Driving the No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota, Busch ended the four-race winning streak of the No. 20 Toyota that belongs to his full-time owner, Joe Gibbs. Denny Hamlin, who took a turn in the No. 20 on Saturday, finished second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and polesitter Brian Vickers.
“Before the race, I said, hopefully we could have the Dollar General Toyota (Braun’s car) come home in first place with him (Hamlin) the runner-up, ” Busch said.
But in stretching a tank of gas the final 68 laps, Busch still ensured a JGR driver celebrated in Victory Lane for a seventh consecutive race. He was visited during the celebration by team president J. D. Gibbs.
“That JGR team has been pretty stout this year and I’ve been fortunate to drive their cars a couple times and it’s really been nice to see how fast those things are, ” Busch said. “But we had our Braun Racing car really fast tonight too.”
He got his wish, but the real fireworks occurred between Hamlin and Keselowski under the final caution. Keselowski tapped Hamlin’s Camry as the cars circled the track behind the pace car. Hamlin retaliated by turning right into Keselowski’s No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet.
“What the hell did he do that for? ” asked Earnhardt, Keselowski’s car owner, after the race. “Brad bumped him just a little bit under caution, and Denny knocked the fender off his car. Now the car’s all tore up. “
As Busch celebrated his 15th win in the series, crews from the two teams engaged in an angry confrontation on pit road, as NASCAR officials tried to keep the teams apart.
Hamlin complained that Keselowski had repeatedly failed to give him racing room earlier in the event.
“Give a guy two inches to let him clear, and don’t just hang onto my rear quarter panel, ” said Hamlin, who made it clear that his retaliation was for the bump under caution, not for the way Keselowski had raced him. “You throw a rock, I’m going to throw a concrete block back. “
Keselowski, a full-time Nationwide driver, had a different perspective.
“I race one day a week, not two, ” he said. “I have 200 laps to prove myself, not 400. I have to make the most of every lap. “
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