Kyle Busch is two-for-two this weekend at Dover (Del.) International Speedway. Busch after starting fourth Saturday afternoon dominated the Buckle Up 200 to score his fourth career NASCAR Nationwide Series win at the Monster Mile.
By winning his third NASCAR Nationwide Series race of the year, he halted Joey Logano’s bid at five consecutive victories at the 1.0-mile oval. Logano, the pole sitter in the No. 22 Hertz Ford Mustang finished third behind Ford teammate Trevor Bayne.
While Logano scored the pole, it was rookie sensation Chase Elliott, who stole the lead and led the first 18 circuits until the first caution flag waived, when Todd Bodine in the No. 55 Chevrolet blew a motor.
Despite an early race caution, teams took advantage of the yellow to pit for fuel and tires. Logano and pre-race favorite Brian Scott remained on the race track and led the field back to green.
Logano would stretch his lead over Scott, but then find himself battling the “other” monster at Dover, when Kyle Busch in his No. 54 Monster Toyota Camry slowly crept forward.
The second caution flag of the afternoon waived for debris on Lap 75, which sent teams back to pit road. The pause in racing proved to be a huge benefit for Logano and Scott, who were close to having to make a green flag pit stop. Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing team though nailed their execution on pit lane and put their driver into the lead.
Racing resumed on Lap 80 with Busch in command. The Las Vegas, Nevada native would hold the lead through the halfway point on Lap 100 and even through the race’s final caution on Lap 150, when
Cale Conley crashed hard in Turn 1, after contact from Ryan Reed, whom was hit by James Buescher.
The top-15 cars elected to stay on the track, setting up a 50-lap dash to the finish. On the restart, Busch pulled away and withstood a late-race challenge from Trevor Bayne, who climbed in the late stages.
Bayne made several attempts to attack Busch, but due to the tightness of his No. 6 AdvoCare Ford Mustang, he was unable to make a move. Busch meanwhile cruised to a 1.005 second victory over Bayne. Logano was third followed by Matt Kenseth and JR Motorsports’ Chase Elliott.
By pulling off the victory in Saturday’s Buckle Up 200, Busch scored his fourth victory and 13th top-10 at Dover in 18 races. It was also his 66th victory in 280 NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
“This Monster Energy Camry was pretty awesome,” said Busch. “I didn’t think it was, but it was. I just never got the feel I was looking for through practice and I was a little frustrated with that and a little frustrated in qualifying and just not having the speed I hoped to have, but it was good on the long runs so I can’t say enough about JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) engines, Toyota, Nationwide Insurance and of course the fans. Appreciate them and everybody and all of my fans and all of the other fans too.”
Bayne posted his best finish of the season and is upbeat about his Roush Fenway Racing team’s direction heading into the off-week.
“This team has made some really big gains this weekend,” Bayne explained. “We have been eight to 10th place every week and it kind of stinks to be that close. I will never complain about a second place finish but when you can get that close you want to keep going. There were times I would catch Kyle and times he would pull away. The last 10 laps we got really tight and he got through lap traffic better than we did. About 15 (laps) to go I really started gaining on him and I thought we had a good shot and I was just going to be patient but I ran my front tires off trying to get to him. I am really proud of my AdvoCare Ford team for not giving up this season. I feel like we are hitting our stride and we need to continue that.”
Kyle Larson, who pounded the outside wall early in the race recovered to finish sixth ahead of Brian Scott, Ty Dillon, Elliott Sadler and Regan Smith to comprise the top-10.
Regan Smith continues to lead the championship standings by four over Elliott Sadler. Chase Elliot is third (-22), Trevor Bayne fourth (-27) and Ty Dillon (-34).
The NASCAR Nationwide Series will enjoy a weekend off before heading to Michigan International Speedway for the running of Michigan 250 on Saturday, June 14.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
