|
 "I just can't say enough about everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, the
work that they've put in," Busch said. "Our cars are a lot better
than what they were last year. It's so much fun to win these races
and to win with this group of guys. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and
this bunch, all my pit crew since 2008, they deserve all this."
Keselowski finished second, and Kevin Harvick was third. Joey Logano
and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top five.
The race ended under yellow because of a spinning car on the final
lap, slowing Busch and everyone behind him to 45 mph as they headed
to the checkered flag.
Harvick took the lead from Keselowski on a restart following a
lap-188 caution. Busch, though, short-pitted with about 55 laps
remaining, un-lapped himself just before a caution came out, then
stayed out to inherit the lead when the other front-runners headed
for pit road under yellow.
"For five laps, I just drove as hard as I could when I got off pit
road and knew I needed to get those guys," Busch said. "They were
telling me the 38 (David Gilliland) was in the lucky dog spot and
once I got there, I was like 'OK, what else do I have to do to get
back on the lead lap.' I figured it was the four (Harvick) still and
it was. The four and the two (Keselowski) were really the class of
the field I felt like today."
Harvick took four tires while others took two and, as a result,
restarted seventh. As Busch and Keselowski raced up front, Harvick
worked his way back toward the front, moving into the third spot
with 13 laps remaining.
"Well, I definitely think that track position didn't help us, but I
think four tires was the right call," Harvick said. "Just really
proud of my guys for the whole weekend. We didn't start off well on
Friday and were able to really get our car going. Had a really good
car during the race."
Keselowski had taken command of the race by grabbing the lead with a
pass on Busch on lap 67. Keselowski was among the drivers who pitted
during the first caution of the race on lap 22. He restarted ninth,
but with newer tires, he quickly made his way to the front.
"We had a really fast car and led a lot of laps," Keselowski said.
"I'm really proud of the team for bringing me two fast cars these
past two weekends. It's a joy to drive cars that fast."
[to top of second column] |
A.J. Allmendinger led briefly under yellow during the second caution
of the race that came on lap 97. He was running low on fuel during
the lengthy caution as the track clean-up crew worked after the car
of Alex Bowman caught fire at his exit of pit road. After most of
the race field pitted under green, Allmendinger pitted under yellow
when pit road finally opened, handing the lead back over to
Keselowski.
Kurt Busch and Earnhardt Jr. battled for second behind Keselowski
for several laps before Kyle Busch got by both of them for the
second position.
Earnhardt eventually finished fifth.
"We had drama with the set-up," Earnhardt said. "The car didn't
drive very good all day, and we've worked hard trying to fix it and
just couldn't get it any better, really. We worked hard all weekend,
just frustrated with the balance on the car. Had a little engine
issue the whole race that was hurting us down the straightaway real
bad."
Carl Edwards started the race from the pole, with Logano alongside
on the front row. Kyle Busch moved up to the second spot behind
Edwards in the early laps of the race to give Joe Gibbs Racing the
top two spots in the running order. On lap 20, Busch took the lead
from his teammate.
NOTES: Denny Hamlin led 145 laps and won the 200-lap Lakes Region
200 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on
Saturday. The top four finishers were all Sprint Cup Series drivers,
with Austin Dillon, Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch finishing second
through fourth. ... Kyle Busch became the 12th different winner to
win in the 12 most recent New Hampshire races. ... Team Penske swept
last year's two Cup races at NHMS, with Joey Logano winning in
September and Keselowski winning last July. ... Five drivers in this
year's 5-hour Energy 301 came into the race with three career wins
at the track -- Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Ryan Newman
and Tony Stewart.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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