Kyle Busch Wins At BMS Once Again

BY ALLEN GREGORY
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Ron Hornaday came to Bristol Motor Speedway riding an historic streak. Relying on his experienced Kevin Harvick, Inc. team, Hornaday had reeled off five straight wins in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Late Wednesday night at Bristol Motor Speedway, NASCAR’s hottest driver ran into a Busch.

Defending event champion Kyle Busch recorded his fifth career BMS victory with a dominant performance in the NASCAR Camping World Series O’Reilly 200.

“I love this place,” Busch said. “It’s a fun place to race.”

Busch, who was greeted by usual chorus of boos in prerace introductions, grabbed the lead for the first time on lap 32. He led a total of 82 laps, then punctuated the triumph with his customary bow and burnout.

Last year’s race was slowed by 12 caution periods, but Wednesday’s event was slowed by just five relatively harmless cautions involving four drivers. Some fans feel the progressive
banking and smoother concrete surface at BMS has robbed the infamous track of some of it drama.

Busch has no complaints.

“For some reason, I’ve really taken to this surface,” said Busch, a three-time winner in the trucks this season. “We knew we were going to come here with a fast truck. We’ve been fast every time we’ve been here. It’s fun to be able to take advantage of it like this.”

Hornaday, who was forced to settle for a third-place finish, managed to see the big picture as he protected his points lead.

“I’m kind of glad this is over so you guys can stop talking about it,” Hornaday said, referring to his win streak. “It’s been a great ride and we’ve had a lot of fun, but we’re not done yet.”

Handicapped by handling issues in his Chevrolet, Hornaday was stuck in the seventh spot after the first 100 laps. While he paid credit to Busch, Hornaday regretted some late-race strategy decisions after qualifying third.

“We should have pitted when Kyle took on fuel,” Hornaday said, referring to an early caution period. “We found something out with 10 laps to go. We came through the pack, but we left out a lot there.
“I was pretty conservative, but we got a top five and that’s what we needed for the points. Bristol is the toughest one.  To come out of here with a clean truck, that’s a great run.”

Matt Crafton credited his career-best second place finish to his resourceful pit crew.

“We threw everything at it but the kitchen sink,” Crafton said. “The guys worked their butts off.
“I think were short on fuel, and they kept telling me to soft pedal and soft pedal it. It was a good night.”

Sprint Cup regular Ryan Newman, who plans to make NASCAR history by running all four races at BMS this week, earned the pole with a lap of 15.700 seconds at 122.217 miles per hour.  Newman finished fourth, while Brian Scott followed in fifth.

Jason White (Richmond, Va.) led from lap 38 to 123, then Busch somehow managed to squeeze between two other trucks to grab the position.

While several other drivers opted to take fuel following a caution for debris on lap 158, Busch stayed on the track. He pulled of a very fast restart on lap 175, then quickly pulled expanded his margin.

Busch was also to conserve fuel en route to winning last year’s truck race at Bristol.

“Our truck was good, and it just kept cooking,” Busch said.

As for Hornaday’s run at history, Busch said it served as motivator.

“It’s cool what Ron has done, and I was proud that we were able to beat him,” Busch said.
“We just need to capitalize on Hornaday’s bad days, and there’s not very many of those.”

Busch will also compete in Friday’s Nationwide race and Saturday’s Sprint Cup events.

“I hope tonight kind of sets the tone for the weekend here,” Busch said. 

Mike Skinner, Hornaday’s longtime rival, led the first 31 laps after qualifying second in the Randy Moss owned Exide Toyota.  Skinner finished 20th.

Nationwide Series regular Brad Keselowski finished 30th in his first truck series start of the season.

The race was caution free until lap 36, when veteran Todd Bodine was involved in a spin with rookie Tayler Malsam in Turn 2. Both drivers were forced to take their trucks behind the wall.

“It was my fault,” Bodine said. “My truck just got loose and I got into [Malsam].”

Bristol’s Nate Monteith, relying on the guidance of experienced crew chief Brad Parrott, earned the No. 20 qualifying spot in the 39-truck field but was lapped by Skinner on lap 23.  Monteith, the defending Late Model champion at Lonesome Pine Raceway in Coeburn, Va., was involved in a crash with Dennis Setzer on lap 49 en route to a 26th place finish.

NOTES: Defending Truck series champion Johnny Benson attended Wednesday’s race as a spectator. Benson, who lost his ride with Red Horse Racing earlier this season, suffered a variety of injuries in a recent supermodified crash at his home track in Michigan…. Longtime NASCAR competitor Ken Schrader finished 16th in just his second start of the season…Butch Miller, former driver of the Abingdon-based Henderson Motorsports Nationwide Series team, left the race after just 13 laps with apparent handling issues.

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