Kyle Busch led 137 of the
200 laps in tonight's NASCAR
Nationwide Series (NNS) race
at Charlotte's Lowe's Motor
Speedway en route to his
ninth win of the season in
the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota Camry. With tonight's
win, Busch swept both NNS
races at Lowe's Motor
Speedway in 2008. He also
won the May NNS race driving
the Braun Racing Camry.
Tonight's win is the 19th
for Toyota in NNS
competition this season with
wins coming from Busch
(nine), Tony Stewart (five),
Denny Hamlin (four) and
Logano (one). Brian Vickers
(third) and Mike Wallace
(10th) also had top-10
finishes at Charlotte. Camry
drivers Joey Logano (14th),
Dave Blaney (17th), Jason
Leffler (18th) and David
Reutimann (24th) also
participated in the 300-mile
event. Four Camry drivers
are in the top-10 in the NNS
point standings, including
Busch (sixth), Reutimann
(seventh), Wallace (eighth)
and Leffler (ninth).
KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 NOS
Energy Drink Toyota Camry,
Joe Gibbs Racing Finished:
1st How does it feel to win
tonight? "It's definitely
pretty awesome to be back in
victory lane especially at
Lowe's Motor Speedway, one
of my favorite tracks.
Really got to thank NOS
Energy Drink, Z-Line
Designs, all these guys on
this Joe Gibbs Racing
Toyota. It was just
phenomenal tonight. It was a
lot of fun out there to race
those guys and have a great
win for us. You know, to be
back in victory lane feels
awesome."
How good was your race
car? "The car was
phenomenal. It could go
anywhere you wanted it to. I
could run the top. I could
run the bottom. I managed to
stay on the bottom just so I
didn't burn up the right
front tire. Really want to
thank the fans for sticking
around tonight. I know it
was a long show with the
rain delays and whatnot. I'm
glad they all hung out. And,
of course, the ones on TV,
as well."
Did you have some issues
on the restarts? "You know,
you're not supposed to leave
any room behind you, or in
front of you I should say on
(Jeff) Burton's part. He was
back there about a car
length, a car length and a
half, or so. And I could see
him carrying up to my rear
bumper and he had the
momentum and I wasn't going
to let him have the momentum
on the restarts cause he'd
pull low and pass me getting
into (turn) one. So, I
waited until he got to my
rear bumper and then I went.
He had to stop and I went.
That's what jumbled up the
field back there and
everything. I apologize to
those guys back there, but I
got a race to win, too."
What does it mean for you
to win again at Charlotte?
"It was a phenomenal night
for us. That car was pretty
strong -- we didn't think it
was that strong yesterday.
We felt like we had some
motor issues with it so we
changed the ignition and
some stuff -- the
distributor, carburetor and
all that. It seems as though
it all ran well today so
thankfully it all worked out
and that NOS Energy Drink
Toyota was just fast. It was
pretty phenomenal to drive
-- a lot of fun and a great
race car to be able to run
on the top, run on the
bottom and pass cars any
which way we needed to.
Fortunately, it was pretty
hard to make a mistake on
pit road on what to do with
it -- we could take two
tires or no tires and just
pretty much stay out front.
The car was fast enough that
it could hold its own pace."
Do you think you should
have competed for the NNS
championship? "No -- it's a
lot more fun to not have to
worry about points and just
go out there and race for
wins. I was thinking about
that while I was out there
-- where I would be if I
just gave myself a
10th-place finish in the
races that I missed -- that
I could calculate the points
and see where I was. I don't
know where that would put
me. It's a lot easier to go
out there and race everybody
and all the competitors for
wins instead of having to
concentrate on a particular
guy or a particular couple
guys and seeing what they do
week in and week out. It's
probably no different in the
'Chase,' but at least this
year I don't have to worry
about racing for the
championship anymore -- we
can just worry racing for
wins and getting up there to
get a couple more before the
year's out."
BRIAN VICKERS, No. 32
Dollar General Toyota Camry,
Braun Racing Finished: 3rd
Did you think your car would
be this good after the
accident in qualifying? "I
knew the quality of the
equipment that Braun and
Dollar General put behind
us. Trent (Owens, crew
chief) and all the guys did
a great job getting the car
ready, period, much less
capable of running in the
top-three. We had a really
good night -- we were
missing a couple key
components, but
unfortunately we just
couldn't find them. For a
backup car -- we'll take a
third- place finish and I'm
really proud of Dollar
General sponsoring the race.
We won four Toyota Tundras
for some fans and I'm really
happy about that."
Does this feel almost
like a victory? "In a lot of
ways it does. I'm really
proud of the Dollar General
guys and the Braun guys and
all the guys on the team
that put this car together.
The way the impound deal
works, when you wreck one in
qualifying it's all you can
do to get it ready for the
race much less capable of
running in the top-three.
I'm really proud of their
effort there. It was a good
top-three, but we obviously
wanted that win. Considering
the circumstances we'll take
it."
MIKE WALLACE, No. 7 GEICO
Toyota Camry, Germain Racing
Finished: 10th Can you talk
about your top-10 finish
tonight? "Lowe's (Motor
Speedway) is a track where
I've enjoyed a lot of good
runs, I was tenth here in
May on the white flag lap,
but, I was wrecked out
coming to take the
checkered. That's kind of
been my luck here. Great
runs, without the finishes.
The GEICO Camry was
excellent tonight. We had no
adjustments on pit road --
the car was that good. The
GEICO crew did a great job
putting the car back
together after our trip
through the grass and I am
really happy we were able to
come out of the Dollar
General 300 with a top-ten
finish."
JOEY LOGANO, No. 20 Farm
Bureau Insurance Toyota
Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finished: 14th How was your
race tonight? "Man, that
turned out to be one of the
longest nights of my life.
It was tough trying to come
back with a broken race car.
I feel bad for the guys. It
looked really good for us
early on. I started out
pretty tight but then I was
able to get in the lead and
stay there for a lot of
laps. Then we tried to
loosen it up a bit and went
a little too far, so we fell
back on the next restart.
But we had a good handle on
where we wanted to go from
there. Then, all of a
sudden, I went outside to
pass the 10 (Dave Blaney)
and I have no idea what
happened. It felt like a big
gust of wind took the nose
right up into the wall or
something. It was weird.
After that, we just tried
the best we could. That's
one of the hardest things to
do in racing."
DAVE BLANEY, No. 10
Dollar General Toyota Camry,
Braun Racing Finished: 17th
JASON LEFFLER, No. 38
Great Clips Toyota Camry,
Braun Racing Finished: 18th
DAVID REUTIMANN, No. 99
Aaron's 'Dream Machine'
Toyota Camry, Michael
Waltrip Racing Finished:
24th