LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch fears he’ll have to fold his truck series team next season if he can’t find sponsorship. At least he never has to worry about driving his way to Victory Lane.
Busch raced to his fifth trucks victory of the season and 80th overall NASCAR win, passing James Buescher on the final restart Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Additional Photos
If Kyle Busch Motorsports is a one-and-done deal, it’ll exit full of trophies and checkered flags.
“I can’t thank the guys on this team enough. All they want to do is come out and win races,” Busch said. “That’s what we’re doing.”
Busch and Kevin Harvick battled for the lead most of the day, and it appeared one of them would drive away with the victory. Buescher, though, dipped below both of them with 10 laps left to take the lead. He held it until Ron Hornaday spun into the wall late, bringing out a caution. That set up Buescher vs. Busch on the restart with two laps left.
Busch nudged past Buescher, tagged the wall — “it knocked my helmet crooked” — and sped ahead for the victory.
Buescher and Busch were clearly unhappy with each other toward the end of the race. After the race ended, Busch pulled up to Buescher and extended his middle finger. Buescher called out Busch after he lost his shot at his first win.
“He just drove us dirty and got the win,” Buescher said. “Being that close is one thing, but getting it taken away from you like that is a totally different thing. If you’re faster, you’re going to pass him. You don’t have to race him so dirty and flat-out try to wreck you to try and get the lead, and that’s what he did.”
CHIEF INJURED: The crew chief for truck series points leader Todd Bodine was on the job Saturday, a day after breaking his ankle in a pit road accident.
Mike Hillman Jr. was hit by driver Zach Germain in the K&N Pro Series East race Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Hillman was helping on pit road for Miguel Paludo as a favor for Germain Racing, which owns Bodine’s Truck Series team.
Germain Racing also owns the cars Paludo and Zach Germain were racing Friday, and Zach Germain is co-owner Steve Germain’s son.
“I was looking to carry tires and wow, now I’m laid out on the ground,” Hillman said. “I really don’t remember a whole bunch about it. I banged my head a little bit and my leg.”
Hillman broke his right ankle and tibia and also tore ligaments. He will need surgery, but refused to miss Saturday’s race. Bodine went into New Hampshire with a 261-point lead over Aric Almirola.
HORNISH LEAVING?: Sam Hornish Jr. is no longer discounting a potential return to IndyCar racing now that Penske Racing has given him permission to look for a new ride.
The three-time open-wheel champion is in danger of losing his Sprint Cup Series ride because sponsor Mobil 1 is leaving at the end of the season.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.