LEBANON, TN - Late race luck once again nips at the ankles of Kyle Busch in the Nationwide Series. With 62 laps left in the Pepsi 300, after leading 125 laps, Busch lost traction coming out of turn four, tapped Clint Bowyer in the process, and took a short cut through the painted grass of the Nashville infield. Bowyer, none the worse for it, continued down the tri-oval and watched Busch disappear in his mirrors.
Tire damage forced Busch to pit. As a result he fell to 20th, the last car one lap down. Just a few laps later, Bowyer came around Busch putting him another lap down and effectively out of contention.
After two second place finishes at Daytona and Fontana, Busch's Nationwide Series woes kicked in at Las Vegas where he cut a tire down late in the race and finished 31st. The following week at Atlanta, after leading 153 laps, he cut down another tire very much like his Vegas experience sending the car hard into the outside wall and falling to a 24th place finish. As the old song goes... "Were it not for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all."
When asked about the incident today, Busch admitted, “It was just driver error. I messed up and lost it. I'm sure it's going to bother me all week. Z-Line Designs and all these guys on the Nationwide Series side should be proud of the car they had. We'll come back with the 18 car at Texas and try to finish one of these things off.
”Busch's misfortune opened the door for Clint Bowyer who took over first and led the race until a determined Scott Wimmer passed him on the inside with 21 laps left and Wimmer never looked back.
With fuel issues haunting the leaders, Wimmer was able to conserve and maintain his lead over second place Bowyer. It was his first win in the NNS since July of '03 at Pikes Peak.
Wimmer's next opportunity to drive the RCR Holiday Inn Chevrolet will be in Mexico City on April the 20th.
Mills/Langley
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