Wild Thing Wins At Vegas

((HT: Sporting News))

Starting from the rear of the field because of an engine change during Friday's practice session, pole winner and Las Vegas native Kyle Busch worked his way to the front throughout a race punctuated with a record 14 caution periods and streaked to a .411-second victory, his first of the season and his first at Las Vegas.

Matt Kenseth, first in the Cup standings entering the race, finished last, after his engine blew six laps into the race. That ended Kenseth's bid to become the first driver to win the first three races in a Cup season.

"This is pretty cool," Busch said after his celebratory burnout on the frontstretch. "I didn't know exactly what it would mean, but when I was coming to the checkered flag, there were knots in my stomach."

Clint Bowyer regained a lap he lost early and finished second, thanks to crew chief Shane Wilson's decision to keep him on the track while the other front-runners pitted under caution on Lap 260 of the 285-lap race. Bowyer surrendered the lead to Busch off Turn 2 on Lap 269.

Jeff Burton, Bowyer's teammate at Richard Childress Racing, took third, followed by David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte. Jeff Gordon (who assumed the series points lead by 18 over Bowyer), Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.

Three-time defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, who led a race-high 92 laps, spun in Turn 2 to cause the final caution on Lap 280 and finished 24th.

Even though Busch started at the rear of the field, he still is credited for starting from the pole, making him the first to win from that position at Las Vegas. But that also meant Busch had to contend with traffic until he took the lead for the first time (other than during an early cycle of green-flag pit stops) on Lap 228.

"We just had to battle hard," said Busch, 23, who won his 13th Cup race. "We didn't have the best car [Sunday], but we had a car that we could keep working on and keep making it better."

Here's your highlights and post, thanks ESPNews/Fox/NASCAR...
Marty Smith catches up with Kurt, Jonathan Coachman has your recap...


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