Kyle Busch’s pit crew may well deserve the credit for winning Saturday’s CampingWorld.com 300 Nationwide Series race at Auto Club Speedway.
To Kevin Harvick, on the other hand, there was little doubt that his pit crew lost it.
Strong on short runs but no match for Harvick on longer ones, Busch rallied from a pit-road speeding penalty to beat Nationwide points leader Brad Keselowski to the finish line by 1.034 seconds.
The victory was Busch’s 12th of the year (extending his single-season record), his fourth at the 2-mile track and the 42nd of his career—leaving him six behind series leader Mark Martin in career wins. NASCAR.com
“Pit road probably won this race, so I can’t thank this team enough,” said Busch, who led at total of 38 laps. “For us to come out here and get number twelve, it’s awesome, and this team enjoys doing this.”
It’s the third time this season that Busch rebounded from a pit road speeding penalty to win a Nationwide race.
“I don’t know, maybe I should do it more often,” he added.
Busch has now won four of the last five Nationwide races at California.
Kevin Harvick, who led a race-high 86 laps, settled for third.
Carl Edwards finished fourth, while Joey Logano, the defending race winner, took the fifth spot. MiamiHerald.com
Harvick’s slow-motion pit crew was all the advantage Busch needed.
Twice in the last half of the race Harvick entered the pits with the lead, only to exit in sixth after his crew fumbled away tire changes. Harvick led a race-high 86 laps, but spent most of the day yelling at his crew on the radio.
“Our cars are tremendously better than what they had been — we’ve taken that next step,” said Harvick, who finished third. “Obviously, we’ve got to take that next step on pit road because they’re just doing a terrible job. That’s not what our operation is all about. If they can’t stand the pressure, they better find something else to do.”
Harvick had a tire-changing problem as well after a crewman got gas in his eyes, dropping him from first to sixth.
“Come on guys, can we win a damn race?” Harvick said through his radio after the sluggish stop.
“I’m terrified to come down pit road,” he said on the radio.
No gas in the eye and no worries this time; a quick stop and Harvick was fourth for the restart and was up to third not long after that.
“The guys flat out aren’t doing a good job on pit road,” said Harvick, third in the Sprint Cup Chase.
Busch didn’t have to worry about the crew members. They had a clean final stop, sending him out in the lead when the green flew again. Busch survived two more restarts and had a comfortable 1.034-second margin as he crossed the checkers to win for the third time this season after being hit with a speeding penalty. The Associated Press
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NASCAR Nationwide Series: CampingWorld.com 300 - Race Results
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