16 21 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Zaxby's 121/0 195 Running
15 17 40 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Key Motorsports 118/0 195 Running
16 33 62 Brendan Gaughan Toyota Atlanta Title Loans 115/0 195 Running
17 14 42 David Gilliland Dodge Destin-FWB.com / GetMoreVacations.com 112/0 195 Running
18 23 35 Jason Keller Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 109/0 193 Running
19 1 38 Kasey Kahne Toyota Great Clips 111/5 192 Running
20 39 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet Long John Silver's 103/0 192 Running
21 32 15 Michael Annett Toyota Valvoline 100/0 192 Running
22 35 09 John Wes Townley Ford Zaxby's 20th Year Celebration 97/0 191 Running
23 29 05 Willie Allen Chevrolet Owens Corning / 31-W Insulation 94/0 191 Running
24 11 99 Trevor Bayne Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 91/0 191 Running
25 40 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet FX Network "Sons of Anarchy" 88/0 191 Running
26 27 27 Brad Baker Ford Baker Curb Racing 85/0 190 Running
27 26 81 Michael McDowell Dodge K-Love 82/0 190 Running
28 30 11 Brian Scott * Toyota AccuDoc Solutions 79/0 189 Running
29 25 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Gator.com 76/0 189 Running
30 36 24 Eric McClure Ford Hefty Odorblock 73/0 188 Running
31 34 26 Brian Keselowski Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports 70/0 184 Running
32 41 70 Mark Green Chevrolet Angel Wings Transport 67/0 183 Running
33 42 23 Robert Richardson Jr. Chevrolet North Texas Pipe 64/0 170 Running
34 3 32 Reed Sorenson Toyota Dollar General 61/0 166 Accident
35 37 66 Steve Wallace Toyota 5-Hour Energy 58/0 139 Engine
36 22 01 Mike Wallace Chevrolet Smoky Mountain Cheese 55/0 100 Engine
37 21 91 Chase Miller Chevrolet D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports 52/0 19 Electrical
38 28 90 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Chevrolet D'Hondt Humphrey Motorsports 49/0 15 Electrical
39 43 89 Johnny Chapman Chevrolet Victory In Jesus 46/0 11 Susp.
40 31 52 Kevin Lepage Chevrolet My 3 Sons Vending 43/0 3 Vibration
41 24 92 Dennis Setzer Dodge K-Automotive Motorsports 40/0 2 Vibration
42 19 43 Kevin Hamlin Ford Baker Curb Racing 37/0 2 Vibration
43 38 136 Jeff Green Chevrolet TriStar Motorsports 34/0 1 Transmission

* Denotes Rookie