Busch started his day 26^th. He ramped up into the top 20 within the first 50 laps. He moved into the top ten with 100 laps to go. Busch drove a hard race in the mid pack for most of the day though in the top 20, 50 laps later looking for a key play of the day. 

That move came with 30 to go as Dale Earnhardt Jr. running in the top 12 how was going to come in to make a two tire stop and is nailed big time from behind by Jamie McMurray. Earnhardt Spins out by the entrance to pit road as McMurray shoots to the outside wall then back into David Ragan’s car. Ragan shoots to the outside wall at the start finish line. 

This allowed Kurt Busch, Michael Waltrip, J.J. Yeley and Martin Truex Jr. to play the fuel game and stay out while most of the leaders came in for fuel and two right side tires. 

After the green flag came out, a few laps later Sam Hornish clips the rear end of Clint Bowyer to bring out the last caution of the day. Rain had been bantered about most of the day and kept away from the track. It looked like the race might have gone all the way. On the pace laps, after the last incident, the rain let loose sealing Busch’s win. 

PRE RACE CHATTER 

Summer’s arrival means the “Race to the Chase,” the 10-race stretch that precedes the “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.” 

The Race to the Chase begins with this weekend’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway — the same track that will host the first Chase event on Sept. 14. 

In between, expect a compelling combination of events and tracks that will both boost and stymie drivers’ hopes of qualifying for the Chase. 

A reminder: The top 12 in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings compete for the series title during the season’s final 10 races — the Chase. 

En route to eligibility, drivers must excel at two legendary tracks — Daytona International Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway — plus shine in two of the nation’s top three media markets — Los Angeles (Auto Club Speedway) and Chicago (Chicagoland Speedway).

The season’s second of two road-course events, this time at New York’s Watkins Glen International, rolls around in August. 

Then there’s the short-track component — demanding and rewarding all at once.

The night race at Bristol Motor Speedway high-banked half-mile comes first, following two weeks later by the final event in the “Race to the Chase” — or cutoff race — the Chevy Rock & Roll 400 on Sept. 6 at the .75-mile Richmond International Raceway.

As Kyle Busch (No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota) continues stockpiling trophies and points, he also continues inviting superlatives. 

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings leader won for the fifth time this season last Sunday at Infineon Raceway, completing a victory at each style of track on the series schedule. With the road-course win, Busch now has triumphed at least once at a short track, intermediate track and restrictor-plate track in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition. 

His series-high fifth win extended his lead to 103 points over second-place Jeff Burton (No. 31 LENOX Chevrolet). Prior to Infineon, Busch had weathered a two-week “lull”, finishing 43rd at Pocono Raceway and 13th at Michigan International Speedway. 

As for New Hampshire, Busch should be considered a winning threat again this weekend. Along with his series-high Average Running Position of 9.6 (per NASCAR Loop Data) he has one win and three top-fives in six starts there. 

Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford) has yet to visit Victory Lane in 2008, but no one has passed more competitors lately. At least in the standings. 

Rebounding from a slow start, the 2003 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion has gone from after-thought to Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup candidate in just six weeks — climbing from 22nd to 12th. 

No one has gained more points (934) during that span, not even series leader Kyle Busch.

Kenseth’s Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards boasts the second-highest total (920 points), followed by Busch (913), who won three races during that six-week span. 

Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) is fourth (885) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (865) is fifth. 

“I don’t know if it’s ever too early to look at it,” Kenseth said of the series standings. “You always look at it on the way home, especially if you’re moving up, to see where you’re at and see what happened. But, the bottom line is really you do the best you can every week, and try to finish as high as you can and try to lead laps and do all that and the points take care of themselves – the higher you finish, the more points you get. 

“So, really, it’s not a strategy, when you race hard and try to be smart and do the right things and hopefully get some good finishes and get back in it.” 

Although he hasn’t won at New Hampshire, Kenseth has five top fives, 11 top 10s and an average finish of 10.5 in 16 starts there. 

TO WIN IT’S BEST TO QUALIFY 

Patrick Carpentier won the Coors Light Pole Award for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 with a lap of 29.349 seconds, 129.776 mph. This is his first pole in 17 career NASCAR Sprint Cup races. He was also the highest qualifying rookie. This is his second top-10 start in 2008 and was the fastest of the drivers required to make the field on time. This is Carpentier’s first career race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 

Bobby Labonte (second) posted his best start since he started from the pole at Texas in 2004. It is his fourth top-10 in 2008 and his 14th in 26 races at New Hampshire.  

Kevin Harvick (third) posted his fifth top-10 start of 2008 and his eighth in 15 New Hampshire races. Dario Franchitti (seventh), also making his first career start at New Hampshire, posted his career-best start. 

Michael Waltrip and Aric Almirola to the back. 

