LOUDON, N.H. – Kyle Busch needed some OT to grab that checkered flag.
Once he did, he bowed twice to the crowd.
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He could have done it one more time — one for each green-white-checkered finish he needed to survive at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Busch dominated in regulation, then proved he had the car to beat in three attempts of NASCAR’s version of overtime to win the Nationwide Series race.
Busch needed to drive 213 laps of a scheduled 200-lap race to win his seventh race of the season. He snapped a four-race winless streak and got his 58th career Nationwide victory.
He had enough fuel left in the tank to win from the pole for the fourth time this season.
Busch then used it all up with one big burnout.
“We didn’t want to have those late restarts,” Busch said. “We felt like we had just enough fuel to make it to the end.”
Who knew they’d need every drop?
The bonus racing stretched just about every car on the track. Not everyone made it.
Brian Vickers ran out of gas just as he crossed the finish line. Busch pitted for the final time two laps after Vickers, on Lap 119. He tried to conserve fuel through various methods and pad his stats for total laps led. He passed the 12,000 mark in career laps led and has 12,085 now.
“It’s just about being out front and setting your own pace,” Busch said. “It’s kind of like minding your own business. I like everyone away from me and to be doing my own thing.”
Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Busch (141), Vickers (63) and Matt Kenseth (nine) led every lap.
Vickers was second and Austin Dillon third. Brian Scott and Michael Annett rounded out the top five.
“Finally, nothing stupid happened and we kept our nose clean and brought home a top-five,” Annett said.
Nothing stupid, just wild.
Busch had the car to beat and seemed like he could put the No. 54 Toyota on cruise control heading into Victory Lane.
Then the real fun started.
Chad Hackenbracht spun out with two laps left.
No sooner did they restart, than Landon Cassill ran out of fuel and stalled on the track. The caution came out, and Mike Wallace pushed Cassill out of the way.
There was a four-car wreck on Lap 206 that brought out the caution flag yet again. Parker Kligerman’s car was stuck in the infield mud for a bit after the accident.
Elliott Sadler then spun on Lap 212, but this time the caution did not come out and Busch finally pulled away for good.
INDYCAR: Long after Scott Dixon raised the winner’s trophy for the second week in a row, controversy and comedy hung over the first of two races through the streets of Toronto.
What was certain was that Dixon’s win at Exhibition Place was the 31st of his career and moved him into a tie for seventh all-time with teammate Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy.
Bourdais finished second for his first podium since the 2007 Champ Car season, and Franchitti was third. But IndyCar temporarily stripped Fran-chitti of his finish for blocking Will Power on the final restart. Franchitti’s Target Chip Ganassi Racing appealed the penalty, and the driver was summoned before series officials at least an hour after the race.
It left the final finishing order undecided for two hours as the Ganassi team presented data from the incident. Eventually, Franchitti was returned to his third-place finish.
And to think, IndyCar gets to do it all over again Sunday in the second of three doubleheader weekends on this year’s schedule.
Dixon will try to make it three in a row, just a week after picking up his first win of the season at Pocono. There’s a $50,000 bonus available if he can sweep the Toronto doubleheader.
BEECH RIDGE: Charlie Colby of Newcastle took the lead on Lap 5 and held it the rest of the way to win the Pro Series 40-lap feature.
It was the first victory of the season for Colby, who was the only two-time winner in the Pro Series a year ago. Steve Carrier of Saco finished second, followed by Bill Rodgers of Old Orchard Beach, Mike Rowe of Turner and Mike Maietta Jr. of South Portland
Other winners were: Brandon Ingalls of Windham, Sport Series; Justin Karkos of Livermore, Wildcat; and Dave Cameron of Alfred, Road Runners.
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