Kyle Busch dominates Chicagoland to set up try for weekend sweep

Kyle Busch dominates Chicagoland to set up try for weekend sweep

Sept. 14, 2013

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

JOLIET, Ill.--Chalk up another win from the pole for Kyle Busch.

And give the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota two legs up on a weekend sweep at Chicagoland Speedway.

In Saturday's Dollar General 300, Busch won his 10^th NASCAR Nationwide Series race in 20 starts this season, leading 195 of the 200 laps in claiming the record 61^st victory of his career.

Busch became the first driver to win from the pole in NNS competition at Chicagoland, though he's certainly no stranger to winning from the top starting spot. In Saturday morning's time trials, Busch won his eighth pole of the season. He has converted seven of those into victories.

Joey Logano ran second, but no other driver proved a threat to Busch's dominance. Sam Hornish Jr. finished third and extended his lead in the series standings to 17 points over Austin Dillon, who came home fourth.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished fifth, followed by Brian Vickers, Matt Kenseth, Parker Kligerman, Kevin Harvick and rookie Nelson Piquet Jr.

Having won Friday night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Chicagoland, Busch will go for the second three-series weekend sweep of his career in Sunday's GEICO 400 Sprint Cup race at the 1.5-mile track.

Having led 153 of the first 158 laps, Busch held a lead of more than three seconds when Brett Butler plowed into the back of title contender Elliott Sadler's No. 11 Toyota as Sadler was slowing to enter pit road.

Lead-lap cars came to the pits on Lap 160 four tires and fuel, leaving them with enough gas to finish the race comfortably. Busch was first off pit road for a restart on Lap 164, but one circuit later, a caution for debris slowed the field for the fourth time.

Busch pulled away after a Lap 170 restart and stretched his lead until Kyle Larson blew a left rear tire and smacked the outside wall in Turn 2, spewing debris throughout the corner.

That wasn't the last yellow. One circuit after a restart on Lap 182, Justin Allgaier's Chevrolet clipped the outside wall, bounced into Regan Smith's Chevy and sent it spinning down the backstretch. Smith, who entered the race third in the series standings, stayed on the lead lap but restarted 18^th when Busch led the field to green on Lap 187.

Smith worked his way up to 13^th by the finish but lost ground to Hornish, as did Sadler, who ran 19^th, one lap down.