Bitter Homecoming for Busch at Las Vegas

Las Vegas, March 1, 2009: An early accident ended any chance for Kyle Busch to claim victory in Saturday’s Sam’s Town 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Busch was battling Kevin Harvick for the lead on lap 22 when Busch’ car bobbled and he lost control of his No. 18 Z-Line Designs Toyota Camry in turn four. The rear of his car slammed the SAFER Barrier on the outside retaining wall while the car of rookie Scott Speed, who was in third-place, careened into the front of Busch’s car.

Busch, who grew up in Las Vegas and is a 2002 honors graduate from Durango High School, was checked and released without injury from the infield medical center. His Z-Line Designs Toyota, however, was too damaged to continue, resulting in a 39th-place finish.

“It was just a mistake on my part battling for the lead that early in the race,” said Busch, who won last week’s Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. “I tried getting on the inside of Harvick there and got all of the air taken off my side and spun out. It was just 100 percent my fault for racing for the lead that early in the race. For as good as that Z-Line Designs Toyota was driving, I should’ve just rode around in second-place all day and waited to make the move on the last lap.”

The tough outing dropped Busch four positions to fifth in the championship point standings, 109 markers arrears new series leader Carl Edwards. Busch came into the Sam’s Town 300 as the point leader thanks to last week’s win and a fourth-place finish in the season-opening Nationwide Series race two weeks ago at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. Busch is running the full 35-race Nationwide Series schedule in 2009.

Greg Biffle won the Sam’s Town 300 to score his 19th career Nationwide Series victory, his first of the season and his first at Las Vegas. The win also snapped a 76-race winless streak in the Nationwide Series for the Vancouver, Wash., native dating back to Feb. 25, 2006 at Auto Club Speedway.

Edwards finished .391 of a second behind Biffle, while Brian Vickers, Jason Leffler and Dale Earnhardt Jr., rounded out the top-five. Michael McDowell, Brendan Gaughan, Justin Allgaier, Scott Lagasse Jr., and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

The race featured 12 caution periods for a race-record 60 laps, with a staggering 18 drivers failing to finish the race, which was extended nine laps beyond the scheduled 200-lap distance due to a green-white-checkered finish.

The Nationwide Series is idle for the next two weeks before racing resumes with the March 21 Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway. The race starts at 2:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 2 p.m.