By Ryan - Posted on August 26, 2009

Kyle Busch won the Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway, sweeping the event for the first time since his brother did it in 2003, NASCAR News agencies report.  This win effectively has saved the #18 driver’s season, at least for the moment.  Busch now sits 34 points away from 12th place with two races to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup begins.  The night again belonged to the #5 Kellogg’s driver “Old Man” Mark Martin, who celebrated his 1000th career start with a second place finish.

Out of tremendous respect for Martin’s career and the history of the sport, Busch took his time in Victory Lane to point out Martin’s milestone.  He said, “Mark Martin -- what a class act.  He deserved to win this race. I'm sorry he came home in second. I know how he feels. I drove as hard as I could.”  Marcos Ambrose, the third place finisher added, “It was a wonderful night for me.  To race against Mark in his 1000th start and against Kyle Busch, who will go down as one of the greatest, I was in special territory up there and thrilled to be there.  Here I am with nine laps to go with these legend drivers and I'm like, ‘Why am I here?'"

All of the kind words and gentleman’s gestures seemed to overshadow some of the less than happy moments on Saturday night.  Clint Bowyer, who started the night in contention for the Chase finished 21st after a hard crash with Michael Waltrip with only nine laps left.  Waltrip was loose in the previous turn and made contact with Martin Truex, Jr. and David Reutimann.  This gave the NAPA Toyota a tire puncture causing him to spin.  Bowyer initially made no contact but got spun from behind when everyone was trying to check up.  Bowyer then rear ended Waltrip’s car.  His finish placed him 112 points out of 12th, which has all but ended his hopes for the Chase.  Bowyer stormed to his trailer following the finish, proving that in  August, the tempers heat up as much as the excitement of the racing itself.