NOW – IT’S TIME TO ROCK AND ROLL!! 

Carpentier and Labonte lead the 43 drivers out of turn four to the… 

GREEN FLAG as Carpentier slips and slides for his first lap, but holds onto the lead. Lap 3 Labonte slides back to 3^rd as Harvick takes second place. Lap 4 Harvick ducks under Carpentier to take the lead with Labonte in tow. 

Lap 9 Earnhardt Jr. has moved into 4^th place passing Scott Riggs. Lap 12 Earnhardt takes over 3^rd as Carpentier slips to 4^th. Harvick has a 1 second lead over Labonte. Lap 14 other movement on the track – Kasey Kahne from 14^th to 11^th, AJ Allmendinger from 10^th to 8^th, Jeff Burton from 31^st to 22^nd, Tony Stewart from 28^th to 20^th and Kurt Busch from 26^th to 18^th. 

Lap 21 as Earnhardt Jr. takes over 2^nd place the field stretches out from 1^st place Harvick to 10^th place Riggs, who is 11.5 seconds behind. 

Lap 25 your top 10 drivers are – Harvick, Earnhardt Jr., Labonte, Carpentier, Truex Jr., Allmendinger, Hamlin, Sorenson, Kahne and Riggs. Lap 28 the field is completely around the track as Harvick closes in on the slower drivers. 

The drivers who we will start to go a lap down would be Michael McDowell, David Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Dave Blaney, Terry Labonte and Michael Waltrip. Lap 33 Denny Hamlin takes over 6^th from Allmendinger. 

Lap 36 Earnhardt Jr. closes in on Harvick to less than ¾’s of a second. Lap 40 more movement on the track as Kahne has moved up to 8^th, Clint Bowyer from 18^th to the top 10 in 10^th, Jimmy Johnson from 23^rd to 12^th, Burton up to 14^th. 

Lap 43 Earnhardt Jr. looks to the inside of Harvick for the lead. Out of turn four heading to lap 45 Earnhardt Jr. picks up 5 bonus points for leading as he takes over and the crowd goes wild. 

Lap 47 Jeff Gordon puts the pressure on Dario Franchitti for 12^th. Lap 48 Gordon takes the position. Stewart is also on the move taking over 14^th from Elliott Sadler. 

Lap 50 your top 20 drivers are – Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Labonte, Martin Truex Jr., Hamlin, Carpentier, Kahne, Allmendinger, Reed Sorenson, Bowyer, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Franchitti, Stewart, Sadler, Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch. 

Lap 57 movement in the back of the field as Waltrip has moved up a few positions to keep from going a lap down. Riggs has fallen from his start of 3^rd back to 38^th. Blaney falls a lap down with  Paul Menard and Travis Kvapil who would be the next two to go a lap down then Waltrip. 

Lap 62 a few laps early we see Kahne on pit road. Stops should be about 5 laps from now for the leaders. Lap 64 Robby Gordon and Carpentier are on pit road. Lap 65 Allmendinger, Regan Smith, Juan Pablo Montoya are in. Lap 66 Labonte and Sadler are in. 

Lap 67 Kvapil, Yeley and many others are in. Lap 68 Harvick is in. Lap 70 Stewart is in along with Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Burton, Biffle, McDowell are in. Lap 71 Earnhardt Jr. comes in for his stop.  

Lap 72 as most stops are complete, Harvick is the leader once again, followed by Kahne. Lap 75 your top ten drivers are – Harvick, Kahne, Earnhardt Jr., Truex Jr., Hamlin, Labonte, Bowyer, Allmendinger, Johnson and Jeff Gordon. 

Lap 77 Hamlin takes over 4^th from Truex Jr. Lap 81 Harvick is tied up in slower traffic trying to stay on the lead lap. With Harvick stuck in traffic Kahne is three car lengths behind Harvick and Earnhardt Jr. closing into 1 second behind them. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 85 as Franchitti is hit from the inside as McDowell slides up in turn 4. Franchitti slides back into the outside wall, hitting the outside with the drivers side of his car. The leaders come into pit road. The trace back to the track is Harvick, Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin and Bowyer. Casey Mears and Brian Vickers stay out. 

GREEN FLAG lap 90 as Mears and Vickers lead the field back to racing. We will see how old tires hang on. The leaders are mingled in with the lap down drivers. Lap 92 Harvick and Stewart clear the lapped traffic. 

Lap 93 Earnhardt Jr. is trapped in the middle of traffic. He is way loose out of turn four, mixed in with teammates Johnson and Gordon on the inside and Truex Jr. on the outside. Earnhardt falls back to 10^th. 

