Kyle Busch holds up his first Craftsman Truck Series trophy. Credit: Nate Mecha/High Sierra Photo

Busch notches truck win

Friday night, Kyle Busch became the youngest ever winner in the Craftsman Truck Series, dominating the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and hanging on to win in a green-white-checkered finish.

Busch dominates for first career Truck Series win
Busch becomes youngest series winner with victory at Lowe's
By Keith Parsons, The Associated Press
May 21, 2005
12:29 AM EDT (04:29 GMT)


CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Nextel Cup rookie Kyle Busch became the youngest winner in Craftsman Truck Series history, holding off Terry Cook and Ted Musgrave in a three-lap closing sprint Friday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

The 20-year-old Busch beat the previous mark set by the late Ricky Hendrick, 21 when he won in 2001. That also was the year Busch burst on the truck scene as a 16-year-old high school student, nearly winning a couple of races as a rookie.

But NASCAR changed the rules following that season, setting a mandatory age of 18 for its major series and sending Busch back to the lower leagues. He eventually made it back with Hendrick Motorsports -- the team founded by Hendrick's father -- and last season he tied Greg Biffle's Busch Series record of five victories for a rookie.

Hendrick, who retired as a driver but was the owner of Busch's team, was killed along with nine other people in a plane crash last October.


Tony Stewart spins out early in the race. Credit: AP

"It is special, but it's also a little heartbreaking,' Busch said after the Quaker Steak & Lube 200. "Obviously, you want that record to stay there for Ricky. I don't think he would have wanted that record broken by anybody but me.'

This year, Busch replaced Terry Labonte in the Cup Series, and finished fourth last week at Richmond. Busch picked up his truck ride in Billy Ballew's Chevrolet earlier this week as a way to gain more experience on Lowe's newly ground racing surface, and he made the most of his opportunity.

He started third, took the lead for the first time on the fifth lap, and stayed up front for a total of 77 of the 136 laps. Busch dropped back when he made his first pit stop on lap 60, then slowly worked his way back toward the front.

Finally, he moved back around Cook's Ford for second and began slowly running down leader Mike Skinner in the late going. But Skinner made a huge mistake while trying to lap Brad Keselowski with 20 laps left, sliding up into Keselowski and then spinning into the wall.

That gave the lead to Busch, and he easily got his first victory in the series despite a late caution that forced a green-white-checkered overtime finish. Now, he hopes to take his knowledge to the Nextel Open on Saturday night.

"The biggest thing we learned what the track would do in the long run,' Busch said. "There's definitely a few different grooves out there. I think it's going to be a pretty good show.'

For Cook, it was his best finish on a track the size of the 1 1/2-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway, and it was the best effort of the season.

"The truck just got real tight, and when it started to tighten up, unfortunately I couldn't race Kyle as hard as I wanted,' Cook said. "We were racing Ted hard there just trying to hang on to second.'

Cup star Tony Stewart, forced to start at the rear of the field because of an engine change, raced his way into the top five before more problems forced him to park his Chevrolet. He did provide one of the more spectacular moments of the night, keeping his truck out of the wall after he was spun out by Kelly Sutton on lap 26.

In the ensuing melee, Bobby Hamilton slammed into Jack Sprague, forcing both of them to lose many laps for repairs. The incident cost Hamilton the points lead. He fell 41 behind Musgrave.

Johnny Benson finished fourth, with Steve Park, Bill Lester, Dennis Setzer, Brendan Gaughan, Matt Crafton and Ricky Craven rounding out the top 10.

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Race Results

Quaker Steak & Lube 200 presented by Click It or Ticket | Lowe's Motor Speedway

May 20, 2005 | Race 7 of 25

Fin St Car Driver Make Sponsor Pts/Bonus Laps Status
1 3 #15 Kyle Busch Chevrolet ditech.com 190/10 136 Running
2 29 #10 Terry Cook Ford Power Stroke Diesel 175/5 136 Running
3 12 #1 Ted Musgrave Dodge Mopar 165/0 136 Running
4 27 #23 Johnny Benson Toyota Toyota West/Toyota Certified 160/0 136 Running
5 20 #62 Steve Park Dodge Orleans Hotel & Casino 155/0 136 Running
6 5 #22 Bill Lester Toyota Checkers/Rally's 150/0 136 Running
7 18 #46 Dennis Setzer Chevrolet Chevrolet Silverado Z71 146/0 136 Running
8 36 #77 Brendan Gaughan Dodge Jasper Engines & Transmissions 142/0 136 Running
9 16 #88 Matt Crafton Chevrolet Menards 143/5 136 Running
10 13 #99 Ricky Craven Ford Superchips 134/0 136 Running
11 10 #6 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet GM Goodwrench 130/0 136 Running
12 7 #2 Jimmy Spencer Dodge Team ASE 127/0 136 Running
13 31 #18 Chase Montgomery Dodge Bobby Hamilton Racing 124/0 136 Running
14 26 #144 Clay Rogers Ford Rhodes/Baird Transport/Johnny's Suzuki 121/0 136 Running
15 28 #02 Kelly Sutton Chevrolet Team Copaxone 118/0 136 Running
16 17 #08 Butch Miller Chevrolet ASI Limited/TSG/Seco 115/0 136 Running
17 14 #17 David Reutimann Toyota NTN Bearings 112/0 136 Running
18 25 #13 Tracy Hines Chevrolet ThorSport Rcg/Zoriki Mtspts 109/0 136 Running
19 15 #75 David Starr Chevrolet Spears Manufacturing 106/0 136 Running
20 32 #50 Todd Kluever * Ford World Financial Group 103/0 136 Running
21 4 #12 Robert Huffman Toyota Toyota Tundra 100/0 134 Running
22 35 #59 Robert Pressley Dodge S-Line 30th Anniversary 97/0 133 Running
23 23 #38 Brandon Whitt Toyota Cure Autism Now/McMillin Homes 94/0 129 Accident
24 34 #29 Brad Keselowski Ford Petra Stone 91/0 129 Running
25 2 #14 Rick Crawford Ford Circle Bar Motel/RV Park 88/0 119 Running
26 1 #5 Mike Skinner Toyota Toyota Tundra 90/5 115 Accident
27 11 #16 Jack Sprague Chevrolet Chevy Trucks 82/0 111 Running
28 24 #04 Bobby Hamilton Dodge Bailey's 79/0 102 Running
29 33 #07 Sean Murphy * Chevrolet VFW Hidden Heroes Fund 76/0 94 Too Slow
30 6 #30 Chad Chaffin Toyota Germain Toyota/Arnold Development 73/0 91 Too Slow
31 9 #66 Todd Bodine Toyota Fiddle Back Racing/Toyota Tundra 70/0 78 Accident
32 22 #4 Timothy Peters * Dodge Bailey's 67/0 77 Accident
33 19 #47 Tony Stewart Chevrolet Tork/Diamond Rio 64/0 65 Drive Train
34 8 #9 Shigeaki Hattori * Toyota AISIN / AISIN AW 61/0 27 Accident
35 21 #165 Regan Smith * Dodge Glynn Motorsports PE 16 Accident
36 30 #52 Ken Schrader Chevrolet Federated Auto Parts 55/0 9 Ignition


