Jimmie Johnson led 169 of the first 171 laps until Kyle Busch grabbed the lead from him on Lap 172. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR)By Reid Spencer (Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service)
Check off a major accomplishment from Kyle Busch’s bucket list. Busch fended off strong challenges from David Reutimann and Jamie McMurray to win Saturday’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway and complete his unprecedented sweep of three NASCAR national touring events at the same track in the same week.
On Lap 429 of 500, Busch nosed past Reutimann after an intense 15-lap battle and pulled away to a Sprint Cup victory that fit quite nicely with his Wednesday win in the Camping World Truck Series and his Friday triumph in the Nationwide Series.
“Oh, Dave, thank you, guys,” Busch radioed to crew chief Dave Rogers moments before crossing the finish line. “I can’t believe it—swept the weekend at Bristol!”
The victory was Busch’s fourth at the .533-mile track, his third of the season and the 19th of his career. McMurray came home third, followed by Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne.
It was a statement race for Bowyer, who separated himself from Mark Martin in the battle for the final berth in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Bowyer overcame a pit-road speeding penalty to finish in the top five while Martin foundered to a 23rd-place result in a car that didn’t handle to his liking.
With two races left before the Chase field is set Sept. 11 at Richmond, Bowyer, 12th in the standings, leads McMurray, who supplanted Martin in 13th place, by 100 points. Martin is 14th, 101 points back.
The two drivers who are guaranteed at least a tie for top seeding when the Chase begins—Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin—had major issues in Saturday’s race.
After leading 175 laps, Johnson was fighting for position on Lap 262 when contact from Juan Pablo Montoya’s Chevrolet sent Johnson’s Chevy spinning down the backstretch and into the Turn 3 wall. The polesitter lost 66 laps during repairs and finished 35th.
Hamlin snapped a drive shaft near the midpoint of the race and lost 26 laps in the garage while his crew replaced it. He finished 34th. The only consolation for Johnson and Hamlin is that each has a series-best five victories, good for 50 bonus points to start the Chase.
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NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 24
Unofficial Race Results for the Irwin Tools Night Race - Saturday, August 21, 2010
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - .533 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 266.5 Miles - Purse: $6,171,126
Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 19 18 Kyle Busch Doublemint Toyota 500 195 10 139.8 $331,731 Running 4 282
2 5 00 David Reutimann Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota 500 175 5 121.8 $246,256 Running 1 25
3 7 1 Jamie McMurray Bass Pro Shops / Tracker Boats Chevrolet 500 170 5 112.8 $196,754 Running 1 11
4 24 33 Clint Bowyer Hamburger Helper Chevrolet 500 165 5 103.4 $155,375 Running 1 1
5 11 9 Kasey Kahne Budweiser Ford 500 155 95.4 $158,465 Running
6 6 39 Ryan Newman Wix Filters Chevrolet 500 150 110.9 $146,204 Running
7 8 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Target Chevrolet 500 146 109.3 $145,331 Running
8 21 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 500 142 81.7 $118,025 Running
9 20 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite / Vortex Dodge 500 138 93.6 $147,273 Running
10 14 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Black Ford 500 134 99.3 $148,526 Running
11 26 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 500 135 5 90.8 $144,626 Running 1 2
12 2 99 Carl Edwards Aflac Ford 500 127 102.5 $137,548 Running
13 27 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet 500 124 83.7 $108,875 Running
14 28 29 Kevin Harvick Shell / Pennzoil Chevrolet 499 121 70.9 $136,476 Running
15 18 83 Reed Sorenson Red Bull Toyota 499 118 68.6 $135,823 Running
16 16 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 499 115 78.2 $133,890 Running
17 9 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 499 112 83.6 $96,900 Running
18 3 20 Joey Logano Home Depot Toyota 499 109 82.4 $132,765 Running
19 15 12 Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 499 106 70.3 $122,710 Running
20 22 47 Marcos Ambrose Bush's / Kingsford Toyota 499 103 67.4 $123,273 Running
21 12 98 Paul Menard CertainTeed / Menards Ford 499 100 70.8 $102,200 Running
22 33 34 Travis Kvapil Long John Silver's Ford 498 102 5 56.9 $93,900 Running 1 1
23 13 5 Mark Martin CARQUEST Auto Parts Chevrolet 498 99 5 69.9 $110,625 Running 1 1
24 31 26 Jeff Green Air Guard Ford 497 91 58.0 $100,300 Running
25 25 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Mobil 1 Dodge 497 88 57.5 $99,675 Running
26 34 38 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 495 85 47.8 $109,910 Running
27 4 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Old Spice Chevrolet 494 87 5 70.6 $127,153 Running 1 1
28 39 37 Tony Raines A&W All American Food Ford 492 79 44.1 $106,193 Running
29 41 19 Elliott Sadler Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford 491 76 37.9 $97,010 Running
30 29 78 Regan Smith Farm American.com Chevrolet 489 73 44.4 $94,375 Running
31 10 43 A J Allmendinger Valvoline Ford 488 70 50.9 $124,116 Running
32 38 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 486 67 43.2 $94,155 Running
33 23 82 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 486 64 51.0 $100,618 Running
34 17 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Ground Toyota 473 61 63.6 $107,685 Running
35 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe's Chevrolet 415 63 5 92.0 $151,753 Running 5 175
36 40 7 Kevin Conway # SpeedFactory.TV Toyota 212 55 30.8 $99,763 Vibration
37 42 71 Landon Cassill TaxSlayer.com Chevrolet 129 52 38.9 $86,555 Ignition
38 30 09 Bobby Labonte Phoenix Construction Chevrolet 118 49 35.4 $85,445 Accident
39 43 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 58 46 39.2 $85,335 Electrical
40 37 07 Robby Gordon SpeedFactory.TV Toyota 50 43 34.3 $85,225 Electrical
41 36 64 Todd Bodine Little Joe's Autos Toyota 47 40 36.2 $85,000 Rear Gear
42 32 66 Scott Riggs PRISM Motorsports Toyota 32 37 30.5 $84,885 Transmission
43 35 55 Michael McDowell PRISM Motorsports Toyota 16 34 27.0 $85,203 Engine
This article was posted to the website on August 21st, 2010 • Click to view all related content in the following categories
