Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Busch Holds Logano Off for Win
By Reid Spencer, Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. -- Apparently tired of his recent pattern of leading the most laps and finishing somewhere other than first, Kyle Busch took a different tack in Saturday's Camping World RV Sales 200.

Busch saved his surge to the front for the final green-flag run in the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. After passing Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano for the lead on Lap 165 of 200, Busch stayed in front the rest of the way.

In the final 10 laps, Logano closed up to the rear bumper of Busch's No. 18 Toyota in lapped traffic, but Busch eventually pulled away to win his fifth race of the season by .617 seconds over his teammate.

Brad Keselowski finished third at the Magic Mile, followed by Mike Bliss, who stayed out on old tires during the third and final caution and led the field to a restart on Lap 162. Kevin Harvick came home fifth in his own No. 33 Chevrolet.

Busch collected the 26th Nationwide victory of his career, fifth-best all-time and one behind fourth-place Jeff Burton. In posting his 13th top 10 in 16 starts this season, Busch extended his lead over sixth-place finisher Carl Edwards to 162 points in the series standings.

Though Busch talked with crew chief Jason Ratcliff about being patient and taking his time during the first 51-lap green-flag run, he said his methodical approach was a matter of necessity, not choice.

"I wanted to be (up front) -- I just couldn't get there," said Busch, who started from the ninth position and became the 23rd different winner in 23 Nationwide races at NHMS. "These flat tracks, you just can't do stuff like that. You don't have the room to do stuff like that.

"Texas, Charlotte, Atlanta -- all those big tracks -- Kansas, Chicago, you've got room. You can go way up to the wall and run around the outside and pass guys, and you've got the whole racetrack to use. Here, Milwaukee, Phoenix, you've got one, one-and-a-half lanes to use in order to get through guys and make it up towards the front. So you've got to be methodical about it, think about it and try not to get into anybody."

Logano, on the other hand, got a taste of the frustration that has haunted Busch, who had led 1,486 of the 2,787 laps he had completed in the first 15 races this season.

"I guess this is how Kyle feels lately -- leading the most laps and not winning," said Logano, who led a race-high 108 laps.

Sprint Cup teammates Scott Speed and Brian Vickers -- driving cars for different Nationwide owners -- tangled in Turn 3 on the final lap and lost chances for top-five finishes. As the cars entered pit road following the race, Vickers (who came home 12th) bumped his Red Bull Racing teammate (who ran eighth).

Speed explained that he had carried more speed than the cars ahead of him into the final set of corners.

"He said I slowed down going into the corner," Vickers said. "No (kidding)!"

Unofficial Race Results click here

Unofficial Driver Point Standings click here Fast Facts

The Race: Camping World RV Sales 200 presented by Turtle Wax
The Place: New Hampshire Motor Speedway
The Date: Saturday, June 27
The Time: 4:00 p.m. AT
The Distance: 211.6 miles / 200 laps
TV: ABC, 3:30 p.m. AT
Radio: Sirius NASCAR Radio/PRN
2008 Race Winner: Tony Stewart
2008 Polesitter: Landon Cassill
Event Schedule (all times CT): Friday—Practice 10:30-11:50 a.m., Final Practice—1:45-3 p.m. Saturday—Qualifying 10:05 a.m.
Year-To-Date Results & Standings: click here

