The Final Lap with Kerry Murphey

1 12 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Toyota
2 1 99 Carl Edwards Scotts Ford
3 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
4 11 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Black Ford
5 4 27 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Chevrolet
6 15 29 Kevin Harvick Budweiser Chevrolet
7 20 22 Kurt Busch Shell / Pennzoil Dodge
8 2 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford
9 10 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota
10 21 39 Ryan Newman Tornados Chevrolet
11 22 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. National Guard / AMP Energy Chevrolet
12 9 5 Mark Martin GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
13 16 47 Bobby Labonte Bush’s Baked Beans Toyota
14 7 24 Jeff Gordon Pepsi MAX Chevrolet
15 14 9 Marcos Ambrose DeWALT Ford
16 5 6 David Ragan UPS Ford
17 8 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota
18 23 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge
19 13 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet
20 17 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet
21 24 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet
22 3 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet
23 18 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota
24 36 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet
25 37 36 Dave Blaney Accell Construction Chevrolet
26 35 38 Travis Kvapil(i) Long John Silver’s Ford
27 29 34 David Gilliland TMone / Taco Bell Ford
28 41 37 Tony Raines Front Row Motorsports Ford
29 31 09 Bill Elliott Thank a Teacher / Security Benefits Chevrolet
30 26 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Toyota
31 28 43 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Ford
32 42 71 Andy Lally # Eco-Fuel Saver Chevrolet
33 25 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
34 19 21 Trevor Bayne(i) Motorcraft / Quick Lane Ford
35 27 33 Clint Bowyer BB&T Chevrolet
36 30 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota
37 43 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota
38 40 92 Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Dodge
39 33 7 Robby Gordon Speed Energy / Food City Dodge
40 38 46 J J Yeley Red Line Chevrolet
41 34 87 Joe Nemechek(i) NEMCO Motorsports Toyota
42 32 60 Landon Cassill(i) Big Red Toyota
43 39 66 Michael McDowell HP Racing LLC Toyota

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(March 20, 2011)

BRISTOL, Tenn.—The question isn’t whether Kyle Busch will win at Bristol Motor Speedway—it’s whether anyone else can find a way to keep him out of victory lane.

First off pit road after stops under caution on Lap 429, Busch held off polesitter Carl Edwards and defending race winner Jimmie Johnson to win his fifth straight race in NASCAR’s top three national series at the .533-mile short track.

Busch’s victory in Sunday’s Jeff Byrd 500 was his 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, his first of the season and his second straight at Thunder Valley. Busch capped his second straight weekend sweep at Bristol, having won Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event.

FULL BRISTOL RACE RESULTS

Last August, Busch became the first driver to win three national series races at the same track on the same weekend when he claimed victories in NASCAR’s Camping World Truck, NASCAR Nationwide and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Edwards finished second for the second time in four races this season, and Johnson finished third, also for the second time in 2011. Matt Kenseth was fourth and Paul Menard fifth. Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Ryan Newman completed the top 10.

Race Recap | Bristol
10 Ryan Newman
9 Kasey Kahne
8 Greg Biffle
7 Kurt Busch
6 Kevin Harvick
5 Paul Menard
4 Matt Kenseth
3 Jimmie Johnson led the most laps
2 Carl Edwards

Victory Lane

1 Kyle Busch wins his 5th in a row at Bristol across all 3 NASCAR series, and sweeps the weekend at the track for his 20th Cup Series win

Other Stories on the day

-Caution #1 when Jeff Burton slowed down wrecking a bunch of cars behind him including Trevor Bayne, Brad Keselowski, David Reutimann, Denny Hamlin, and more.

-A huge wreck for the 8th caution when Kasey Kahne slowed, Kevin Harvick slowed and caused a pileup behind them. Included in the mayhem are Juan Montoya, Trevor Bayne, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray and others

-A three way battle for the win between Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, and Kyle Busch

Jennifer Jo Cobb Comments on Not Starting at Bristol Motor Speedway:

“It feels like such a ‘Jerry Maguire’ moment. There were rumblings all week about us start and parking this race. I have a commitment to my sponsors, my fans, NASCAR that I won’t start and park. I’m very serious about my career and my performance, and I’ve worked hard to prove it to everyone.

The conversation was never had with me until 10 minutes before the race that I was to start and park. I had already bought tires for the race, so you can imagine that this was a blow to my principles and my finances to get this news. As the owner of 2nd Chance, he has the right to ask NASCAR to black flag me and said he would do that if I didn’t comply.

Photo: Kerry Murphey & Jennifer Jo Cobb as Las Vegas Motor Speedway

There were also rumors that he was going to surprise me and take me out of the car at California. We have a five race agreement that says I am racing for him, which is why I decided to collect Nationwide Series points and not Camping World Truck Series points. Because of those promises, I made decisions accordingly for my career. So after thinking about it for a few minutes, which there weren’t many, I made a decision to walk away.

I thank God for giving me the strength to do that. Sometimes that is the best thing to do. I just felt like I owed it to my fans and my sponsors that I’m seeking and to NASCAR that if I say, ‘I’m here to race,’ that I go out and race.”

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(March 19, 2011)

BRISTOL, Tenn.—So what else is new? Kyle Busch hit another milestone in Saturday’s Scotts EZ Seed 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Yes, he won the race. That’s almost a given in the NASCAR Nationwide Series these days. The victory was Busch’s second of the year and the 45th of his career, leaving him four behind Mark Martin (idle Saturday) for the career lead.

Perhaps even more impressive was what Busch accomplished on Lap 265 of 300. In his 206th start, Busch, the 2009 series champion, led his 10,000th lap in the series. No one else is close. Busch, who swept the Bristol weekend in August, is the first back-to-back winner at the track since 1993 series champ Steve Grissom in 1995.

Fast-closing Kasey Kahne finished second, .524 seconds behind Busch, followed by two-time series champion Dale Earnhardt Jr., Elliott Sadler — the higheset-finishing driver championship contender — and Joey Logano. Danica Patrick finished 33rd after wrecking late in her Bristol debut.

Busch took the lead from Earnhardt moments after a restart on Lap 32 and held it the rest of the way, with the exception of one lap led by Kahne under caution and two led by Brad Keselowski, who won the series title last year.

Nevertheless, Saturday’s win wasn’t exactly a walk in the park. Under a competition caution called after Lap 25, teams were required to replace their right-side tires with a new construction rushed to the track by Goodyear after tire wear issues plagued Friday’s practice sessions.

The new tires affected the handling of Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.

“It changed the dynamic of the car quite a bit,” Busch said. “We had to compensate for that driving-style-wise and with some changes to the car, but (crew chief) Jason (Ratcliffe) and these guys did such a great job.

“We played a lot (Friday) with different setups and what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it and what exactly we were looking for. I know the feel that I need, but it’s just hard to get it sometimes.”

On Lap 248 Danica Patrick’s Chevrolet tangled with the Toyota of Ryan Truex, spun and slammed nose-first into the Turn 1 wall. Patrick, who was running two laps down in 17th at the time, thought Truex moved off the frontstretch wall into her racing line.

“It felt like to me that I came out of the corner, and I was running down the straight, and I felt like he came off the wall. … I know I was running him early, and he just runs hard. He’s run hard every time I’ve been around him, and it just seems like overkill.”

Jason Leffler finished eighth and took over the points lead by two over polesitter Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who finished 14th.