• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Busch dominates in winning Emerson Radio 250

Sep 8, 2007 - 3:10 AM By Brit Fryer PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

RICHMOND, Virginia (Ticker) - Kyle Busch made up for the ones that got away Friday night, dominating the NASCAR Busch Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

The 22-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver led all but 25 laps to earn his second Busch victory of the season and ninth of his career. It was his second Richmond win from the pole, as his Chevrolet finished .868 seconds ahead of the Ford of points leader Carl Edwards.

Busch had been in position to win a half dozen other races this season, leading the most laps in six of 14 events before Friday. On this night, however, Busch's Chevrolet had a stranglehold on the Emerson Radio 250 and wasn't letting go.

All totaled, Busch led 227 of 252 laps.

"A great night to be involved with Hendrick Motorsports," said Busch, who owns seven top-three finishes in 15 starts. "We're great with winning race cars. It was more than we could expect."

The Dodge of Ryan Newman came home third, with Matt Kenseth's Ford and Mike Bliss' Dodge completing the top five.

Busch narrowly avoided disaster on lap 160.

Paul Menard's Chevrolet spun right in front of Kenseth entering turn one. Kenseth could do nothing but spin himself to avoid any serious damage.

Busch, closing fast on the smoke and wreckage, squeezed his way between Kenseth on the bottom and Menard on the top.

He never looked back from there, despite a flurry of late cautions that included a six-minute red-flag period with five laps go.

It only delayed the inevitable and extended the race two extra laps, as Busch rocketed away on the green-white-checkered restart just like he had done so many times earlier in the race.

"I knew Matt Kenseth had the car to beat," Busch said. "I have to thank Matt for spinning himself out with the lapped cars."

Kenseth said he had nowhere to go.

"A couple of lapped cars got together, and I got on the brakes," Kenseth said. "I turned the wheel and just couldn't get it slowed down."

Edwards' Roush Fenway Racing Ford was strong - just like Kenseth's - but nothing compared to Busch's rocket.

"I wish we could have put on a better show there at the end," Edwards said. "We could have got Kyle, but he had a great car."

Brian Vickers finished sixth, followed by Denny Hamlin, Scott Wimmer, Kasey Kahne and Jason Keller.

There were six lead changes among three drivers, and eight yellow flags consumed 40 laps. Edwards now leads the championship standings by 733 points over Kevin Harvick.