Kyle Busch wasn’t sure he had won Saturday’s Busch series Yellow Transportation 300 until he looked out his left-side mirror and Matt Kenseth didn’t appear.
Then, and only then, did Busch realize he won a pulsating duel to the finish by .085 seconds, the second-closest in the Busch series this season.
“I’ve finished second to Matt four times in the Busch series, including my first-ever start at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 2003,” Busch said after his victory thrilled a sellout crowd of 82,000 on a pleasant day at Kansas Speedway.
“I didn’t want another second-place finish to Matt Kenseth.”
However, late Saturday night, NASCAR announced that Busch’s race-winning car had failed post-race inspection, saying the intake manifold did not meet specifications. Any penalties, most likely a fine and/or reduction in points, would be announced this week.
Kenseth, for the second straight year, led the most laps in his Ford at Kansas Speedway. A year ago, he led 145 laps before he was passed by Kevin Harvick and finished second. This time, he led 65 laps but was passed by Busch’s Chevrolet, just before a caution with 16 laps to go.
From there, it was a two-man race with Busch and Kenseth dueling door-to-door. On the final lap, Kenseth made a move to the inside, but Busch held on for his 10th career Busch series win.
“I sure hate getting beat, but, gosh, we did the best we could,” Kenseth said. “We were good in the long run, and when we got going on the (last) restart, I chose the middle to the top, and he got a good run and cleared me. I just didn’t have quite enough time to beat him. I think a couple more laps, we would have passed him back.”
Casey Mears finished third, and Clint Bowyer of Emporia, who ran in the top five for most of the day, finished a frustrating fourth.
“It just wasn’t our day,” Bowyer said. “We kept overadjusting our car. We were really loose, and then it got a little too tight.”
Busch had to overcome a penalty that sent him to the back of the pack for speeding on pit road during a caution on lap 91.
“I was watching everyone coming out of their pit stalls and making sure we didn’t bang up a fender, so I took my eyes off the tachometer for a minute and got busted for speeding there,” Busch said. “The biggest thing was having a good enough car to battle back from that, and luckily we were able to.”
The victory was Busch’s third in his last six Busch races for Hendrick Motorsports, the team that let him go in order to sign Dale Earnhardt Jr. for next year. Busch will drive for Joe Gibbs Racing next year.
As one of the 12 Nextel Cup drivers competing in the Chase for the Championship, Busch sat out the last two Busch races at New Hampshire and Dover during the first two weeks of the Chase. He finished fourth in the Craftsman Trucks Series at New Hampshire and spent the Busch race at Dover in the pit box of Denny Hamlin as a possible replacement for Hamlin who wasn’t feeling well.
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