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Busch Booed, Then Triumphs

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By DAN GELSTON

The Associated Press

Published: June 2, 2008

DOVER, Del. - As is the case at most NASCAR tracks, Kyle Busch heard the boos at Dover International Speedway.

The driver NASCAR fans love to hate no doubt had them even more exasperated when he arrived in Victory Lane - again.

Jeers and victories, they're pretty much routine for the tempestuous Busch these days.

"I just want to win everything, man," the series points leader said. "That's all I'm here for."

Busch was simply sensational again, dominating the second half of the Best Buy 400 race Sunday and charging to his Sprint Cup series-best fourth win of the season.

"We were able to get to the right place at the right time when it mattered most," Busch said.

Busch made it 10 wins total this season, including two in the Craftsman Truck Series and four in the Nationwide Series. He won for the third time in the last five Cup races.

And when the Joe Gibbs Racing driver doesn't find himself taking the checkered flag at the end of a Cup race, he's pretty close: Busch earned his fifth straight top-three finish and hasn't finished outside of the top 10 in any of the last seven races.

"I've found something that's worked for me recently," said Busch, rattling off his list of successes.

Team owner Joe Gibbs was in the middle of the celebration on pit road while Busch took a bow from his No. 18 Toyota and saluted his crew.

Busch increased his points lead from 94 to 142 against second place Jeff Burton after a race where the standings underwent a shakeup because an early wreck took out several contenders.

Busch heard the familiar boos during prerace introductions, which have cemented his status as NASCAR's least-popular driver. He has some fun in the role and seems to have accepted the fact he's NASCAR's latest "Bad Boy."

"I want to thank all the fans even if they're not Kyle Busch fans," he said.

Gibbs, though, thought Busch had been humbled since making the move from Hendrick Motorsports. The Redskins coach and NASCAR owner talked about Busch spending time recently with underprivileged kids at a theme park and trying to be a positive role model.

"I thought that was an awesome day where these little guys were following him around," Gibbs said.

Gibbs sure didn't paint the picture of Busch as a villain.

Roush Fenway Racing teammates Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle were second and third in the Best Buy 400. Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five.

"No good," Edwards said. "Not what we came here to do."

Busch gave all the credit to his pit crew, winning with what he called a third-place car.

"I think Kyle's being modest," Edwards said. "I think that last run, his car was the best car."

Busch, Biffle and Edwards were lucky to be out front early and miss the 10-car wreck early in the race that wiped out five of the top eight in the points standings. Elliott Sadler was turned into the wall and his No. 19 Dodge was smashed into by Tony Stewart's No. 20 car, triggering a massive pileup that put several cars in the garage and ended all hope of contention.

Danny Hamlin was knocked out of the race, and Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Clint Bowyer all returned later with their cars either missing a hood, a fender or running 100-plus laps behind. But they didn't want to quit and give up a shot at earning needed points, even if the best drivers could do was run slow and try to stay out of the way of the leaders.

Hamlin suffered the most in the standings, dropping from fourth to ninth. Boyer, Harvick and Stewart all fell three spots. Biffle rocketed from 11th - one spot away from the Chase cutoff - to fifth in the standings.

Stewart took the blame for running too close to Sadler. Stewart lost his chance at victory last week at Charlotte after the No. 20 Toyota got a flat tire with three laps left.

"Unfortunately, adversity is our motto here at Joe Gibbs Racing," Stewart said.

Well, unless you're on Kyle Busch's team.

Biffle, the polesitter, led 99 of the first 100 laps and was cruising on the concrete until his car had some issues that quickly dropped him off the pace. Busch didn't take the lead for the first time until the 150th lap on the 1-mile concrete track. He led 158 laps.

"In the end, he got his car right and was able to drive off," Biffle said.

Busch even got his race helmet back after a fan sneaked in the garage area Friday night and tried to steal the piece of equipment. Someone saw the act, security caught the man and returned the helmet to Busch.

"It's not a lucky helmet or any of that," Busch said.

Gibbs interjected. "On second thought, it might be a lucky helmet," he said, laughing.

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