It's been a tough start to the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series for Kyle Busch. Every week it seems like he has the fastest car in the race but he can't close the deal. That's what happened last week in Las Vegas when Jeff Burton ran him down on the final turn. Busch won the pole for Saturday's Nicorette 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Could he end his bad luck this time? The other issue in the race was tire wear and NASCAR planned to throw a competition caution on lap 35. Tire wear was a factor in the race.
Kyle Busch's #5 Lowe's/Busch Gardens Chevy dominated the race. He led from the start. Matt Kenseth's #17 Arby's Ford took the lead on lap 30 and Busch faded to fifth. But after pit stops during the lap 35 competition caution, Busch regained the lead on lap 40 from Kasey Kahne's #9 Ragu Dodge. Hard crash on lap 63. Jason Leffler's #38 Great Clips Toyota cuts a tire, slams the wall and collects Reed Sorenson's #41 Juicy Fruit Dodge. It was as hard as Leffler's crash in California but he was OK. Jeff Burton's #29 Holiday Inn Chevy led after pit stops but Busch regained the lead in short order.
Caution caomes out on lap 79 when Jamie McMurray's #26 Dish Network Ford spins. A very strange crash during the caution. Kyle Krisiloff's #14 Clabber Girl Baking Powder Ford got his lap back. While he was attempting to go around to get back on the lead lap, Tony Raines' #33 RoadLoans.com Chevy was cleaning his tires and didn't see Krisiloff and Krisiloff slammed into him. Raines' spotter is to blame for this. Busch led on the lap 88 restart.
Then the tire wear issues started to surface. Jeff Burton felt a vibration on lap 117 and pitted. It turned out to be a worn right front tire. Matt Kenseth pitted with similar problems. Green flag pit stops had cycled through when Jon Wood's #47 ArmourAll Ford & Steve Wallace's #66 HomeLife Dodge crashed on lap 141. Everyone pitted and Busch continued to lead. The broadcasters talked about whether guys would pit again for tires if the race went green the rest of the way. But I was sure there would be another caution.
On lap 167, Sam Hornish Jr's #12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge tapped Todd Kleuver's #16 3M Ford and turned him into the wall. So everyone pits for fresh tires. Two big mistakes on pit road decide the end of the race. Tony Stewart's #20 Goody's Cool Orange Chevy pits while pit road is closed. He was in fifth and had to restart in 16th place. But the big mistake was on leader Kyle Busch's car. A lug nut was left off the left front tire. This was spotted by a NASCAR official and he had to come back into the pits. Busch restarted 17th.
Jeff Burton leads Matt Kenseth & Kevin Harvick's #21 Auto Zone Chevy. Kyle Busch is coming up through the field. Burton pulls away for his second straight Busch Series win. Harvick gets around Kenseth for second and Busch is third. So Kyle Busch loses another Busch Series race. Here is video footage of Tony Stewart & Kyle Busch's pit road penalties.
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