Maybe Matt Kenseth’s luck has turned again.
On Friday afternoon, Kenseth was the surprise pole winner for Saturday’s Southern 500 Sprint Cup race at Darlington Raceway.
On Friday night, he completed the daily double with a victory in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 Nationwide Series race at the 1.366-mile egg-shaped track, after misfortune struck the dominant car of Kyle Busch in the closing circuits. NASCAR.com
Kyle Busch led 143 laps and appeared to be on his way to a third consecutive NASCAR national touring race. But Busch suffered a flat right-rear tire after he ran over debris from a wreck involving Joe Nemechek and Scott Lagasse Jr., which set up a green-white-checkered finish.
“Kyle pretty much had the best car all night,” Kenseth said. “I knew he had a flat, but I wasn’t sure what he was going to do because of the green-white- checkered (finish). If there’s a caution, the race is over, so I didn’t know if he was going to attempt to restart or not.”
Busch, who won both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series race at Richmond last weekend, ended up finishing 16th.
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: Darlington Raceway - Race Results
“It was just very disappointing,” Busch’s crew chief Jason Ratcliff said. “It’s just part of this sport.”
Jason Leffler finished second to record his fifth straight top-10 finish. Kansas City Star
Busch did not speak to the media after the race, jumping on a golf cart and pulling away. His crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, said the team was disappointed by the dramatic turn. “But hey, that’s part of this sport,” Ratcliff said.
Not when Busch is rolling.
The 24-year-old has been an upstoppable NASCAR force the past two seasons. Last week, he reached 50 victories in the sport’s three touring series and was ready to check off No. 51 at Darlington, where he’s the defending Sprint Cup winner.
Busch had no choice, though, but to slowly roll into the pits.
“It was so flat, I think I would’ve passed him before turn one,” Kenseth said.
Turns out Kenseth barely made it that far before Shepherd, starting his 250th Nationwide event in 27 years, hit the inside wall to instantly end the race.
Brad Keselowski, racing for the first time since his surprise Sprint Cup win at Talladega, had his struggles with the “Lady In Black.” Keselowski was hit from behind in turn one, lap one, then spun out twice more during the race. He finished 11th, ending a streak of five top 10s in the Nationwide Series. The Associated Press
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