Busch wins in Mexico for 3rd straight on Nationwide Series

[April 21, 2008]  MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Kyle Busch won his third consecutive race on NASCAR's Nationwide Series, holding off Marcos Ambrose by less than a second Sunday in the Corona Mexico 200.

Busch passed Scott Pruett on the 72nd of 80 laps to take the lead. Pruett finished third, followed by Carl Edwards.

There isn't a driver out there on a better run than Busch, who is second in the Sprint Cup standings and entered this race in third on the Nationwide list. He's also leading the Truck Series standings.

This was Busch's 27th career victory in NASCAR's top three series -- but first on a road course.

In a race that included two red flags, he stayed out of trouble on the 2.518-mile course at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez before finally moving past Pruett. Busch is not currently scheduled for a full Nationwide schedule, but with all these wins, how can he resist a run at the championship?

"The consideration is there, but still, it's a race by race deal," Busch said. "We'll make a decision here shortly. I love winning. I'll run as long as I can win. That doesn't bother me a bit."

Ambrose trailed by 1.139 seconds with two laps to go, and cut over three-tenths of a second off that deficit on lap 79. But Busch was able to hold on for a 0.737-second win.

In 2007 at this race, Pruett was in a similar spot when teammate Juan Pablo Montoya sent him spinning. This year -- at almost the exact same point in the race -- it slipped away again.

"Our tires were just a little too used up at the end," he said.

The third-place finish was still a career best for the 48-year-old Pruett, a road-course ace making his 10th Nationwide start. He finished fifth in Mexico City last year.

Pole-sitter Colin Braun barely had a chance to get comfortable before Pruett passed him at the start of the second lap. Pruett led by over 6 seconds at one point before a caution brought him back to the pack before the 66th lap.

Ambrose's finish was also a career best and his first top-10 finish of the year. He had six as a rookie in 2007.

"In two laps we would have gotten Kyle for sure," Ambrose said. "Just proud of the effort. But I do want to say sorry to Boris, I didn't mean to get into him. I don't know if we just hooked up or what."

Ambrose made contact with Boris Said, and Said was extremely angry when the damage knocked him out of the race.

Mexico's two biggest names were out of contention at the end. Michel Jourdain didn't finish, and Adrian Fernandez had to race with damage to the rear of his car after being hit by Sam Hornish Jr.

Fernandez raced in the American Le Mans Series event in Long Beach, Calif., on Saturday before hustling back to Mexico City.

Jourdain was knocked out of this race two years ago when he collided with Busch, and Busch was jeered by the crowd.

The race is in its fourth year, and there have been four different winners. Montoya didn't return, and previous winners Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. are also absent.

Pruett led for 15 laps early after passing Braun, including four laps that were raced under caution after Kertus Davis crashed. Davis' accident eventually led to the first red flag. The two red flags stopped the race for a total of 28 minutes.

[Associated Press; By NOAH TRISTER]

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