It's been no secret this year: Joe Gibbs Racing has absolutely dominated the Nationwide Series in 2010.
Kyle Busch has won a record 12 races this year, and his JGR teammates Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin have combined for three wins.
But on this Friday night it was the next generation of Nationwide Series cars-- cars that Joe Gibbs Racing had never won in. Would that be the streak to continue, or would JGR win their seventh race in a row?
It was Clint Bowyer making a return to the Nationwide Series in the RCR No. 21 starting from the pole, which he won Saturday afternoon, alongside fellow Cup regular Ryan Newman. The pair led the field to the green for Dollar General 300 with Bowyer easily clearing Newman for the lead, with Logano leading the pack of cars past him.
Caution came out just before the field came to complete lap two for rookie Parker Kligerman, who spun and hit the wall hard in turn four. He was running sixth at the time in his first career CMS start.
The field returned to green on lap five with Bowyer once again leading the way, but Logano giving him a run for the top spot. Bowyer was eventually able to clear, and Busch moved into second on lap seven. Martin Truex, Jr. took fourth from Carl Edwards on lap eight and the No. 10 of James Buescher made hard contact with the wall, slowing on track, as did Danica Patrick, who ran 22nd.
The second caution of the race came out on lap ten for hard damage on cars of Michael Annett, Joe Nemechek and Shelby Howard. The incident was caused after Annett got loose and collected Nemechek and Howard, sending all three cars straight to the garage. Several cars further in the pack took the opportunity to pit under the yellow, including Buescher to fix the damage on his Turner Motorsports Camry.
On lap 16 the field once again restarted, with Bowyer and Busch battling side by side. Bowyer had the momentum on the outside but Busch was able to hang with him before getting loose in turn four and falling behind the No. 21. Further in the pack Reed Sorenson looked to make a move around ninth place Edwards who was battling side by side with Paul Menard.
Edwards made it past Menard by lap 20 and looked to join the battle between Newman, Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne and Ryan Truex for the battle for fourth to eighth.
Busch took the lead from Bowyer at lap 23, but Bowyer on the outside was not ready to give up on the top spot just yet. On lap 25 Busch started to put a bit of a gap between he and Bowyer. Logano moved into fifth past Newman three laps later.
As he ran in ninth a piece of debris on the grill was sending former series champ Edwards to worry about his water temperatures. Ahead of him a three way battle for third as Justin Allgaier held off Keselowski and Logano for the spot until lap 39 when his teammate was able to take the position. On lap 40 and 41 Allgaier and Logano were each able to pin Keselowski behind a lap down car, sending him back to fifth.
Green flag pit stops began on lap 53 when Truex, Jr. and Keselowski came down pit road. Busch came down for his first stop on lap 55, as Bowyer, Logano and Harvick came down the following lap. Edwards stalled on his pit stop and once pit stops cycled through he was 25th. Once stops cycled through it was Busch in the lead, followed by Bowyer and Logano.
The long green flag run of the race came to an end on lap 63 for the No. 09 of Brian Scott who spun in turn four. Harvick was among the select cars who came down pit road for further adjustments on his No. 33. After the last few weeks of trouble for this KHI Nationwide team, Harvick had his No. 29 Sprint Cup team pitting the car Friday night.
Busch and Bowyer were once again side by side as the field went back to green on lap 71, with Busch getting a phenomenal restart and jumping ahead of the pack. Just a lap later Ryan Truex and Robert Richardson, Jr. made contact and brought out the fourth caution of the night. Edwards elected to pit under caution to tighten up his racecar and change tires, and ran 18th when the race went back to green.
Busch got another great restart when they returned to green on lap 78, as further in the pack Mike Wallace got extremely loose on the start and began dropping through the field. Meanwhile Logano challenged Bowyer on the outside for second and just behind them Menard and Keselowski ran side by side. By lap 79 Logano had taken second and Keselowski blew by the No. 21 for third.
The fifth caution of the race came out on lap 81 for debris on the track. Keselowski and Harvick were the top runners who came down pit road, further working on their cars, along with a few others further back in the pack. Keselowski would restart 14th, while Harvick restarted 17th.
