Jamie McMurray believed he had the fastest car from the first practice to the last lap Saturday night.
McMurray proved the point by taking the lead for good on the final restart and holding off Kyle Busch to win the Great Clips 300 Nationwide Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch, trying to become the first driver in the 28-year history of the Nationwide Series to win 11 races in a season, fell short in his late attempt to catch McMurray.
Busch dropped from first to third as McMurray took the lead coming out of pit row following the final caution flag on the 167th of 195 laps. The Detroit News
McMurray, who drove the No.88 Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s Nationwide team, JR Motorsports, held the lead when the fourth and final caution came after Reed Sorenson slammed hard into the wall. Busch beat McMurray out of the pits, but Keselowski gambled and stayed out on the track. McMurray charged from third to first after the restart.
Busch moved ahead of Keselowski shortly after to take the second spot. Busch chased down McMurray during the final five laps, but came up 0.29 seconds short of picking up his record 11th win in the series this season. MiamiHerald.com
“When we unloaded today, we had the fastest car,” McMurray said. “It was just loose. Pops [crew chief Tony Eury Sr.] made an adjustment. It was really strong. It was running so well I didn’t think I was running that hard. At the end it felt like I was running about 95 percent. We just had the best car today.”
Following McMurray and Busch in the top five were Carl Edwards, Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.
Keselowski finished 12th but has a 332-point lead over the second-place Edwards. FOXNews
“We just had a really good day,” McMurray said. “At the end we just had tons of speed and certainly getting out in front on that last restart was critical. … Fortunately, we got a jump there and got ahead of Kyle. The clean air out front is huge.”
“We just didn’t quite have enough there on the short run to keep up with [McMurray],” Busch said. NASCAR.com
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: Great Clips 300 at Atlanta - Race Results
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