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Published: June 24, 2008 02:54 pm
Kyle Busch wins big at Sonoma on Sunday
By GERALD HODGES
Wayne County Outlook
Monticello —
Kyle Busch is back. After winning four times in the first 13 races of
the season, Busch had two lackluster performances at Pennsylvania and
Michigan, but all that changed Sunday at Infineon Raceway.
Busch led 75 laps of the 110-lap Toyota/Save Mart 350 for his fifth win
of the season.
³We unloaded here and we were absolutely junk,² said Busch. ³But it was
the hard work that put us here (victory lane). This is really special,
because this is my first road course win.²
David Gilliland, driving the Yates Racing No. 38 finished second, the
best finish of his career.
³Itıs so incredible,² said Gilliland. ³My dadıs won races here, and Iıve
won the West race last year, but this tops them all right here.²
Jeff Gordon, the third-place finisher, started off poorly, but as the
laps wound down, he had a pretty good race car.
³Iım excited,² said Gordon. ³It shows what kind of a race team we have.
We didnıt give up. We fought back. We werenıt bad at the end, we just missed
it. I donıt know if it was air pressures or what, I couldnıt drive it.
³We made some adjustments, they got me off pit road at the right time
and we moved up some spots, but we didnıt have anything for those guys up
front.²
A late race caution cost Tony Stewart a good finish, and possibly the
victory.
Stewart was running second with six laps remaining, when Kevin Harvick,
who was running two cars behind Stewart, lost his brakes going into a
corner. Harvickıs No. 29 plowed into the rear of Jamie McMurrayıs No. 26,
pushing him into the rear of Stewart.
Stewart was able to regain control of his car, but by the time he got
straightened out, he was back in 11th.
³I donıt know what happened,² said Stewart. ³I havenıt seen the replays
and it wouldnıt be fair to comment until I know what happened.²
Polesitter Kasey Kahne had lots of problems and finished 33rd.
Kevin Harvickıs 30th place finish dropped him out of the top-12 Chase
leaders. He was replaced by Matt Kenseth, who finished 8th.
Top-10 Finishers: 1. Kyle Busch, 2. David Gilliland, 3. Jeff Gordon, 4.
Clint Bowyer, 5. Casey Mears, 6. Juan Montoya, 7. Ryan Newman, 8. Matt
Kenseth, 9. Carl Edwards, 10. Tony Stewart
Top-12 Chase contenders after 16 of 35: 1. Kyle Busch-2408, 2.
Burton-2299, 3. Earnhardt-2259, 4. Edwards-2150, 5. Johnson-2079, 6. J.
Gordon-2041, 7. Biffle-2016, 8. Hamlin-2008, 9. Kahne-1958, 10. Bowyer-1924,
11. Stewart-1908, 12. Kenseth-1892
Top-10 Nationwide Series leaders after 17 of 35: 1. Bowyer-2506, 2.
Keselowski-2318, 3. Reutimann-2316, 4. Edwards-2301, 5. Ragan-2201, 6.
Bliss-2192, 7. Kyle Busch-2093, 8. M. Wallace-2053, 9. Stremme-1977, 10.
Leffler-1968
Top-10 Craftsman Truck leaders after 11 of 25: 1. Benson-1617, 2.
Bodine-1567, 3. Carfton-1550, 4. Hornaday-1547, 5. Crawford-1508, 6.
Skinner-1483, 7. Cook-1441, 8. Darmnell-1435, 9. Sprague-1428, 10.
McCumbee-1396
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