Compliments of NASCAR, Inc.

Dover, DE -June 1, 2008- Points leader Kyle Busch made mincemeat of the competition and a mockery of Sunday's Best Buy 400 at Dover International Speedway.

In a race that stayed green for the final 153 laps, Busch gained a total of 5 seconds over runner-up Carl Edwards on his final two pit stops, built a lead that topped 8 seconds and cruised in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota to a 4.225-second win, his fourth of the season and the eighth of his career (watch video).

Pole-sitter Greg Biffle ran third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr., as only six cars finished on the lead lap.

Busch grabbed the lead from Edwards during a cycle of green-flag pit stops that ended on Lap 237. NASCAR called a caution on Lap 243 for debris in Turn 2 -- under which the leaders remained on the track -- and after a restart on Lap 248, Edwards dogged Busch until both drivers brought their cars to the pits under green on Lap 319.

Busch gained almost 3 seconds on pit road and pulled away steadily for the next 60 laps before backing off in the closing circuits.

"We didn't have the car to beat [Sunday]," said Busch, who expanded his lead in the championship standings over eighth-place finisher Jeff Burton to 142 points. "Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle did. But our guys on pit road [were] phenomenal -- got us out front -- and that's what won the race for us. The guys that pitted this thing on pit road definitely won the race for us."

Edwards acknowledged he was slow getting off pit road on his final stop, but he gained two positions to fourth in the Cup standings with the second-place finish.

"It's not what we came here for, but the car was good [Sunday]," Edwards said. "I wish we could have put on a better show for the fans. I wish we could have had a caution there at the end -- but Kyle deserved it.

Biffle led 164 laps to Busch's 158, but he developed an ignition problem on Lap 169 and surrendered the lead to Edwards before switching to his second battery. Biffle ran the rest of the race without the use of air conditioning or brake fans in his car.

"The engine started missing, but we changed batteries, and it came back on line," said Biffle, who vaulted six positions to fifth in the Cup standings. "We were just a little too tight all day. That's really what the problem was."

The monster that inhabits the Monster Mile woke up early Sunday. Seventeen laps into the race, contact in Turn 2 between David Gilliland and Elliott Sadler triggered an 11-car wreck that ruined the afternoon for Chase contenders Dale Earnhardt Jr. (35th), Clint Bowyer (36th), Kevin Harvick (38th), Tony Stewart (41st) and Denny Hamlin (43rd).

Earnhardt, who held third in the points standings (now 271 behind Busch), was the only one of those five drivers who didn't lose at least three positions in the standings, though none of the drivers dropped out of the top 12 (read more).

Notes: Roush Fenway Racing put three cars in the top five -- Edwards, Biffle and Kenseth -- for the first time since July 2006 at New Hampshire. ... Sam Hornish Jr. drove his No. 77 Dodge back into the top 35 in owner points with an 18th-place finish. The No. 66 Haas CNC Chevrolet, driven by Scott Riggs, suffered a 150-point penalty on Tuesday for a rear-wing mount infraction May 24 at Lowe's Motor Speedway and fell to 36th in owner points.

FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 2 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Combos 190/5 400 Running
2 3 99 Carl Edwards Ford Office Depot 175/5 400 Running
3 1 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 175/10 400 Running
4 8 17 Matt Kenseth Ford DEWALT NANO Technology 165/5 400 Running
5 9 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont 160/5 400 Running
6 12 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 150/0 400 Running
7 6 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe's 151/5 399 Running
8 15 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 142/0 399 Running
9 11 22 Dave Blaney Toyota Caterpillar 138/0 399 Running
10 10 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 139/5 399 Running
11 13 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 130/0 399 Running
12 20 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Texaco / Havoline 127/0 399 Running
13 7 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 124/0 398 Running
14 5 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL 126/5 398 Running
15 16 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance 118/0 398 Running
16 18 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditRep
ort.com 115/0 397 Running
17 24 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet Kellogg's / CARQUEST 112/0 397 Running
18 13 77 Sam Hornish Jr. * Dodge Penske Truck Rental 109/0 397 Running
19 26 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 106/0 397 Running
20 4 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 103/0 396 Running
21 25 01 Regan Smith * Chevrolet DEI / Principal Financial Group 100/0 396 Running
22 29 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Pittsburgh Paints / Menards 97/0 396 Running
23 19 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet U.S. Army 94/0 394 Running
24 31 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 91/0 394 Running
25 21 40 Jeremy Mayfield Dodge Target 88/0 394 Running
26 27 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Target 85/0 394 Running
27 32 44 David Reutimann Toyota UPS 82/0 394 Running
28 22 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 79/0 393 Running
29 34 10 Patrick Carpentier * Dodge Auto Value / Bumper to Bumper 76/0 393 Running
30 33 00 Michael McDowell * Toyota Microsoft Small Business 78/5 393 Running
31 30 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 70/0 392 Running
32 37 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Cheerios / Betty Crocker 67/0 391 Running
33 36 21 Bill Elliott Ford U.S. Air Force 64/0 389 Running
34 23 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row
/ DenverMattress.com 61/0 388 Running
35 38 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 58/0 387 Running
36 28 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 55/0 381 Running
37 17 84 A.J. Allmendinger Toyota Red Bull 52/0 365 Running
38 41 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 49/0 326 Running
39 40 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet State Water Heaters 46/0 308 Running
40 35 34 Tony Raines Chevrolet doorstopnatio
n.com / Continental Fire & Safety 43/0 296 In Pit
41 39 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 40/0 199 In Pit
42 42 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Best Buy / Garmin / Autism Speaks 37/0 16 In Pit
43 43 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Kinko's 34/0 16 In Pit

* Denotes Rookie




Have an opinion on this story? E-MAIL KARNAC to send a letter to the editor!