Busch Holds Off Larson Charge To Win Bristol
March 16, 2012
By Seth Livingstone
Special to NASCAR News Service
BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Kyle Busch's weekend of dominance continued at Bristol Motor Speedway, but just barely.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup
pole-sitter held off rookie Kyle Larson to win Saturday's Jeff
Foxworthy's Grit Chips 300 in the second-closest finish in track
history.
Larson, making his fourth
NASCAR Nationwide Series start, trailed Busch by five car lengths with
10 laps to go but went high around lapped traffic and traded paint with
Busch as the two crossed
the finish line .023 seconds apart.
"I did everything I could to
try to protect the momentum," Busch said. "A young kid like that, he's
got a lot of talent. He's obviously made a name for himself."
Busch, who will sit on the
pole for Sunday's Food City 500, led 156 of the 300 laps. He also turned
the fastest laps in both Sprint Cup practice sessions on Saturday.
But Larson, 20, driving the
No. 32 Turner Scott Chevrolet, turned heads and turned what looked like
it would be a battle between Busch and veteran Kevin Harvick into a
three-dog Nationwide fight
"I was catching him. I
wasn't sure what I was going to do when I got to them," Larson said. "I
was pretty happy that Kyle (Busch) went low on that last corner because I
knew it would give me one
more shot to get by him."
Busch's No. 54 Joe Gibbs
Racing Toyota led 92 of the first 225 laps but the real racing began
about Lap 230 when Busch and Harvick approached a five-car group of lap
traffic.
It took nearly 10 laps for the lead duo to clear the pack and, by the time they did, Larson was applying pressure.
Harvick elected to pit under
caution with 32 laps left. Having difficulty running the bottom,
Harvick took four fresh tires, restarting eighth and finishing fifth.
Brian Vickers and Sam Hornish
Jr., who came into the race as the series points leader, finished third
and fourth.
The race took a turn on Lap
194 when leader Brad Keselowski appeared to shake loose from Regan Smith
as the two approached the lapped car of Dexter Stacey. But as
Keselowski pulled away, telltale
smoke told of contact and a left-front tire rub.
Keselowski's tire lasted five laps before giving out. He not only surrendered the lead to Harvick, but fell a lap down.
Pole winner Justin Allgaier,
looking for his second career win at Bristol, led the first 62 laps and
finished eighth. Trevor Bayne employed early pit strategy, taking two
tires to gain the lead
before Busch took command on Lap 75.
The next caution brought the
Bristol safety crew to the assistance of driver Nelson Piquet Jr.,
whose car caught fire after a Turn 1 collision with Jamie Dick. Piquet
scurried from the cockpit
as flames leaked from the engine compartment.
No comments:
Post a Comment