Special to the Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

DOVER, Del.—Kyle Busch took advantage of a rare mistake by four-time Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson to pull away for an easy win Sunday in the Autism Speaks 400 presented by HERSHEY’S Milk & Milkshakes at Dover International Speedway.

Busch, 25, a champion in waiting, and Johnson, a proven one, waged quite a battle on the high-banked, 1-mile track, the lead see-sawing back and forth between the two each time the race resumed following five caution periods and assorted green-flag stops.

But when Johnson was flagged for speeding while exiting the pits during a round of green-flag stops on Lap 363 and forced to return to pit road to serve a drive-through penalty, the battle was effectively over.

By the time Johnson returned to the track, he was one lap down. And Busch was long gone.

“We snookered him on that one,” Busch told his crew as he streaked past the finish line. “He saw us coming, and he sped.”

Pitting closer to the entrance to pit road, Johnson had completed his stop and was making his way back onto the track when Busch shot out of his pit box alongside him.

Johnson said he didn’t speed up to beat Busch back onto the track but was penalized for speeding before reaching Busch’s pit stall.

“Yeah, I guess I got busted in the segment just leaving, or after, our pit box, the very next one,” Johnson said. “So what I can take from this is that I got a much better launch out of my pit box than I did on other pit stops and then was speeding in that given area.

“At the end (of pit road), I wasn’t busted. I knew Kyle had me beat when I saw the jack drop for him and he was easing away from me. And I kind of gave up at that point on racing him off of pit road because I knew we needed to be single file on the apron.”

Jeff Burton finished second by 7.551 seconds. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann completed the top five.

There were eight race leaders, but once Kasey Kahne faltered—bitten by a broken gear-shifter early in the race—the battle for the win was between Busch and Johnson.

“I think the race off pit road really won it for us,” Busch said, noting that he didn’t know if Johnson sped in an attempt to beat him back onto the track, “but that’s what I’m going with.

“I wouldn’t say that we psyched Jimmie out. I mean, he’s won four championships so he’s pretty much been through all the head games in this world.

“But … it kind of turned our way today. Unfortunately for those guys … they got busted for speeding and we weren’t able to beat them outright and race them around to the end of the race the last 30 laps.

“But I feel like our car was at least good enough where we could at least challenge them for it, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we could have beat him today, with or without the penalty. But he had a fast racecar all day. It was a fun battle there racing him through the last … 100 laps or so.”

Busch led six times for 131 laps, and the win moved him to second in the point standings. He trails points leader Kevin Harvick, who finished seventh, by 69 points.

Johnson led eight times for 225 laps. His 16th-place finish, however, dropped him two spots to fourth, in the standings.

RACE RECAP | DOVER
10 Joey Logano
9 Tony Stewart
8 Carl Edwards
7 Kevin Harvick
6 Greg Biffle
5 David Reutimann
4 Denny Hamlin
3 Matt Kenseth
2 Jeff Burton

VICTORY LANE

1 Kyle Busch grabs his second win of the season, 18th career Cup win, 3rd career weekend sweep (NNS/Cup) and it’s Joe Gibbs Racing’s 5th win of the last 7 races with the new spoiler.

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Kasey Kahne had shifter knob problems early on

-AJ Allmedinger contended for the lead until he needed a unscheduled green flag pitstop. Turned out to be a loose right rear wheel

-Something broke on the 88 during a restart

-The 47 of Marcos Ambrose was like a magnet to the wall due to blown right front tires

-Trackbar problems for both teammates Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray sent them to the garage inside the span of 4 laps

-Kurt Busch pounded the wall with yet another right front tire blown

-Clint Bowyer left the pits with the jack still attached, that’s a no-no

-Jimmie Johnson dominated this race, led 225 laps, but was caught speeding leaving pit road, this mistake cost him the race win, he finished 16th, a lap down, and drops to 4th in the point standings

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(May 15, 2010)

DOVER, Del.—Kyle Busch’s dominant victory in Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Heluva Good! 200 at Dover International Speedway was punctuated by a late-race dust-up between Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer – one that sent Bowyer to the garage and the NASCAR Nationwide Series hauler.

Busch scored his fourth series victory of the season and 34th of his career by leading all but 14 of 205 laps as the race ended with a green-white-checkered finish. He never was truly challenged and pulled away from the field on the final restart.

“This is just another product of Joe Gibbs Racing and all the guys that work so hard,” said Busch, who won from the pole at Dover. “Everybody at the shop does a great job for us. The preparation was there. When we unloaded, we unloaded good. We just tweaked on it. That’s what it takes.”

As Busch celebrated in Victory Lane, Bowyer was waiting in the Nationwide hauler to meet with NASCAR officials. On the next-to-last restart, Hamlin punted Bowyer out of second place as the green flag waved. The fracas triggered a nine-car accident and an 11-minute, 43-second red flag.

After the red was lifted, Bowyer drove from pit road and slammed into the side of Hamlin’s car, causing it to spin. NASCAR immediately parked Bowyer and sent him to the garage.

“(Our team has) had a frustrating year, bringing home a lot of torn-up racecars,” said Bowyer, who replaced John Wes Townley in Richard Childress Racing’s No. 21 six races ago. “It is what it is. I don’t have a beef with Denny. We’ll be fine. I got one taken from me. Just a little payback.”

