Motorsports

A surreal day for the Busch boys

Hours after older brother Kurt is suspended for the rest of the season, rookie Kyle Busch celebrates his second Nextel Cup win.

By BRANT JAMES
Published November 14, 2005

	[Getty Images]
	Kyle Busch, pitting in the No. 5 Chevrolet, passed Greg Biffle on Lap 285 of 312 and ran off for a .609-second win in his first Nextel Cup season.

AVONDALE, Ariz. - Kyle Busch got the second win of his first Nextel Cup season. Tony Stewart got ever closer to the second championship of his Nextel Cup career.

Busch passed Greg Biffle's often-dominating No. 16 Ford on Lap 285 of 312 on Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway and ran off for a 0.609-second win in the Checker Auto Parts 500 that capped an eventful day for his family.

His older brother and defending series champion, Kurt, was suspended for the rest of the season by Roush Racing earlier in the day for events stemming from a run-in with police Friday.

Busch's public relations team had made it known as he clicked off the final laps that he would not speak about Kurt in postrace interviews, but he took a shot at his brother's sponsors and berated the media for spreading "lies."

"I'm behind my brother 100 percent," he said. "I'd like to apologize to the fans for Sharpie, Crown Royal for taking a true champion out of the car today."

He stormed out of an interview when ask which specific "lies" he meant, but returned later.

The day was much smoother for Stewart, who finished fourth to edge ever closer to the Nextel Cup title. He increased his lead by 14 more points to 52 over Jimmie Johnson, who faded late in the race to finish seventh. Stewart has 19 top-10s in his past 21 races.

"(Biffle) and (Busch) were the class of the field today," Stewart said. "We did what we had to do with this points deal."

Biffle was second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Stewart and Bobby Labonte. The top-10 was an odd collection of drivers who have struggled this season with Robby Gordon eighth, Dale Jarrett ninth and rookie Travis Kvapil 10th.

According to NASCAR, Stewart would clinch the championship by finishing ninth or better on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson, Edwards (87 behind) and Biffle (102) are mathematically able to catch Stewart at Homestead, as a driver can make up 156 points on any driver who starts the race.

Biffle, who led a race-high 189 laps, passed for the lead on Lap 280, but Busch worked his way back up front five laps later.

"I didn't think I was going to beat Biffle," Busch said. "When he got to me I knew how hard he was driving."

Stewart made what could turn out to be a pivotal move in his title chase when he raced from 17th on Lap 231 and into the top 10 with less than 45 laps left. Johnson, who had distanced himself from Stewart with pit strategy, restarted fifth on Lap 231 and momentarily atop the standings, but Stewart slowly reeled him in. Stewart passed Johnson with less than 30 laps left.

Busch, who went a lap down on Lap 161, also made his move on that Lap 231 sequence, staying out for track position when the leaders pitted under caution. Biffle started 13th on the stop, but was able to glide his powerful car to the front again.

"We had to race our way to the front," he said. "It wasn't handed to us today and there at the end, (Busch) didn't really have a lot to lose."

"I couldn't believe (Busch) beat (Biffle), because I didn't think anybody had anything for that 16 car," Gordon said. "I thought when he passed for the lead that 16 would just check out."

Biffle, in fourth place but 102 points out, said with one race remaining he is no longer a contender.

"We needed to do what we did today - lead the most laps and finish second or win - but those other guys would have had to have bad days in order to put us in the hunt," he said. "We're certainly not in it anymore."

Neither Stewart nor Johnson was able to lead a lap for five crucial bonus points. It was far more costly for Johnson, as was the late fade.

"It's frustrating when you're going backwards," Johnson said, "especially when I saw (Edwards) coming and (Stewart) going away. We worked so hard all day long just to get the car a little bit better. We just couldn't get it dialed in, unfortunately."

[Last modified November 14, 2005, 01:04:15]