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Busch Cruises To Victory Again At Homestead

Homestead, Fla. – Kyle Busch once again displayed his driving prowess, racing to victory in the Ford 300 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, a day after winning the Ford 200. The race marked the end of NASCAR’s Nationwide Series season.

In Nationwide action this season, he has scored a record 13 victories to go along with eight in the Camping World Truck Series and three in Sprint Cup action for a total of 24 trips to victory lane. During his Nationwide career, he has accumulated 43 victories, five short of Mark Martin’s record.

With the Nationwide victory, Busch locked up the owner title for Joe Gibbs Racing, giving the acclaimed Toyota team its third-consecutive title.

“It was a heckuva race and I thought I had given it away for a while,” the victor said of his race-long battle with second-place driver Kevin Harvick. “It was a great race, and I can’t thank my guys enough. They need to be recognized for their efforts.”

Said Joe Gibbs, “We’re thrilled with the championship. Everyone knows about our struggles in the early years, and it is so hard to put together a team like this. It is a thrill for us to be part of it.”

Busch and Harvick dominated the action with the winner leading 163 of 200 laps, but Harvick was always within striking distance of the victor.

The winner drove the Z-Line Designs Toyota and the runner-up steered the Jimmy John’s Chevrolet.

Harvick said he learned a lot about the track and has made mental notes to reference for the Cup finale.

Series champion Brad Keselowski finished third in the Discount Tire Dodge with Roush-Fenway Racing newcomers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne ending up fourth and fifth.

For his season’s accomplishments, Stenhouse was named rookie of the year.

Sixth went to Carl Edwards, who battled back from an early-race multi-car wreck to gain the solid finish. To fix his car, he pitted many times but didn’t lose a lap while repairs were being made.

Fast-qualifier Joey Logano took seventh followed by Brendan Gaughan, Paul Menard and Jason Leffler.

Keselowski clinched the championship previously and was feted in a post-race ceremony at the finish line. “It is pretty amazing to come from not having a job to winning the championship,” the Michigan driver said. “I hope to be able to carry this over to the Sprint Cup, but we are going to celebrate this one first.”

The newly crowned champion set a series record with 26 top-10 finishes.

For car owner Roger Penske, he earned his first NASCAR championship. “It is amazing to think we’ve raced so many times here in open-wheel, and to have this be the site for the championship is unbelievable. We built a whole new this this year, building from the ground up.”

Reflecting on Dodge’s emergence from bankruptcy, he added, “You can see today what’s happened in Detroit and we are so proud to represent that mark. And with Brad being a Michigan guy, I think we brought this whole thing back to Michigan. This has been a special day for me.”

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