 |
|
 ABOUT CSD
Race
Shop
NEW! Readers Lounge
Classifieds
ADVERTISE |
Click Here:
Gifts For Her!
2008 NASCAR Tickets & NASCAR Schedule
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expenses, it would be appreciated:
|
Front Page
->>Page 2 Stories
Sizzling Kyle Busch gives Toyota 1st Cup win Posted:0535hrs By Reid Spencer,Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service HAMPTON, Ga. -- In what was tantalizingly close to a three-race weekend sweep, Kyle Busch won Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, after the winner of the previous two NASCAR Sprint Cup races, Carl Edwards, fell out with transmission trouble after 274 of the 325 laps.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished third, followed by Greg Biffle and polesitter Jeff Gordon. Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Jeff Burton completed the top 10. “The 18! The 18! The 18 is back at Atlanta!” Busch exulted on his radio after crossing the finish line, referring to the six wins at Atlanta of one of his predecessors in Joe Gibbs’ No. 18 car, Bobby Labonte. Busch, who won Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series race and led 153 of the first 170 laps in Saturday’s Nationwide Series event before blowing a right front tire, retained his lead in the Cup points standings by 73 over Biffle, who lost two positions in the final two laps after using up his tires in passing Stewart for second on Lap 310. Edwards began to assert his dominance in the final third of the race, passing Busch for the lead on Lap 240. The driver of the No. 99 Ford, who suffered a 100-point penalty for an oil tank cover violation at Las Vegas, opened an advantage of more than four seconds before Elliott Sadler slammed into the inside wall on the backstretch on Lap 261, bringing out the seventh caution of the race. Edwards won the race off pit road, but with smoke trailing from his car, he surrendered the lead to Busch on Lap 269. Edwards regained the point on the following circuit but the smoke worsened, and Edwards ultimately brought his Roush Fenway Racing Ford to the garage 51 laps short of the finish. Despite Edwards’ demise, Busch said the No. 99 is the Roush team to beat. --(Cont'd From Front Page)--
“Carl Edwards had the best car here today by far,” Busch said. “Whatever
those guys have figured out over there, it’s really scaring us. The 16
(Biffle) doesn’t show it, the 17 (Kenseth) doesn’t show it, the 26
(Jamie McMurray) doesn’t show it, but for some reason that 99 does --
whether it’s him driving the thing or whether it’s the car, it’s
definitely something that we’ve got to work on.”
Stewart had nothing good to say about the hard tire Goodyear brought to
the race, but he had nothing but praise for his new teammate, who came
to Joe Gibbs racing after finishing the 2007 season with Hendrick
Motorsports.
“He’s amazing,” Stewart said. “I’m proud to have him as a teammate. I
think he’s a huge asset to Joe Gibbs Racing, obviously. It’s fun to
watch him. When he runs the truck race, and we’re sitting in the bus, I
normally don’t pay that close attention. But it’s just fun to watch him
drive, whether it’s a truck or a Nationwide car or the Cup car.
“He will drive it far beyond what it’s capable of doing. There’s no
doubt at the end of the day that he’s got everything that car’s capable
of. That’s what you want out of a guy -- stuff like driving the thing on
the apron in Turn 2 during the truck race the other day, passing guys. I
haven’t seen anybody do that here -- not on purpose, at least. He likes
a loose car, and it doesn’t bother him at all to drive it that way.”
Notes: Coupled with Busch’s victory in Friday’s American Commercial
Lines 200, the win in the Kobalt Tools 500 marked the first time a
driver has won a Sprint Cup race and a Craftsman Truck Series race in
the same weekend. ... Jimmie Johnson, who swept the two Atlanta races
last year, nursed an ill-handling car to a 13th-place finish, the last
position on the lead lap. ... Earnhardt led the second-most laps, 62,
for his second consecutive top-five finish.
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:
|
