Busch Holds ‘Em
Off at New Hampshire
July
17, 2006
Jordan Grubich - SCR
Kyle Busch survived overtime and late
race charges by Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin to win his first race of the season in Sunday’s Lenox Industrial 300 in
New Hampshire.
Busch, who appeared to have a good
car from the drop of the green, first took the lead on lap 108, then rarely relinquished it. He looked to have the race
won when the caution flag waved with two to go for a crash between his teammate Brian Vickers and rookie Clint Bowyer. An
additional crash under caution involving Michael Waltrip and Robby Gordon extended the race’s distance putting fuel
mileage even further into the picture.
On the restart
Busch pulled away while Hamlin held off Edwards for second. However, Hamlin ran out of gas on the final lap, preventing
both he and Edwards from challenging for the win. The win allowed Busch to move up to fourth in the standings in the
Chase for the Championship.
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Edwards finished second. Greg
Biffle, who also had fuel concerns, was third. Mark Martin finished fourth. Kevin Harvick finished fifth.
Hamlin coasted to the line in sixth. Jeff
Burton, who had a strong car early and got trapped a lap down by pit strategy twice, rallied to finish seventh. Kasey
Kahne finished eighth after being involved in a lap 96 accident. The points leader, Jimmie Johnson, struggled throughout
the race, but salvaged a ninth place finish, further padding his points lead. Scott Riggs was 10th.
The race’s
dominant driver early on was Tony Stewart, but a lap 91 altercation with Ryan Newman punched a hole in the radiator, relegating
him to a 37th place finish, continuing his team’s string of bad luck and knocking him out of the top 10. Newman
suffered the same fate five laps later and finished one spot behind Stewart in the race, likely ending all hopes of making
the post season for that team.
Questions, Comments;
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The views and opinions in this article are that of the writer and not necessarily that
of SCR
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2006 StockCar Review.
