Busch overcomes wild sequence to win at Phoenix
Kyle Busch lost his lead on a disputed restart that led to a red flag. There was the penalty on the ensuing restart that put him 20 seconds back, and a pit-road collision with his teammate on the last crucial stop.
Yet, Busch still managed to win the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Friday night.
``All I know is that I paid back NASCAR by winning,'' Busch said.
Busch took advantage of a late caution to edge Kevin Harvick by 1.55 seconds for his 32nd career Nationwide victory and third at the oddly shaped mile track. But that didn't erase his ire about the call that took him out of the lead.
``This is an issue,'' Busch said after the race. ``It will be a discussion (with NASCAR). It's not done yet.''
Busch had already led 121 laps when he lost the lead on a restart that was immediately followed by an accordion-like pileup that involved at least 10 cars and brought out a nearly 10-minute red flag.
Brad Keselowski, who finished third and took over the series points lead, was on the inside for that restart on lap 137 of 200. Busch, then the leader, was on the outside but went through the restart zone without accelerating. Keselowski charged ahead at the line when the green flag came out.
``When you get to the first line, you have to maintain your speed. Once you get to the second line, it's free game,'' Keselowski said. ``I maintained my speed and he did not. When I got to the second line, I just went. That's the rule, and the interpretation I have of it.''
Some cars behind them seemed to take the queue from Keselowski, some of them speeding up while others checked up to avoid hitting others. That created a mangled mess of cars near the start-finish line.
Busch and his team argued vehemently during the red flag and ensuing caution that he should be installed the leader. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president for competition, said Keselowski was right.
Busch insisted he stayed at the same pace and was waiting for the second line to go, instead of the first line like he had earlier in the race.
``He jumped the restart,'' Busch said. ``I did the same thing he did and I got posted for it.''
When the race finally resumed on lap 145, Busch quickly shot ahead of Keselowski. Busch avoided a black flag when he gave up the lead after being notified by NASCAR of a restart violation, but still had to serve a drive-through penalty. That dropped him to 19th, 20 seconds behind the lead pack.
Joey Logano passed Keselowski for the lead with 21 laps left, and had built more than a 2-second lead before a yellow flag came out on lap 189. That four-lap caution bunched up the field and was the only reason Busch was able to win the race.
``Definitely not without a caution,'' Busch said. ``Fortunately there was one.''
Busch was 10th on the final restart with eight laps left, even after making contact with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Logano on pit road and saying on the radio that he was having transmission problems. When the race resumed, Busch charged around the outside and retook the lead in three laps.
``The bottom line got bottled up and Kyle was able to get around the outside,'' Harvick said. ``That was fun. ... It was a great race for the fans.''
Brendan Gaughan finished fourth, followed by Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. Logano wound up 10th.