Lap 96 as Mears and Vickers had a breather with all that action Harvick closes back into 1.3 seconds behind and Stewart 2.6 seconds behind. Lap 100 your top 20 drivers are – Mears, Vickers, Harvick, Stewart, Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, Hamlin, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Kahne, Truex Jr., Labonte, Kyle Busch, Burton, Newman, Sorenson, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, Allmendinger and David Reutimann. So far we have seen 4 lead changes among 4 leaders and 1 caution for 4 laps. 

Lap 101 Harvick takes 2^nd place. Lap 111 Mears leads Harvick by 2.1 seconds. Earnhardt Jr. moves back up to 8^th. Lap 113 some of the movers since the start of the race are – Waltrip from 36^th to 26^th, David Ragan from 35^th to 23^rd, Reutimann from 29^th to 19^th, Kurt Busch from 26^th to 15^th, Kyle Busch from 27^th to 14^th, Burton from 31^st to 12^th, Johnson from 23^rd to 7^th, Vickers from 40^th to 4^th and Stewart from 28^th to 3^rd. 

Lap 121 Mears still continues to run 2 seconds in front of Harvick. Lap 125 your top 10 drivers are – Mears, Harvick, Stewart, Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin and Kahne. 

Lap 130 Harvick closes into 1.5 seconds difference. Lap 131 refreshing our lap down drivers it’s two laps down for Franchitti, Sauter and Terry Labonte. One lap down is Hornish Jr., Riggs, Gilliland, Kvapil, McDowell, Menard, Almirola, Blaney and Sadler. Lap 133 next on our list is the pole setter Carpentier followed by Smith, Robby Gordon and Joe Nemechek. 

Lap 134 Stewart hops in front of Harvick to take over 2^nd place. Stewart runs 1 second behind Mears, Harvick is 1.6 seconds behind. Lap 136 Blaney in on pit road.  

YELLOW FLAG lap 139 for debris, a huge save for Mears and Vickers. Carpentier is the lucky dog. The leaders on pit road for work. The race back to the track is Stewart, Mears, Harvick, Jeff Gordon and Vickers. 

GREEN FLAG lap 143 as 31 lead lap drivers and the rest of the field a lap down will be a challenge for Stewart, Mears, Harvick and Jeff Gordon. Lap 144 the top 4 clear the lap down drivers. 

Lap 145 Jeff Gordon takes over 3^rd from Harvick. Lap 147 Earnhardt Jr. takes over 7^th from Johnson. Big time action in the mid-field as Waltrip fights for 25^th with Biffle and Montoya. 

Lap 150 your top 20 drivers are – Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Harvick, Vickers, Bowyer, Johnson, Earnhardt Jr., Burton, Hamlin, Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Newman, Kahne, Reutimann, Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Busch and Ragan. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 150 as Nemechek spins out in turn 4. Almirola is the lucky dog. The leaders stay out. 

GREEN FLAG lap 156 as Stewart and Jeff Gordon lead the field into turns one and two. Lap 159 Stewart leads Jeff Gordon by almost 1 second and Mears by 1.5 seconds. Harvick and Vickers are stuck behind lapped drivers Sadler and Menard. 

Lap 161 Montoya bangs into the back of Sorenson in turn three, shooting Sorenson almost into the wall. Lap 167 12^th place Truex Jr. looks to take 11^th from Kurt Busch. Lap 170 Busch hangs onto 11^th. Vickers on Harvick’s bumper looking for 4^th. 

Lap 172 Harvick is a bit out of shape as he slips back to 6^th as Vickers and Johnson get by. Lap 173 Stewart is up to a 1.5 second lead over Jeff Gordon. Lap 175 your top ten drivers are – Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Vickers, Johnson, Harvick, Bowyer, Earnhardt Jr., Hamlin and Burton. 

Lap 181 Earnhardt Jr. takes over 7^th as Harvick keeps falling back as some of the other drivers falling off pace since the start of the race who are – Kenseth from 9^th back to 15^th, Bobby Labonte from 2^nd back to 24^th, Sorenson from 6^th to 29^th, Carpentier from the pole back to 32^nd, Sadler from 11^th to 33^rd, Kvapil from 21^st back to 37^th, Riggs from 3^rd to 38^th and Franchitti from 7^th to 42^nd. 

Lap 189 all 43 drivers remain on the track. We still have 31 on the lead lap. Stewart leads by 2.1 seconds over Jeff Gordon. Lap 194 Harvick has slipped back to 10^th. The separation from leader Stewart to 5^th place Johnson is 5.8 seconds and back to 10^th place Harvick is 13.6 seconds. 

Lap 196 Burton looking to the inside of Earnhardt Jr. to take over 8^th place.  

