Busch sets milestone in victory

NATIONWIDE

Kyle Busch spent most of his race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he's most familiar.

Out in front.

Busch won the Nationwide Series race at New Hampshire on Saturday and became the career laps led leader in NASCAR's second-tier series with 8,118.

Busch bowed to the crowd, which saluted his sixth win of the season in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch earned his 36th career victory and passed Mark Martin on the career laps led list (8,117).

"That's pretty cool," Busch said. "There's one more record I'm after and that's the win record. I want to try and beat him and see how many I can set."

Busch is tied with Kevin Harvick for second on the career Nationwide win list. Martin leads the series with 48.

Busch held off Brad Keselowski, who finished second and had his solid run derailed by a poor pit stop. Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne round out the top five.

Keselowski stretched his points lead to 247 over Edwards.

Busch left with a lengthy list of milestones. He won here last year and is the first driver to win multiple Nationwide Series races in the track's 24-race history dating back to its inaugural event on July 15, 1990.

"I'm proud of the fact we made it happen and we had everything go right for us today," Busch said.

Danica Patrick finished 30th, five laps down. Patrick tangled with Morgan Shepherd early and went into the wall only seven laps into the race. The IndyCar regular posted her best finish in four Nationwide races.

"It was a bummer to get lapped so many times," Patrick said.

Patrick started 25th in her first NASCAR race since February and ran into trouble in her No. 7 Chevrolet almost instantly.

Shepherd got loose and sent Patrick into the wall. She radioed to her crew "he totally took me out."

Patrick returned to the track a lap down and never got any momentum. She later tapped Shepherd to let him know she didn't appreciate getting caught up in the early accident.

"I was thinking out there at the end that it reminds me a lot of my first couple of short oval races in an IndyCar," she said. "I got lapped like a ton of times in those. It's part of the process, it's part of learning and I know these things are going to happen."

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Loudon, N.H.

Lap length: 1.058 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 200 laps, 149.3 rating, 195 points, $45,620.

2. (1) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 200, 128.5, 175, $31,400.

3. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 200, 112.2, 165, $27,775.

4. (7) Joey Logano, Toyota, 200, 120.4, 165, $20,500.

5. (18) Trevor Bayne, Toyota, 200, 102.9, 155, $28,868.

6. (5) Justin Allgaier, Dodge, 200, 106.3, 150, $22,543.

7. (3) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, 115.3, 151, $17,175.

8. (12) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 200, 102.7, 142, $21,293.

9. (19) Paul Menard, Ford, 200, 93.2, 138, $14,700.

10. (16) Brendan Gaughan, Toyota, 200, 83.6, 134, $21,893.

11. (6) Steve Wallace, Toyota, 200, 93, 130, $20,918.

12. (15) Colin Braun, Ford, 200, 82.2, 127, $21,793.

13. (17) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 200, 93.8, 129, $14,575.

14. (14) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 200, 84.5, 121, $20,448.

15. (13) Jason Keller, Chevrolet, 200, 77.6, 118, $21,918.

16. (10) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 200, 83.2, 120, $20,393.

17. (9) Justin Lofton, Ford, 200, 84.4, 112, $20,068.

18. (32) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 200, 74.9, 109, $22,118.

19. (38) Michael Annett, Toyota, 200, 67, 106, $19,868.

20. (11) Michael McDowell, Dodge, 199, 68.8, 103, $20,618.

21. (28) Sean Caisse, Ford, 198, 64.5, 100, $20,093.

22. (33) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, 197, 53.2, 97, $13,225.

23. (24) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 197, 59.7, 94, $20,043.

24. (34) Willie Allen, Chevrolet, 197, 53, 91, $19,603.

25. (8) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 196, 81.3, 88, $20,018.

26. (27) Brian Scott, Toyota, 196, 48.9, 85, $19,533.

27. (41) Robert Richardson Jr., Chevrolet, 196, 43.5, 82, $19,898.

28. (37) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 196, 48.9, 79, $19,463.

29. (40) Eric McClure, Ford, 196, 45.3, 76, $19,428.

30. (25) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 195, 39.6, 73, $19,693.

31. (43) Charles Lewandoski, Ford, 195, 43.9, 70, $12,890.

32. (31) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, axle, 181, 59.6, 67, $19,323.

33. (26) Mark Green, Chevrolet, accident, 170, 37.6, 64, $12,830.

34. (21) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, engine, 147, 65.1, 61, $19,278.

35. (22) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, accident, 91, 56.9, 58, $19,258.

36. (42) Brad Baker, Ford, brakes, 35, 33, 55, $12,770.

37. (29) Danny O'Quinn Jr., Chevrolet, overheating, 25, 39.2, 52, $12,750.

38. (23) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, brakes, 20, 38.2, 49, $12,730.

39. (36) Brian Keselowski, Dodge, brakes, 9, 36.1, 46, $12,710.

40. (39) Johnny Chapman, Chevrolet, brakes, 5, 33, 43, $12,615.

41. (30) Josh Wise, Ford, electrical, 3, 33.9, 40, $12,595.

42. (20) Kevin Swindell, Ford, handling, 3, 31.9, 37, $12,575.

43. (35) Dennis Setzer, Dodge, ignition, 2, 31.3, 34, $12, 531.

SPRINT CUP

The Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship traditionally kicks off at Loudon, N.H. So does the 10-race sprint to make the 12-driver field.

When drivers return here in September, they hope they are gearing up for a championship run. With only 10 races left until the field is set, the pressure is revved up for those around the cutoff mark.

Carl Edwards is clinging to 12th place entering today's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (10 a.m., TNT, ESPN 700), only 57 points ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway

Loudon, N.H.

Lap length: 1.058 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (42) Juan P. Montoya, Chev., 132.337.

2. (9) Kasey Kahne, Ford, 132.158.

3. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 132.062.

4. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 131.998.

5. (39) Ryan Newman, Chev., 131.966.

6. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 131.875.

7. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 131.742.

8. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 131.633.

9. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 131.556.

10. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chev., 131.456.

11. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 131.329.

12. (47) Mar. Ambrose, Toyota, 131.315.

13. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 131.279.

14. (12) B. Keselowski, Dodge, 131.211.

15. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 131.189.

16. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 131.18.

17. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 131.103.

18. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 131.049.

19. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 131.035.

20. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 131.017.

21. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 130.945.

22. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 130.801.

23. (36) Casey Mears, Chev., 130.734.

24. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chev., 130.626.

25. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 130.599.

26. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 130.586.

27. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chev., 130.456.

28. (43) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 130.367.

29. (83) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 130.313.

30. (19) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 130.3.

31. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chev., 130.22.

32. (13) Max Papis, Toyota, 130.024.

33. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 130.02.

34. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 129.714.

35. (46) J.J. Yeley, Dodge, 129.626.

36. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 129.6.

37. (55) Mike McDowell, Toyota, 129.278.

38. (26) David Stremme, Ford, 129.221.

39. (37) David Gilliland, Ford, 128.893.

40. (71) Andy Lally, Chevrolet, 127.997.

41. (34) Kevin Conway, Ford, Owner Pts.

42. (7) Bob Labonte, Toyota, Owner Pts.

43. (64) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 128.178.

Failed to Qualify

44. (38) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 127.679.

45. (09) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 127.436.