Busch Draws Victory at Vegas

Kyle Busch picked up the lead with 17 laps to go and held on through a pair of restarts to win the Shelby 427 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sunday.  By doing so he simultaneously became the first driver to win from the pole and win from the furthest back starting position at Las Vegas.  Busch won the pole position on Friday but started at the rear of the field due to an engine change.

Matt Kenseth's attempt to make history by starting the season with a third consecutive victory quickly went up in smoke on lap 6 after engine failure.  Roush-Fenway teammates David Ragan and Carl Edwards also retired with blown engines, Edwards with just two laps to go.

With six laps to go, Jimmie Johnson crashed in turn two to bring out a race record 14th caution.  On the restart, Busch drove his Toyota away from Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer to take the checkered flag at his hometrack.  Bowyer passed teammate Burton on the final lap to claim second place.  David Reutimann finished fourth and Bobby Labonte was the top finishing Ford in fifth.

Jeff Gordon rebounded from a blown tire on lap 220 to finish sixth.  Gordon missed pit road coming down for a stop, locked the brakes, and blew out the left front, causing significant body damage.  Rounding out the top ten were Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Johnson, Biffle, and Burton combined to lead most of the laps.

The circuit moves to the fast Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend before taking a week off.