Hamlin has been involved in NASCAR Nationwide controversy at Dover before, getting together with Brad Keselowski last year. But this time, his reaction was more calm.

“It just didn’t have the speed that those guys did, but we tried to make something happen on the restart and got the 21 and the 38 (of Kasey Kahne) there,” Hamlin said of his No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “A lot of times when that happens you kind of expect retaliation.”

Ryan Newman drove through the crash and finished second to Busch, with Jamie McMurray third. Reed Sorenson was fourth, followed by Braun Racing teammate Jason Leffler.

Kevin Harvick was sixth. Brad Keselowski finished seventh to hold on to the points lead by 11 over Busch. Greg Biffle was eighth, with rookies Brian Scott and Colin Braun rounding out the top 10.

By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(May 14, 2010)

DOVER, DEL.—This time, Aric Almirola was able to celebrate.

Almirola took advantage of Kyle Busch’s empty fuel tank to win the Dover 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race and get his second official victory in one of NASCAR’s national series.

The other victory was in name only, as Almirola started Joe Gibbs Racing’s Busch Series car at Milwaukee in 2007 but was pulled for Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin during the race. Though Almirola was credited with the victory, he had left the track long before Hamlin took the checkered flag.

At Dover International Speedway on Friday, though, Almirola had some fun with a smoky burnout, a reverse victory lap and a wild victory lane celebration.

“Put it this way, that trophy’s not at my house on a mantle,” Almirola said of the Milwaukee race. “This one will be—tonight. … It’s a dream come true. Track position is so tough here, you have to have a phenomenal truck to do what we did today. I’m not going to take any credit for that. It’s a lot of fun when you have a really good truck here. … We fought hard today, and it was a good day.”

Almirola had fallen two laps down because of a flat tire but rallied to get back in contention. He was one of several drivers to pit for fuel and tires under caution with 54 laps to go.

Busch wasn’t one of them, though, as his Kyle Busch Motorsports truck had stopped 30 laps earlier. On the penultimate restart, Busch didn’t come up to speed with apparent vapor-lock trouble and slipped back to third. The yellow waved for Austin Dillon’s blown engine, giving Busch a chance to reclaim the lead he had held for 172 laps.

But as the field was getting the green, Busch’s Toyota headed to pit lane.

“Ran out of gas,” a frustrated Busch said as he sped out of the track. He finished 16th, with fuel pump issues listed as his reason out.

James Buescher came back from a spin to finish second, passing Justin Lofton on the last lap. Both posted their best career finishes in the truck series. Ricky Carmichael also had his best career finish in fourth, giving Turner Motorsports second and fourth. Todd Bodine sputtered on the final restart but finished fifth.

Stewart, his Father Jump with Golden Knights — U.S. Army Parachute Team;

LEBANON, Ohio (May 14, 2010) — NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart and his father – Nelson Stewart — said they experienced a thrill of a lifetime Thursday (May 13) by participating in a tandem jump with the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army Parachute Team. The jump took place outside of Cincinnati at Warren County Airport here in Lebanon.

Before the Stewarts boarded the U.S. Army Golden Knights airplane to make the 13,500-foot jump, they attended a pre-jump instruction class and then were outfitted in Golden Knights gear.

Though Tony Stewart appeared to be a little timid prior to the jump, his feelings took a 180-degree turn after landing with his tandem partner Staff Sgt. Joe Jones.

“I just got to experience one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life,” said the two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion and driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevy. “I would do it again – right now if I could. Yes, I was a little nervous before the jump, but when you’re with the Golden Knights you’re with the best of the best. These guys are Army Strong Soldiers and that was a comforting feeling before the jump.”

Stewart, who owns the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet driven by Ryan Newman added, “I am so proud to be affiliated with the U.S. Army. We have a great partnership and to have the opportunity of jumping with the Golden Knights is a privilege that I immensely appreciate.”

Stewart’s 72-year-old father, Nelson, said jumping with the Golden Knights was something he wanted to do for a long time. “I knew beforehand that this was going to be a blast and it was everything and more,” said the elder Stewart. “The Golden Knights are the best and it was an honor to jump with them. I had a great teacher and partner in Sgt. 1st Class Mike Elliott.”

Nelson Stewart’s excitement following the jump became a concern for his son. “My dad is 72 going on 15,” said Stewart. “I am not sure what he wants to do next — I am afraid to ask.”

The Golden Knights jump was in conjunction with U.S. Army activities for this weekend’s Major League Baseball Civil Rights Game between the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals at Cincy’s Great American Ball Park. The Golden Knights will jump into the ballpark on Friday and Saturday as part of the pre-game festivities.

While the Stewarts were jumping out of an airplane, Newman paid a visit to Fort Belvoir Thursday, an U.S. Army installation located outside of Washington D.C. Newman conducted an autograph session at the PX followed by lunch with the Wounded Warrior unit. He also paid a visit to the base’s Night Vision Live Fire Range where he had the opportunity to fire an M-4 rifle.

“It was another great experience to have a personal visit with our Soldiers and learn more about our high-tech Army,” said Newman. “I sure enjoyed pumping lead with the M-4. The training and equipment that our Soldiers have are without a doubt the absolute best. It was a lot of fun, and I look forward to my next Army base visit. “