By Ryan - Posted on May 19, 2010
Kyle Busch always believes he will win the race, whether it is the truck series, the Nationwide Series, or the Sprint Cup Series. He very nearly won all three at Dover this weekend, except for being a couple of gallons short of fuel in the truck race. After winning the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, Kyle Busch won by seven seconds over second place finisher Jeff Burton.
The Autism Speaks 400 was short track racing at its best, with Busch and Jimmie Johnson trading the lead back and forth. However, Johnson made an uncharacteristic mistake on pit road, which handed the race to Busch. During a green-flag pit stop on Lap 363, in an attempt to beat Busch back on to the track, Johnson was flagged for speeding. The resulting pass-through penalty put him a lap down, and he ended the race in 16th place.
Johnson acknowledged the mistake. "I just had too much forward bite leaving the pit box and got going too fast and got busted," Johnson said.
"I think the race off pit road really won it for us," Busch said, noting that he didn't know if Johnson sped in an attempt to beat him back onto the track, "but that's what I'm going with. Unfortunately for those guys ... they got busted for speeding and we weren't able to beat them outright and race them around to the end of the race the last 30 laps.
The top five was rounded out by Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, and David Reutimann.
Busch’s win moved him to second place in the point standings, 69 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
This is the fifth win in the past seven Cup races for Joe Gibbs Racing. "We're just getting started really here," owner Joe Gibbs said. "I'm thrilled that the last seven or eight weeks have gone so well for us, but the reality is, that can all turn in a week."
Greg Biffle finished strong in sixth place, and series leader Kevin Harvick finished seventh. The rest of the top ten were Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, and Joey Logano.
The Sprint Cup series takes a break from points racing next weekend, as they are in Charlotte for the All-Star race.
