Friday, August 5, 2011

Kyle Busch claims 100th NASCAR win

Kyle Busch claims 100th NASCAR win

Kyle Busch achieved a major milestone in his career by winning Saturday's Nationwide Series race, which was his 100th NASCAR victory.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver also tied Mark Martin's record for wins in the second-tier series with his 49th Nationwide victory, which came after a green-white chequered finish at Loudon where he fended off Sprint Cup series rival Kevin Harvick.

Harvick said following the race he had been warned a few weeks ago by NASCAR about making any contact with Busch, following a probation period both drivers where subject of after a pit-road altercation in a Sprint Cup series event at Darlington.

"Certainly it feels good," said the 26-year-old. "It means a lot. To tie Mark Martin's record of 49 wins as well, that's pretty awesome. It's a great opportunity to race in this series and win that many. And now to do it is pretty neat."

Besides his 49 Nationwide Series wins, Busch also has 29 Truck and 22 Cup Series victories to his name. His total places him third in the all-time NASCAR victories ranking behind legends Richard Petty (200 Cup wins) and David Pearson (105 Cup wins, one Nationwide).

Busch's 100 wins have been achieved at 25 different tracks, while at eight of those venues he has won in all three divisions, including a triple weekend sweep a year ago at Bristol Motor Speedway.

The younger of the Busch brothers currently leads the Sprint Cup point standings and also leads the series in wins with three to his name so far in 2011.