Ky. Busch, JGR dominant in Darlington Nationwide race

 

The Sports Network

Kyle Busch claimed his fifth Nationwide Series win of the season by putting on a dominant performance in Friday night's VFW Sports Clips Help a Hero 200 at Darlington Raceway.

Busch, who drives the No. 54 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing this year, started on the pole and led 107 of 147 laps. During a round of pit stops under caution in the early going, he dropped from the lead to sixth when his team had an issue with changing the tires. But Busch quickly bounced back from the mishap and took the lead again just past the halfway point.

Matt Kenseth, who drove the No. 18 car for JGR, had led 27 laps before his teammate, Busch, overtook him.

Busch also gave up the top spot when he pitted late in the race. After running in the fourth spot for the final restart with 23 laps remaining, he moved into the lead for good after passing his former teammate, Joey Logano, with 18 laps to go. Logano won this race in 2012.

During the last stops, Logano and Austin Dillon opted to stay on the track, while Elliott Sadler exited the pits first after taking just two new tires. Busch had a four-tire change.

"We had four fresh tires, and (Logano) was out there on old tires, so I knew (the lead) would come back to me eventually," Busch said. "I just kept trying to run on him a little bit harder. He got loose, and I was able to sneak by him there."

Busch extended his Nationwide record to 56 career wins, including his second at Darlington. He started on the pole and won here in 2011.

"It was a great race," he said. "There was some moments with Kenseth and I racing each other. I thought he was playing with me for a little bit, and then I got by him. I drove away from him, and then he came back to me and got me back. So there was some fun racing."

JGR had all four of its drivers finish in the top-five, making it the first time a team has accomplished that in series history.

Sadler, in his first year with JGR, finished second after he rebounded from a spin while battling Busch for the lead on lap 51.

"I just got a little loose," Sadler said. "Kyle Busch was pretty good, and I was just trying to chase him down there. I just got a little loose and hit the apron, spun out. Lady luck was with me tonight."

Brian Vickers' third-place run gave Gibbs the top-three finishing positions.

"This would have been a pretty special place to have a win," Vickers said. "This is one of my favorite racetracks. A podium is still good."

Joey Logano, who drives for Penske Racing this year after spending the past five seasons with JGR, took the fourth spot. Kenseth ended up fifth.

"In the middle of the race, we were way off loose, but we were still pretty fast," Kenseth said. "We were about the same as Kyle. I know he was complaining that he was loose too."

Rookie Kyle Larson finished sixth.

Regan Smith's seventh-place run allowed him to widen his points lead to 28 over Sam Hornish Jr., who finished eighth. Sadler moved up to third in points (-42). Smith won last Saturday's race at Talladega.

Kasey Kahne and Justin Allgaier completed the top-10.

Earlier in the day, Busch qualified third for Saturday night's 500-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Darlington. His elder brother, Kurt, won the pole with a new track qualifying record. Jimmie Johnson, the defending race winner, will start second.

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