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Kyle Busch snuck
past Tony Stewart on a late round of pit stops and got his fourth
spring win in a row at Richmond. Photo by Yahoo Sports
Kyle Busch wins
controversy-spattered race at Richmond
Yahoo Sports
RICHMOND, Va.- If there’s a lesson to be learned from Saturday night’s
race at Richmond, it’s a time-honored one in NASCAR: careful what you
wish for; you just might get it.
After two straight weeks of dull, almost drama-free racing, NASCAR
controversy returned in full force at Richmond, potentially robbing two
of the sport’s most notable drivers of victories. In the end, however,
it was Kyle Busch, once again, who took the checkers in the Capital
City 400.
The victory brings to an end an ugly streak for Busch that dates back
to last fall’s suspension, and it comes at one of Busch’s very finest
tracks. Busch has now won the last four spring races at Richmond,
breaking a tie with Richard Petty, who won three from 1971 to 1973.
Busch has recorded 13 top 10 finishes in 15 races run at Richmond.
Unlike several of his Richmond races, Busch wasn’t the dominant car on
Saturday evening. But he ran well exactly when he needed to, and he was
in position to take advantage of two highly controversial NASCAR
decisions.
A restart that saw Carl Edwards get an early jump and a subsequent
black flag took out the best driver of the night. But it was the
late-race caution that raised the ire of the second-best driver, one
Tony Stewart.
On TV cameras, Stewart waved a plastic bottle, mocking the “debris”
that brought out a caution with less than 15 laps remaining. (Of note,
TV cameras couldn’t find the “debris” on either of the two cautions
that were for track obstructions.)
Stewart had been dominating the race after Edwards’ penalty, and
appeared headed for an easy victory until the caution flag flew. But
the restart allowed Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. to slip past Stewart
with little trouble ... and Stewart had little trouble sharing his
feelings on the validity of the caution.
“It was out of the groove,” Stewart said of the water bottle afterward,
according to the AP’s Jenna Fryer. “It had been sitting there for eight
laps.”
And that right there is the problem that NASCAR faces when trying to
manufacture drama. When both your race winner and your third-place
finisher are questioning the need for a caution, something’s up.
Clearly, the last thing NASCAR wanted was yet another green flag to the
finish, but by throwing out a phantom caution it only added to the
perception that the sport is not above creating a little action when
none exists.
Still, for the 18 team, a win is a win, and the victory helps
reestablish Busch as one of the sport’s premier drivers ... if not its
smoothest. “What up, boys? We back!” he crowed. “Hell to the yeah!” And
it sounded every bit as painful as it reads. But it was a victory, and
on Saturday night, that was just fine with Kyle.
The Points Standings:
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