CONCORD, N.C. - Kyle Busch stayed calm even when nothing was going right. He even told his crew they could do something they've never done before: Come back from two laps down to win.
"Let's do it," Busch said.
Then he did. Busch overcame some early troubles to win the Nationwide race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday, his second straight victory in NASCAR's second-tier series.
Busch, the defending series champion, battled back for his fifth win of the season. He has won four of the last eight events.
Brad Keselowski finished second, followed by Joey Logano, Justin Allgaier, Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick.
Busch went a lap down after an unscheduled pit stop early and dropped another lap when he got penalized for speeding on pit road. Showing plenty of poise, Busch got back on the lead lap, moved to the front with a speedy pit stop late and then held on over the final 58 laps.
Busch and Keselowski stayed out when others pitted with about 15 laps to go. But none of those cars had anything for the leader.
Keselowski had one last chance on the final restart, but Busch him off during a green-white-checkered finish thanks to some blocking help from teammate Logano.
"It was all about the restart and he just beat us," said Keselowski, who was hoping to get team owner Roger Penske's big weekend off to a strong start.
Keselowski remained the series points leader - he leads Busch by a point - and might be able to pull away as Busch turns his attention solely on his Sprint Cup team.
"I'm really going to miss him," Keselowski said. "We bring out the best and worse in each other."
Busch called walking away a "bummer," but said it was something he needed to do.
Comments
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Sign in to comment