Kurt Busch in lead at NHMS when rain ends race early

[bhdean]

LOUDON, N.H. -- With Kurt Busch's No. 2 Dodge parked behind the pace car on pit road and a rear brake-duct hose dangling onto the pavement, NASCAR called Sunday's Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and anointed a victor who said he didn't deserve to win.
"We weren't the fastest car, and we didn't deserve to win, but the record book will show that we won the Lenox 301," said Busch, who was out front thanks to a fuel-mileage call when rain stopped the race after 284 of 301 laps (watch video).
The unexpected victory was Busch's first of the season and the 18th of his career, as pit strategy scrambled the running order and deprived Tony Stewart's dominant No. 20 Toyota, which spent 132 laps at the front of the field, of a chance to win.
"We had a pretty good car all day," said Pat Tryson, Busch's crew chief. "We topped off the fuel [on Lap 218] and were pretty close to making it to the end. We were hoping for some cautions, we got them, and I told Kurt that we were going to stay on the racetrack and take a gamble. [Sunday] it worked, and it got us a win."
Michael Waltrip, who started at the rear of the field after a post-qualifying engine change, took second, followed by J.J. Yeley, Martin Truex Jr. and Elliott Sadler. Reed Sorenson, Casey Mears, Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Labonte completed the top 10.
"It wasn't the rain, it was strategy," Waltrip said. "This is really great to get all those points, because we desperately needed them. But no smarter than I am, I wanted to go back racing, because I would have given up all those points for a win.
"I really wanted to go back to the green flag, because, as bad as I need those 170 points [for finishing second], I'm cognizant of the difference between first and second."
Stewart and Johnson were running first and second when a hard crash in Turn 4 involving Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray and David Ragan caused the sixth caution (watch video). When Stewart and Johnson led the lead pack to pit road for fuel on Lap 274, 10 cars that had pitted under the previous caution (Laps 218-221) stayed on the track. That group included Busch, Waltrip, Yeley, Truex, Sadler, Sorenson, Mears and Labonte.
One lap after the restart on Lap 279, Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr. wrecked to bring out the seventh and final caution. As the cars rolled under the yellow flag, lightening flashed and so did fireworks between points leader Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya in Turn 1. The two drivers spun each other, a mutual expression of frustration for hard racing that had preceded the caution (watch video).
At that point the leading edge of a violent thunderstorm stopped the race and the ancillary nonsense. Montoya subsequently was assessed a two-lap penalty for rough driving, reflected in his 32nd-place finish.
Stewart, who finished 13th, chalked up another disappointing day in a car capable of winning the race.
"It's just been the oddest year for this race team," Stewart said with resignation, as the rain pelted his car on pit road. "I guarantee there's a crew chief down there [the No. 20's Greg Zipadelli] that they're hiding sharp objects from.
"They gave me the best car I've had since Charlotte [in May, when a flat tire in the closing laps cost him a win]. There's a percentage of this industry that's called luck, and there's nothing you can do to change it."
Notes: Earnhardt finished 24th but held onto the third position in the championship standings. ... Kyle Busch was credited with 25th. His lead over second-place Jeff Burton (12th on Sunday) shrank from 103 to 64 points. Burton posted his 17th consecutive top-15 finish of the season. ... Kevin Harvick regained 12th position in the standings with his 14th-place run, swapping positions with Matt Kenseth, who finished 18th.

[leobold1]

That was one of the strangest races I've seen in years. The top 5 had no racers in the top 20. You'd have to go to 8th place (Hamlin) to find anyone in the top 12 in points. Casey Mears, who was fired earlier in the week, led 35 laps (out of 36 total season laps led). The pole sitter was in 37th place in points. 2 of the top 5 had their first top 5, after never even having a top 10 this year.

I loved it.

And a messge to Kurt:

A win's a win. Strategy plays better than anything else.

[bhdean]

It sure did end in a strange way but pit strategy payed a big part in the outcome. Tony Stewart wasn't very happy when they interviewed him after the race was called but you have to roll the dice and take your chances.

[AT3Weins]

I don't know why Stewart and gang went for 2 tires. That late in the race with weather coming ... seemed a little silly for me.

Then you have "I didn't see him" McMurray who ruined a top 5 finish for Earnhardt. Oh well at least he stayed on the lead lap and neither one was injured.

[leobold1]

Yeah, the leaders did their pits pretty stupid. Even if the race had only been red-flagged until the track dried, they still would have had the time to pit. No matter if the rain came or not, there was still plenty of time after there was no threat of rain to come in.