BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch saved his season Saturday night by winning a side-by-side sprint to the finish against Mark Martin at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Fighting hard for a berth in the Chase for the championship, Busch drove a steady and smooth race at one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR to climb off the ropes and keep his title hopes alive.His fourth victory of the season - tied with Martin (Batesville) for most in the Sprint Cup Series - jumped him two spots in the standings to 13th.
With two races to go before the 12-driver field is set, Busch trails 12th-place driver Matt Kenseth by 34 points.
"No pressure on us yet!" his team radioed after he crossed the finish line. "This 18 is not going down without a fight!"
Busch was silent for a few seconds before celebrating with a smoky burnout on the front stretch and his traditional bow to the crowd. He then grabbed the checkered flag from a NASCAR official but gave it to a fan through a hole in the fence.
"I hope this just isn't a fluke to get in the Chase," he said in Victory Lane. "We need to run well at Atlanta and Richmond."
Martin, the pole-sitter, finished second in the 1,000th start of his career. Just like Busch, he improved his Chase chances and moved up two spots to 10th.
He could have moved Busch out of his way several times over the final 50 laps, including the four-lap sprint to the finish. Instead, he raced him clean and defended his decision not to use his bumper on Busch.
"Anyone who thinks I was soft out there on the racetrack wasn't watching," Martin said. "I raced my guts out."
Martin led 240 of the 500 laps, and Busch could commiserate with his second-place showing.
"Mark Martin, what a class act. He deserved to win this race," Busch said. "I'm sorry he got second. I know how he feels. But, man, I drove as hard as I could.
"He had a chance, could have done it, he raced me clean."
It broke a 13-race winless streak in the Cup series, which is an eternity for Busch since he joined Joe Gibbs Racing last season.
But he's been struggling to regain the momentum he had most of last year, and his confidence at times has seemed shattered as he struggled to accept defeat.
"We didn't have the best car, but had a car capable enough to be doing it if I can drive it hard enough," he said.
"I gave it everything I had. It's crazy."
Marcos Ambrose was third, while Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Hamlin came back from an early tire issue to grab his top-five finish.
Ryan Newman was sixth and was followed by Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kenseth.
It was a mixed night for the Chase contenders. Points leader Tony Stewart had an early radio problem, an issue with his power and a generally miserable night as he finished 33rd. Kasey Kahne was 28th, and Carl Edwards was 16th.
Juan Pablo Montoya moved as high as second on the track at one point, but a tire problem dropped him six positions before he was finally saved by a caution.
"Good! What has changed on this thing?" Montoya asked. "We're going to wreck."
Fighting for his own Chase berth, he was urged to stay calm by crew chief Brian Pattie.
"Dude, you're going to be fine. You're still P8," Pattie said. "Just get a top 10 like we talked about."
But when racing resumed, Montoya continued to slide backward, finally heading to the pits to change what he suspected was a flat right-side tire. He finished 25th and fell to ninth in the standings.
Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon struggled and finished 23rd, while Johnson put himself in position to cross Bristol off the list of six active tracks where he has yet to win. Instead, a loose wheel on a late tire change sent him back into the pits and he dropped from race-winning contention.
Sharpie 500 results At Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.
Lap length: .533 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (15) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500 laps 2. (1) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 500 3. (25) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 500 4. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500 5. (41) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500 6. (9) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500 7. (13) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 500 8. (21) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500 9. (27) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500 10. (5) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 500 11. (17) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 500 12. (14) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 500 13. (7) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 500 14. (23) David Ragan, Ford, 500 15. (3) Scott Speed, Toyota, 500 16. (32) Carl Edwards, Ford, 500 17. (18) David Reutimann, Toyota, 500 18. (37) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 500 19. (10) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 500 20. (34) David Stremme, Dodge, 500 21. (6) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 500 22. (24) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 500 23. (33) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 499 24. (39) Paul Menard, Ford, 498 25. (11) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 498 26. (42) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 498 27. (28) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 498 28. (29) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 49729. (26) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 496 30. (40) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 494 31. (36) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, accident, 490 32. (31) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 490 33. (30) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 489 34. (8) Joey Logano, Toyota, 484 35. (38) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 472 36. (20) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 461 37. (19) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, 452 38. (16) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, accident, 438 39. (12) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, accident, 354 40. (22) Terry Labonte, Toyota, rear end, 244 41. (43) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, wheel bearing, 48 42. (35) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, transmission, 27 43. (4) Dave Blaney, Toyota, accident, 8 RACE STATISTICS AVERAGE SPEED OF RACE WINNER 84.820 mph.
TIME OF RACE 3 hours, 8 minutes, 31 seconds.
MARGIN OF VICTORY 0.98 seconds.
CAUTION FLAGS 11 for 76 laps.
LEAD CHANGES 12 among 5 drivers.
LAP LEADERS G.Biffle 1-65; M.Martin 66; G.Biffle 67-77; M.Martin 78-272; J.Johnson 273-274; M.Martin 275-316; J.Johnson 317-356; M.Martin 357; J.Johnson 358-422; M.Martin 423; M.Waltrip 424-432; Ky.Busch 433-500.
TOP 12 IN POINTS 1. T.Stewart, 3,564; 2. J.Johnson, 3,344; 3. J.Gordon,3,310; 4. D.Hamlin,3,141; 5. C.Edwards,3,110; 6. Ku.Busch, 3,103; 7. R.Newman, 2,995; 8. G.Biffle, 2,986; 9. J.Montoya, 2,975; 10. M.Martin, 2,971; 11. K.Kahne, 2,963; 12. M.Kenseth, 2,945.
Sports, Pages 23, 25 on 08/23/2009