Full Throttle

Normally you wouldn’t expect youth to prevail at one of [avatar:http://cranialcavity.net/files/cup.jpg]NASCAR’s[/avatar] best race tracks, on one of it’s biggest weekends. Normalcy took the holiday weekend off and Kyle Busch survived record number of cautions to win Carquest 300 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The second half of the weekends youth movement finished fifth, 19 year old rookie Reed Sorenson.

With the victory, Busch joined three others who have won consecutive spring races at the track, a week after he became the youngest winner on the truck series. He will start sixth in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night.

“That’s the main thing, that’s the biggest race, that’s the most prestigious race,” Busch said. “It’s going to be a lot of hard work and a lot of dedication, but I’m up to the task.”

Pole-sitter Kasey Kahne led the first 40 laps until he was passed by Biffle, then crashed hard in Turn 1 when a tire went flat on lap 54. He finished 41st.

Several wrecks contributed to the amount of yellows, breaking the event mark set in 1993. Point leader Carl Edwards was one of the victims after he was tapped by Ashton Lewis Jr. and bounced off the wall in Turn 4 on lap 122.

Edwards briefly continued after repairs but finished 23 laps down in 35th.

Unofficial Results:

1. (19) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 200, $54,750.
2. (35) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 200, $43,650.
3. (14) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 200, $30,470.
4. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 200, $30,245.
5. (6) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 200, $45,180.
6. (12) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 200, $22,050.
7. (4) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 200, $37,445.
8. (20) David Stremme, Dodge, 200, $26,835.
9. (25) Kenny Wallace, Ford, 200, $25,045.
10. (24) Ashton Lewis Jr., Ford, 200, $30,405.
11. (13) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 200, $17,540.
12. (5) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 200, $24,260.
13. (8) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 200, $16,815.
14. (10) Tyler Walker, Dodge, 200, $18,035.
15. (29) Michel Jourdain Jr., Ford, 200, $26,905.
16. (22) Michael Waltrip, Chevrolet, 200, $15,420.
17. (27) Jeff Green, Dodge, 200, $15,220.
18. (7) Johnny Sauter, Dodge, 200, $25,770.
19. (28) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 200, $14,930.
20. (11) Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet, 200, $28,465.
21. (37) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 200, $19,950.
22. (39) Justin Labonte, Chevrolet, 200, $24,230.
23. (36) Jason Keller, Ford, 200, $19,015.
24. (23) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 200, $14,625.
25. (30) Mark Green, Chevrolet, 200, $14,690.
26. (18) Stacy Compton, Ford, 200, $18,575.
27. (16) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 200, $18,540.
28. (42) Randy LaJoie, Chevrolet, 200, $18,510.
29. (38) Tim Fedewa, Dodge, 199, $18,450.
30. (26) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 198, $14,845.
31. (41) David Green, Ford, 194, $18,380.
32. (9) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 192, $23,880.
33. (31) Jon Wood, Ford, 185, accident, $18,325.
34. (17) Brent Sherman, Dodge, 183, accident, $16,290.
35. (3) Carl Edwards, Ford, 177, $14,395.
36. (15) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 142, accident, $14,225.
37. (34) Kertus Davis, Chevrolet, 125, $14,205.
38. (21) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 116, accident, $14,160.
39. (32) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 97, accident, $14,140.
40. (43) Steve Grissom, Ford, 81, engine failure, $1,120.
41. (1) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 52, accident, $21,495.42. (40) Derrike Cope, Ford, 24, engine failure, $16,075.
43. (33) Shane Hmiel, Chevrolet, 16, accident, $16,025.

Race statistics:

Time of Race: 2 hours, 32 minutes, 35 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 0.503 seconds.
Winner’s Average Speed: 117.968 mph.
Caution Flags: 11 for 49 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K.Kahne 1-40; G.Biffle 41-54; B.Vickers 55-63; S.Marlin 64-67; K.Harvick 68-84; R.Newman 85-117; D.Hamlin 118-121; Kyle Busch 122-138; R.Newman 139-143; M.Green 144; K.Harvick 145-151; S.Marlin 152; K.Harvick 153-154; Kyle Busch 155-200.

Point Standings: 1. C.Edwards, 1,855. 2. C.Bowyer, 1,684. 3. R.Sorenson, 1,681. 4. M.Truex Jr., 1,625. 5. A.Lewis Jr., 1,577. 6. K.Wallace, 1,562. 7. G.Biffle, 1,544. 8. D.Stremme, 1,528. 9. D.Hamlin, 1,527. 10. K.Harvick, 1,411.