Lap 201 (100 to go) Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Mears, Johnson, Bowyer, Hamlin, Burton, Earnhardt Jr., Harvick, Kurt Busch, Newman, Kenseth, Kahne, McMurray, Truex Jr., Kyle Busch, Reutimann, Ragan and Edwards. So far, we have seen 5 lead changes among 5 leaders and 3 cautions for 12 laps. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 203 as Allmendinger’s car blows up coming out of turn 4. His car catches fire while he heads on the track to the other side of the track. Sorenson is the lucky dog.  

The leaders head to pit road. Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Johnson, Mears and Bowyer are the first five back to the track. 

GREEN FLAG lap 210 as Stewart and Jeff Gordon get the cars back up to speed. On the restart, McDowell blows up and limps back to pit road. Lap 212 Hornish Jr. is in the middle of the pack out of turn four bouncing off of other cars. Lap 214 Almirola almost spins out as he checks up for Reutimann in turn four, tagged from behind by McMurray and holds onto the car. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 217 as Kahne slides up into Almirola in turns one and two. Almirola catches it for a moment, looks like he has another save, but the car comes out from under him to spin backwards into the outside wall. Sadler is the lucky dog. 

GREEN FLAG lap 221 as Stewart and Jeff Gordon race past the start finish line to bring the field back to racing. Lap 223 Kahne spins out to the outside turn one wall and the race stays green. 

Lap 224 battle for second as Johnson takes the low line, inside of Jeff Gordon, but it does not happen. Lap 227 they bang off of each other in turn two. By turn four Johnson takes it. Lap 228 Gordon is the one on the inside now, but his car is not good on the low side. 

Lap 229 this allows Hamlin to get by and Bowyer looking to get by. Lap 231 Bowyer keeps trying, but Gordon is good on the high side to hold onto 4^th place. Lap 233 while the battles occur on the track, Stewart pulls to a 1.8 second lead. 

We hear talk of rain coming. The skies are very cloudy, but can’t feel the rain yet. Lap 240 (61 to go) we see a big cloud front coming to the track. Lap 241 Johnson closes in to 1 second behind Stewart. 

Lap 247 Johnson is now ¾’s of a second behind, 3^rd place Hamlin is 4.7 seconds behind. Lap 251 (50 to go) your top twenty drivers are – Stewart, Johnson, Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer, Harvick, Vickers, Burton, Newman, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth, McMurray, Ragan, Edwards, Reutimann, Montoya, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Nemechek and Yeley. 

Lap 257 Johnson is about 2 car lengths behind Stewart. Johnson is looking better in the corners than Stewart. Lap 259 Johnson has been on Stewart’s bumper in the corner, but Stewart has a better take off out of the corner. 

40 to go as both drivers contend with lapped traffic, which allows Stewart to hold the lead. Lap 264 Johnson slides up a bit out of turn 2 into Robby Gordon, but continues on. Stewart is almost back to a 1 second lead. 

Lap 268 Johnson starts to reel Stewart back in once again. Lap 270 Johnson is on Stewart’s bumper again. 

YELLOW FLAG with 30 to go as Earnhardt Jr. was going to come in to make a two tire stop and is nailed big time from behind by McMurray. Earnhardt Spins out by the entrance to pit road as McMurray shoots to the outside wall then back into Ragan’s car. Ragan shoots to the outside wall at the start finish line.  

Hamlin, Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Bowyer and Burton are the first back to the track. Biffle is the lucky dog. Kurt Busch and Waltrip stay out along with Yeley, Truex Jr., Sadler, Sorenson and Mears. 

GREEN FLAG lap 278 as Kurt Busch and Waltrip lead the field into the first two turns. These guys are trying to save fuel while Robby Gordon is trying to get back on the lead lap. 

YELLOW FLAG lap 280 as Hornish clips Bowyer in turn three. Hornish heads to the infield and Bowyer to the outside wall. Under yellow Kyle Busch is spun out by Montoya on the front stretch. Busch spins out and back into Montoya’s rear end, bringing his car into the air and spins out near the wall. 

The rain has hit the track, this may be just the end of the race. NASCAR brings the field to pit road. RED FLAG is out. The track is washed out by rain. This may be it for the race. We will be hanging out to see what happens here. 

THE RACE IS OVER – Kurt Busch is the winner. The rest of the top ten finishers of the race are Waltrip, Yeley, Truex Jr., Sadler, Sorenson, Mears, Hamlin, Johnson and Edwards. 

The race lasted for 3 hours. We saw 9 lead changes among 8 drivers. We also saw 7 cautions for 34 laps and the magic red flag to help Kurt Busch win the race. 

42 drivers remained in the race with 26 on the lead lap. 

Stewart led the most laps with 132. Harvick led 54, Mears 53, Earnhardt Jr. 29, Kurt Busch 10, Carpentier 4 with Robby Gordon and Nemechek 1. 

The big mover of the race was Waltrip from 36^th to 2^nd. The hard luck award goes to Riggs, loosing 31 positions to 34^th from his 3^rd place start.