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SOUTHERN
SHORT TRACK RACING NEWS
| Busch Wins in Mexico; Third Straight NASCAR Nationwide Series Victory | Courtesy: NASCAR, Inc.
MEXICO CITY -April 20, 2008- Kyle Busch got on his radio and advised anyone who was listening that Scott Pruett would get dumped if he kept blocking Busch as they battled for the lead Sunday in the NASCAR Nationwide Series Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Pruett didn’t need to hear those words. He already had been there, done that.
Having been tapped by teammate Juan Pablo Montoya battling for the lead last year, Pruett let Busch by with nine laps remaining and Busch sprinted to his third consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series victory.
A few laps before the pass for the win, Busch had been hammering hard on Pruett’s bumper.
“He was just blocking a little bit too much, I believe,” said Busch, who had never won a NASCAR race on a road course. “Now I understand why he got dumped last year. And if it came down to it, it was going to be again. He smoked the tires, and I was able to get by him.”
Pruett ended up also getting passed by Marcos Ambrose for second and settled for third.
“(Busch) shoved me a few times, telling me he was getting anxious to go,” said Pruett, who led 36 of the 80 laps. “Instead of getting turned around and my car tore up like last year, I gave him (room) and thought I could hold on and Marcos came up as well.
“It was a good run, not a great run.”
Ambrose scored his career-best finish while also annoying several drivers, including Busch and Boris Said.
After an accident knocked Said out of the race with 28 laps remaining, Said pointed angrily at Ambrose.
“It’s going to cost him a car one day -- I’m going to go over and apologize to his team (now for that),” Said explained afterward. “He either made a mistake or he’s incredibly stupid, and I don’t think he’d make a big mistake like that. I wouldn’t expect it from him.
“I’m not going to get mad, I’m just going to get even.”
Ambrose publicly apologized for the accident with Said. “If I could take it back, I would,” Ambrose said. “I didn’t mean to get into Boris. He’s a great racer. I’ve idolized him in the past and still do. If I could turn the clock back, I would. It’s just hard racing up there.”
Carl Edwards finished fourth, Patrick Carpentier was fifth and points leader Clint Bowyer sixth. Bowyer leads Edwards by nine points and Busch by 66.
Busch had not planned to run the entire season but now has won three consecutive events.
“The consideration is there, but still it’s one round and a race-by-race deal,” Busch said. “I’m not going to let anything out of the bag quite yet -- I’m not even sure if there’s anything left in the bag to let out.”
RESULTS
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS 1 6 20 Kyle Busch Toyota Doosan Infracore 190/5 80 Running 2 4 59 Marcos Ambrose Ford Kingsford Hickory Charcoal 170/0 80 Running 3 2 40 Scott Pruett Dodge Fastenal 175/10 80 Running 4 3 60 Carl Edwards Ford Scotts Water Smart 165/5 80 Running 5 6 9 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Auto Value 160/5 80 Running 6 8 2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet BB&T 150/0 80 Running 7 21 29 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet Holiday Inn / Holiday Inn Express 151/5 80 Running 8 28 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet U.S. Navy 142/0 80 Running 9 24 1 Mike Bliss Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 138/0 80 Running 10 12 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 134/0 80 Running 11 33 99 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron's Dream Machine 130/0 80 Running 12 19 7 Mike Wallace Toyota GEICO 127/0 80 Running 13 11 12 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge Penske Truck Rental 124/0 80 Running 14 32 5 Adrian Fernandez Chevrolet Lowe's 121/0 80 Running 15 17 64 Max Papis Chevrolet Atreus Homes & Communities 118/0 80 Running 16 13 27 Brad Coleman Ford Carino's Italian Grill 115/0 80 Running 17 9 111 Jason Keller Chevrolet America's Incredible Pizza Company 117/5 80 Running 18 16 22 Ruben Pardo Dodge Bombardier Learjet / Telcel 109/0 80 Running 19 26 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet Reel Deal "Card Games" on Phantom EFX 106/0 80 Running 20 15 37 Rafael Martinez Ford Scotiabank Inverlat / Canel's 103/0 80 Running 21 36 38 Jason Leffler Toyota Great Clips 100/0 80 Running 22 22 6 David Ragan Ford Discount Tire 97/0 80 Running 23 41 4 Landon Cassill * Chevrolet Miccosukee Resort & Gaming 94/0 80 Running 24 42 161 Kevin Lepage Ford Specialty Racing 91/0 80 Running 25 30 81 D.J. Kennington Dodge MC2 Energy Drink / NPPL 88/0 80 Running 26 14 17 Erik Darnell Ford CitiFinancial 85/0 80 Running 27 37 198 Alex Garcia Chevrolet Dixien / OmniSource Corp. 82/0 80 Running 28 27 24 Brian Simo Chevrolet Hefty 79/0 80 Running 29 25 41 Kyle Krisiloff Dodge Polaroid 76/0 80 Running 30 35 30 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet NOS Energy Drink / 4caring.org 73/0 80 Running 31 18 47 Kelly Bires Ford Clorox 70/0 79 Running 32 15 33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet RoadLoans.com 67/0 78 Running 33 3 16 Colin Braun Ford 3M 69/5 76 Running 34 10 186 Antonio Perez Dodge Telmex / Chivas Racing 61/0 75 Running 35 5 25 Boris Said Ford No Fear / Team Smithfield / Advance Auto Parts 58/0 54 Running 36 20 32 Michel Jourdain Jr. Toyota Visit Durango / Visit Mexico 55/0 39 Running 37 34 109 Kevin O'Connell Chevrolet Gen'l Environmental Mgmt / Taleo Grill 52/0 32 In Pit 38 38 331 Kenny Hendrick Chevrolet INTERUSH / GrandStay.net 49/0 30 In Pit 39 39 184 Jose Luis Ramirez Dodge The Perfect Game / Rayere 46/0 28 Out of Race 40 31 90 Chris Cook Chevrolet Drifting Mexico 43/0 20 In Pit 41 43 91 Larry Gunselman Chevrolet MSRP Motorsports 40/0 17 In Pit 42 42 52 Scott Gaylord Ford Means Racing 37/0 12 In Pit 43 39 01 Kertus Davis Chevrolet RaceGirl 34/0 1 In Pit Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!
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