Kyle Busch
Nationwide: Busch's weekend started off less-than-stellar in Busch standards. He was third and second in practices but started sixth. During the first round of green flag pit stops, he pitted earlier than everyone else and received a speeding penalty, putting him two laps down. He eventually made his way up to the front of pack, eventually taking over first place on lap 139 after a race off pit road. After 3 attempts at a finish, Busch held of Brad Keselowski to take the checkered flag after leading a total of only 30 laps of the race. This is Busch's fifth win of the season and sixth win at Charlotte, tying Mark Martin's record of Nationwide wins at the track. He leaves the race second in the points standings, but will not be racing next week and is not running for the championship.
Cup: Busch's Cup weekend started off terrible. He was 14th, 22nd and 20th in practices and started ninth. The first one hundred laps seemed to be going Busch's way, as he worked his way to the lead on lap 130. From there, his race went back to how his weekend started. While pitting during a caution, Busch got in an accident with Brad Keselowski on pit road, causing damage to both cars. On top of the damage, Busch also received a speeding penalty, leaving him in 24th place. The damage was too much for Busch to continue driving so he pitted twice, leaving him in 26th. After a caution with 123 laps left, he had only moved up to 24th. But he fought back and made it to 13th with 100 laps to go and after the next caution, with the two-tire strategy, moved up to sixth. He remained there and with 24 to go, after another caution, Busch had a miscue in the pits and ran over his own crew member yet came out fifth (his crew member is okay). Going three wide with Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, he and Burton got together, cutting down Burton's tire and ruining any chance Burton had at contending for the win. After Busch came to the checkered flag third and having led the race twice for a total of 36 laps, the two exchanged words on pit road. Busch leaves the race second in points, gaining two spots, but 29 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Kurt Busch
The elder Busch had a roller coaster start to the weekend, with finishes of 11th, second and 17th in practices and qualified on the outside of the front row next to Ryan Newman. After the start of the race, he took over the lead from Newman on lap 12.
The remainder of this article can be read at examiner.com.
Article originally published at LV NASCAR Examiner and republished with permission of author.
Photo Courtesy: Jason Smith/Getty Image for NASCAR
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