Last weekend the NASCAR Nationwide series had the week off after a stretch that saw them run for 23 straight weeks.
This week the NNS is at Dover International Speedway for the Dover 200. Joey Logano would earn the pole over his teammate Kyle Busch on Saturday morning.
Early on it was Logano in the lead but Busch didn’t take long to get to the front.
Behind them it was the battle for ninth as Justin Allgaier, Steve Wallace and Jason Leffler were battling for the back half of the top 10.
Danica Patrick was running the race this weekend and after a poor qualifying lap that saw her starting 42, Patrick early in the race was running in 35th.
Busch was pacing the field early but Carl Edwards moved into second and was putting on a charge to the front.
By lap 54, Busch had over a five second lead and with only 15 cars on the lead lap.
Caution waved when Danica Patrick cut a tire and hit the wall hard. The leaders all hit pit road for tires and adjustments.
On the restart Busch pulled away from Logano who was quickly passed by Edwards. Kevin Harvick was in fifth and passed Brad Keselowski.
Busch was the class of the field in the first half of the race.
Some future stars of this sport were having solid runs. Trevor Bayne was having tire issues but he was running just outside the top 10.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. who struggled early this season was battling Bayne for 11th. It was a big improvement for Stenhouse who early this season was doing more wrecking than racing.
Caution waved when Derrick Cope cut a tire and hit the outside wall and then came back down and hit the inside wall.
Busch was the leader with Edwards in second. Edwards was closing in on Busch prior to the caution.
Busch maintained his lead off of pit road with Edwards and Harvick in the top three.
Harvick got a good restart but was unable to maintain second as Edwards went back by Harvick. Busch pulled away from both of them. Edwards was running down Busch for the lead.
Meanwhile, Keselowski was struggling with his race car and dropped from seventh on the restart to outside the top 10 in 12th.
Caution waved on lap 136 when Elliott Sadler got loose and spun down. Kyle Herring had nowhere to go and slammed hard into Sadler.
The race was red flagged to clean up the debris in turn four. Ryan Newman did not pit and would take the lead but wouldn’t hold it for long. Busch would quickly take back the lead.
Busch would pull away as everyone tried to get around Newman. Caution waved on lap 163 when Keselowski was battling Wallace and both spun.
Busch once again pulled away on the restart but Logano and Edwards were not far behind as the laps wound down.
Busch though was in control as he broke Sam Ard’s NNS record for wins in a season. Busch won his 11th race this season.
The rest of the top 10 were Logano, Edwards, Reed Sorenson, Kevin Harvick, Bayne, Menard Leffler, Justin Allgaier and Newman.
Next week the series heads to Kansas Speedway, Saturday at 3et on ESPN2.
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