Busch and Logano led the field to the green on lap 86 and with a big push from Bowyer Logano was able to jump out ahead of the field. Just behind them Allgaier, Sorenson and Newman made their battle three wide with Newman taking the spot. Newman made the battle for second with Busch and Bowyer three wide, but lost momentum and wasn’t able to move up.
Reutimann in the No. 11 battled Jason Leffler for position while for fifth Menard moved around Allgaier, and just behind them Truex, Jr. and Edwards were side by side for sixth. By lap 94 Busch dove to the bottom of his teammate and retook the lead. Logano lost third to Bowyer the following lap.
The race settled down and on lap 108 Busch led the field by just under two seconds. On lap 112 Harvick was able to get by Sorenson for 10th while Menard ran on Logano’s bumper as he looked to take second.
Busch and Bowyer split a lap car on lap 113 and Bowyer was able to take the lead as Menard made his way to pit road, as a piece of debris on his grill had sent his water temperature to over 300 degrees. An extended stop to look at his No. 98 would send him out of contention.
Allgaier came down for his own stop at lap 119 as Newman and Keselowski raced for fifth. Bowyer gave up the lead to pit on lap 120, along with Logano and Sorenson. Busch gave up the top spot to hit pit road two laps later with Leffler, and Menard returned to the track eight laps down. Ending the cycle of stops was Newman who came in on lap 125. Several others were on different pit strategies, leaving Truex, Jr. in the lead followed by Keselowski, Edwards, Harvick and Reutimann. Menard would go to the garage with 75 laps remaining.
Edwards gave up his top seven spot to came down pit road on lap 140, as did his teammates Trevor Bayne and Colin Braun. Truex, Jr. gave up the lead the following lap for his green flag stop, giving the lead to Keselowski. On lap 144 Keselowski gave the lead to Harvick, who came down the next time by, putting Busch back in the lead.
With 50 laps remaining and 17 cars on the lead lap Truex, Jr. got by Logano for third as Busch continued to lead Bowyer by a second and a half. Six laps later the sixth caution of the race came out to give Brian Scott after wrongfully penalizing him for missing lugnuts on his last stop. The field took the opportunity to hit pit road once again, with Busch barely beating Bowyer off pit road, followed by Logano, Truex, Jr. and Edwards. Keselowski and Harvick, however, stayed on track. Bowyer was also penalized for speeding on pit road, and had to restart at the tail end of the field.
It was Keselowski on the outside and Harvick on the side as they restarted with 40 laps remaining, with Busch making the race three wide. But it was Truex, Jr. who grabbed the lead away on lap 162 after a push from the No. 18. Harvick, meanwhile, ran fourth.
Reutimann, Allgaier and Newman raced three wide deeper in the pack for seventh with Reutimann taking the spot and Sorenson moving in to also take advantage. Back up front Keselowski and Truex, Jr. were again side by side for the race lead, with the No. 22 taking the spot with 35 laps to go. Bowyer, who restarted 15th, ran ninth with 34 remaining. By lap 171, he was seventh.
Keselowski led Truex, Jr. and company by nearly a second with 25 laps remaining, and Logano took fourth place from Harvick. On lap 181 yet another caution came out for a spin for Brian Scott. The seventh caution brought Edwards, Sorenson, Harvick, Newman and others down pit road for fresh tires.
Just 14 laps remained when the field was led back to the green flag by Keselowski and Truex, Jr. Keselowski got a huge push from Logano but Truex, Jr. was still able to hang with the No. 22. Steve Wallace slammed into the wall just a lap later brought out the eighth caution of the night.
Just eight laps left it again was Truex, Jr. and Keselowski running together, with Allgaier clearing Logano for second. Keselowski was able to clear Truex for the lead with seven laps to go and just like that the top four were strung out. Sorenson and Almirola split Newman to make it three wide with Sorenson taking advantage and Busch closed in on third place Allgaier.
Logano and Bowyer got by Busch sending him back to sixth as Harvick challenged Gaughan for 10th, and Keselowski took the white flag with a one second lead over Truex, Jr. With Truex, Jr. unable to catch him it was Keselowski winning the Dollar General 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, his fifth win of 2010.
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