Starting Lineup

Complete Starting Lineup stay tuned Track Map

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Event Preview

• Is This The Year For A Repeat Winner At NHMS?...Some might call it an anomaly, but the string of 22 different winners in 22 NASCAR Nationwide Series races at New Hampshire Motor Speedway stands as the longest such streak at active tracks in each of NASCAR’s national series. When the 2009 season started, four NASCAR Nationwide tracks had no multiple winners — Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (two); Kansas Speedway (eight); Kentucky Speedway (eight) and New Hampshire. But Joey Logano (No. 20 GameStop Toyota) knocked Kentucky off the list earlier this month with his second consecutive win at the 1.5-mile track. There has been at least one repeat winner in each of the races on the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule. There are four tracks on this year’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule where there has yet to be a repeat winner, but the longest streak at any of them is 10 races. Seven drivers have a shot to become the first to repeat at Loudon — Jason Keller (No. 27 Kleenex Ford), Kenny Wallace (No. 28 U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet), Kevin Harvick (No. 33 Copart.com Chevrolet), Carl Edwards (No. 60 Scotts/Ortho Ford), Derrike Cope (No. 73 Derrike Cope Inc. Dodge), Bobby Hamilton Jr. (No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge) and Joe Nemechek (No. 87 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet). Technically, there is one repeat winner at New Hampshire — Roush Fenway Racing team owner Jack Roush. His victories came in 2004 with drivers Matt Kenseth and ‘06 with Edwards. Six former series champions are also entered for this event — Harvick, Edwards, Nemechek, Greg Biffle (No. 16 CitiFinancial Ford), Brian Vickers (No. 32 Dollar General Toyota) and Clint Bowyer (No. 29 Holiday Inn Chevrolet).
• Former NCWSE Rivals Caisse, Logano Return Home To Battle...Athletes relish competing — and winning — in front of family and friends and this weekend, New Englanders Joey Logano and Sean Caisse (No. 2 Richard Childress Chevrolet) are no exception. Logano is a native of Middletown, Conn., and has long considered NHMS his home track. Caisse, however, can truly lay claim. He’s from Pelham, N.H., 55 miles south of Loudon. The two met for the first time in NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at the track where they last battled in the NASCAR Camping World Series East in 2007. They raced against each other twice that season. In the first event, Logano started on the pole while Caisse started second. Logano went on to win; Caisse finished 24th due to a cut tire. They met again six races later with Caisse in the third starting position, Logano sixth. Caisse led 31 laps and was chasing Logano during the final 10 laps, but Logano won again. Caisse settled for runner-up. Logano’s quick trek up the NASCAR ladder is well-documented. Caisse, on the other hand, has had a steeper climb. In 2005, he put his New Hampshire Technical Institute education on hold and moved to Charlotte to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Series East where he won series rookie of the year honors and finished seventh in the standings. He was runner-up in the rankings in 2006-07, with seven wins and 10 poles during that span. He made his NASCAR Nationwide debut in 2006 for Kevin Harvick Inc. and was hired this past May by Richard Childress. He made his 2009 debut at Nashville Superspeedway June 6. “It gives me confidence heading back home to a track that I’m familiar with and have had some success,” said Caisse. “I think I’m the only New Hampshire driver in the field, so we’ll have the fans on our side for sure.” “It’s funny that I have a NASCAR Sprint Cup start at Loudon, but this will be my first NASCAR Nationwide race,” his counterpart, Logano, said. “It’s a little bit of a homecoming for me. Loudon is the only race in the New England area and it would be cool to get a win up there because they have great fans that have supported me for a long time.” Logano has won twice this year in NASCAR Nationwide competition — at Nashville Superspeedway in April and three weeks ago at Kentucky.
• Keselowski, Leffler Maintain Strong Runs...Brad Keselowski and Jason Leffler (No. 38 Great Clips Toyota) continue nipping at the heels of leader Kyle Busch and second-place Carl Edwards in the standings. Keselowski has hit his stride, posting one win, eight top fives and 10 top 10s in his last 11 races. He’s third in the standings for the second consecutive week, 91 points behind Edwards and still within range of Busch, 218 points back. Leffler registered his 10th consecutive top-10 finish of the year last Saturday at Milwaukee. He’s fourth, 46 points behind Keselowski. Keselowski was ninth in his series track debut at NHMS last year. Leffler — and Scott Zipadelli, his crew chief who hails from Framingham, Mass. — will need to pick up his Loudon performance if he expects to keep his top-10 streak going. He has an average finish there of 19.0 in six career races.
• Petty Name Makes Return To Series...After an eight-year absence, the Petty name will return to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Richard Petty Motorsports recenlty announced a limited five-race partnership with Braun Racing, which will begin at New Hampshire with Elliott Sadler behind the wheel of the No. 10 Auto Value Bumper to Bumper Toyota. The last time a Petty-owned car ran in the NASCAR Nationwide Series was in 2001 when Steve Grissom, the 1993 series champion, competed at Daytona. Kasey Kahne, who took “The King” to victory lane at Infineon Raceway last Sunday for the first time since 1999, will drive the remaining four races beginning July 3 at Daytona. In other Braun Racing-related news, the team announced that Burney Lamar would no longer compete in the No. 32 Dollar General Toyota, a ride he shared this year with Brian Vickers, the 2003 series champion. Vickers will continue with his partial schedule, which includes Saturday’s race at New Hampshire. Other drivers will be named later.
• Wallace Keeps Career-Building...Steve Wallace (No. 66 USFidelis Chevrolet) posted his best finish of the season (sixth) last Saturday at Milwaukee. That also was his best result since back-to-back fifths last year at Richmond International Raceway and Darlington Raceway, his career bests. He’s 10th in the standings and is aiming for a career-best third consecutive week in the top 10. He also could venture into new territory – he’s within 23 points of ninth-place Jason Keller and is 51 points behind his Rusty Wallace Racing teammate Brendan Gaughan (No. 62 5-Hour Energy Chevrolet), who’s seventh. Wallace has made two starts at New Hampshire, finishing 15th in 2007 and 21st last year.

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