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Kyle Busch Dominates At Bristol

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By JENNA FRYER The Associated Press

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 22, 2009

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Kyle Busch has dominated at Bristol Motor Speedway before, only to be denied a trip to Victory Lane.

Not this time.

Busch led 378 of 503 laps on Sunday to win the Food City 500, his second victory of the season. It was redemption for Busch, who lost his power steering while leading last spring and was bumped from the front in August by Carl Edwards after leading 415 laps.

And he was well on his way to victory in the Nationwide Series race on Saturday, leading a race-high 157 laps before his crew let a tire slip away on the final pit stop. The ensuing penalty knocked him out of contention and he finished sixth.

"We should have won here last fall, we should have won here Saturday," Busch said. "This place probably owes me a few. But you can never ask a racetrack to pay you back. You just have to just keep working on it."

He was untouchable in his Toyota on Sunday, even to teammate Denny Hamlin, who followed him across the finish line.

"Man, it's great to get a 1-2," Hamlin said of the Joe Gibbs Racing dominance.

Hamlin has had his own heartbreak at Bristol - he led 98 laps last spring and was headed to the win when a fuel pickup problem cost him the victory. He finished third, again behind Busch, in August.

Defending three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson was third in a Chevrolet to tie his career-best Bristol finish, back in 2004. Jeff Gordon, his teammate at Hendrick Motorsports, was fourth. Kasey Kahne was fifth in a Dodge.

A Busch brother has won the past three races. Kyle Busch won at Las Vegas on March 1, and Kurt followed it with a win at Atlanta on March 15.

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