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Kyle Busch Makes History In Atlanta

HAMPTON, GA. — His nickname is “Rowdy.” They call him that because he runs his Joe Gibbs Toyota wide open…. all the time.

“Go or Blow!” That’s Kyle.

And he did just that Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Start to finish, the young driver from Las Vegas kept his foot in the gas to win the Kobalt Tools 500. He became the first driver to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck and a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in the same weekend.

He turned back a number of challengers during the sunny afternoon, including runner-up and teammate Tony Stewart in another Toyota.

It was a grueling Sunday for NASCAR’s best drivers, who fought the steering wheel all day trying to get a handle on the slippery Atlanta surface.

Busch’s win was the first for one of the really nice guys in the sport, crew chief Steve Addington, who worked his way through the NASCAR ranks to his current position. Addington worked in several of the sport’s development tours en route to matching up with one of the sport’s youngest stars. In fact, Busch became the youngest winner ever for this event.

Trailing the two Gibbs drivers was popular Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who said it was the hardest he has ever driven and added, “but that’s the way it should be.”

Greg Biffle was fourth and two-time champion Jeff Gordon was fifth.

Rounding out the top 10 were Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Jeff Burton.

The ninth-place finish for Vickers came on the heels of not qualifying for last week’s race in Las Vegas. His Red Bull Toyota fought back from being a lap down to crack the top 10.

It was a miserable day for Elliott Sadler, who caused three caution flags in a row when his car lost grip and spun.

Carl Edwards, winner at California and Las Vegas, looked like he might make it three in a row before his engine blew after 275 of the 325-lap race.

Earnhardt took the lead on the first lap and left Gordon and the rest of the field in the dust. His National Guard Chevrolet slid smoothly through the corners, and his lap times were more than half-a-second quicker than his rivals.

Busch moved from the sixth starting spot to second place in just a few laps but even Busch, who likes to run wide open every lap, couldn’t keep up with Earnhardt’s torrid pace.

J.J. Yeley suffered the first penalty of the cold, sunny afternoon when he entered pit road too fast for an unscheduled stop.

A caution for debris on the 38th lap slowed the field but Earnhardt had lapped half the field at that point.

On the restart, Earnhardt picked up where he left off…. at the front of the pack. Young Busch was next in line, but dropped back a considerable distance.

Edwards was next, trailed by Harvick, Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman, Martin Truex, Jr. and defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who had his worst day in recent memory at Las Vegas last Sunday when he was never a contender.

Juan Pablo Montoya, who finished fifth here in Atlanta last March, had moved from 19th to 11th by the 60th lap.

Busch took the lead on the 60th lap when Earnhardt complained about losing the handle on his machine. The field spread out all around the 1.5-mile tri-oval at this point in the race.

While Busch sped away to a big lead, Earnhardt dropped to third when Edwards sailed past him. Edwards, however, couldn’t hold the position. Both Earnhardt and Harvick passed him within a few laps.

Another caution for debris slowed the action at 84 laps and all the leaders pitted again.

Busch took over again when racing resumed and Hamlin took over the second spot behind him. Earnhardt was third, Kevin Harvick fourth and Gordon fifth.

Earnhardt moved around Hamlin for second a few laps later. On lap 116, Kasey Kahne lost grip on his Dodge in turn four, bringing out the third caution flag of the day.

It was Busch and Earhardt again with Harvick, Bowyer and Gordon behind them. Stewart, who started 32nd, had worked his way up to sixth position.

On lap 129, Harvick moved past Earnhardt for second place. Earnhardt dropped to fourth behind Bowyer.

Shortly after the halfway point, when the field made its first green-flag pit stops, Bowyer came out leading with Busch second and Harvick third. Rounding out the top 15 were Hamlin, Edwards, Gordon, Earnhardt, Stewart, Jeff Burton, Ryan Newman, Kenseth, Montoya, Bobby Labonte, Johnson and Biffle.

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