* Denotes Rookie

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Driver Standings

After: Quaker Steak & Lube 200 presented by Click It or Ticket | Lowe's Motor Speedway | Race 7 of 25

Rank +/- Driver Points Behind Starts Poles Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 +1 Ted Musgrave 1088 Leader 7 1 1 4 6
2 -1 Bobby Hamilton 1047 -41 7 1 2 4 5
3 -- Ricky Craven 1029 -59 7 0 0 3 6
4 -- Jimmy Spencer 993 -95 7 0 0 2 4
5 +1 Dennis Setzer 940 -148 7 0 0 2 5
6 -1 Ron Hornaday 930 -158 7 1 1 2 3
7 +3 Johnny Benson 897 -191 7 0 0 1 2
8 +1 Matt Crafton 880 -208 7 0 0 0 2
9 -2 Todd Bodine 863 -225 7 0 0 2 3
10 -2 Jack Sprague 858 -230 7 0 0 1 2
11 +3 Terry Cook 837 -251 7 0 0 1 3
12 -1 David Starr 835 -253 7 0 0 1 3
13 +2 Steve Park 810 -278 7 0 1 2 2
14 -2 Chad Chaffin 773 -315 7 0 0 1 3
15 +6 Bill Lester 767 -321 7 0 0 0 1
16 -3 Rick Crawford 755 -333 7 1 0 1 2
17 +1 David Reutimann 744 -344 7 0 0 0 0
18 -2 Mike Skinner 735 -353 7 2 0 1 2
19 -2 Robert Pressley 732 -356 7 0 0 0 1
20 -1 Todd Kluever* 727 -361 7 0 0 2 2
21 -1 Brad Keselowski 711 -377 7 0 0 0 1
22 -- Robert Huffman 706 -382 7 0 0 0 2
23 -- Tracy Hines 679 -409 7 0 0 0 0
24 +1 Kelly Sutton 631 -457 7 0 0 0 0
25 +2 Chase Montgomery 625 -463 7 0 0 0 0
26 -- Brandon Whitt 598 -490 7 0 0 0 0
27 +2 Sean Murphy* 548 -540 6 0 0 0 0
28 +2 Brendan Gaughan 535 -553 5 0 0 0 1
29 -5 Shane Hmiel 513 -575 4 0 0 1 2
30 -2 Deborah Renshaw 474 -614 6 0 0 0 0
31 +2 Shigeaki Hattori* 414 -674 6 0 0 0 0
32 -1 Ken Weaver 357 -731 4 0 0 0 1
33 -1 Bobby Labonte 355 -733 2 0 1 2 2
34 -- Casey Atwood 348 -740 3 0 0 0 0
35 -- Mike Harmon 337 -751 4 0 0 0 0
36 +2 Timothy Peters* 291 -797 3 0 0 0 0
37 -1 Wayne Edwards 263 -825 4 0 0 0 1
38 +4 Butch Miller 249 -839 2 0 0 0 1
39 -2 Regan Smith* 233 -855 4 0 0 0 0
40 -1 Rich Bickle 215 -873 2 0 0 1 1
41 -1 Jimmy Kite* 215 -873 2 0 0 0 0
42 -- Kyle Busch 190 -898 1 0 1 1 1
43 -- Ken Schrader 176 -912 2 0 0 0 0
44 -3 Kerry Earnhardt* 175 -913 2 1 0 0 0
45 -- Clay Rogers 121 -967 1 0 0 0 0
46 -2 Chris Fontaine 112 -976 1 0 0 0 0
47 -2 Nick Tucker* 85 -1003 1 0 0 0 0
48 -- Tony Stewart 64 -1024 1 0 0 0 0
49 -3 Tam Topham 61 -1027 1 0 0 0 0
50 -3 Casey Kingsland 55 -1033 1 0 0 0 0
51 -3 Kevin Harvick 0 -1088 1 0 0 0 0
52 -3 Alex Yontz 0 -1088 1 0 0 0 0


* Denotes Rookie

 

hmmmm..standings please?

and on a side notw, phony wrecked tonight and last night?

 

Standings TEd Musgrave is #1 currently.

 

Standings posted... GO MOPAR!