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Busch shines at Gateway
Getty Images/Jamie Squire
Madison, IL - Kyle Busch added Gateway International Raceway to his list of different tracks he has won in the Nationwide Series after taking Saturday night's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250.
Busch benefited from Kevin Harvick's late-race misfortune, as Harvick ran out of fuel and handed the lead over to Busch with 29 laps remaining. Busch then held off Reed Sorenson and Carl Edwards in the closing laps for his sixth victory of the season and the 27th of his Nationwide career.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has now won at 17 different tracks on NASCAR's second-tier series. He also extended his streak of finishing first or second to seven races.
"That's pretty cool," Busch said. "It goes back to this team. They gave me a great car all weekend long."
Harvick, who led a race-high 105 laps, last pitted on lap 95 before running out of gas on lap 172. He coasted into the pits and fell two laps behind before ending up with a 17th-place finish.
Busch crossed the finish line one second ahead of Sorenson, who made his first Nationwide start since last year's race at Gateway.
"I couldn't catch him," Sorenson said. "During the last run, I did all I could do."
Carl Edwards finished third, followed by Mike Bliss and Brad Coleman, who drove the No.20 car for JGR.
Stephen Leicht, Michael Annett, Brad Keselowski, the pole sitter, Jason Keller and Erik Darnell completed the top-10.
Busch has now stretched his points lead to 212 over Edwards.
The 250-mile race at Gateway featured a rash of accidents during the mid- stages.
While battling for position on lap 85, Scott Lagasse Jr. made contact with Steve Wallace, turning Wallace around with his back end hitting the wall.
Wallace chased down Lagasse on one of the following caution laps, as Wallace displayed his unpleasantness towards the rookie driver. NASCAR slapped him with several penalties, totaling three laps, for his on-track actions.
Lagasse was later involved in an incident with Wallace's teammate, Brendan Gaughan, which put both drivers out of the event.
