Kyle Busch not only raced to victory in the Ford 300 at the Homestead-
Miami Speedway but he carried home the 2009 Nationwide Series
championship, his first NASCAR crown.
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Victory lane: Kyle Busch celebrates win and 2009 Nationwide Series championship. Photo by Action Sports Photography.
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The talented Nevada native ran near the front of the 43-car field
throughout the 200-lap race and in the end, he was seriously challenged
but displayed his championship form to win the final race of the season.
The winner drove the Z-Line Designs Toyota fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing,
and he became the first driver since Sammy Ard in 1983 to win the final
race and the championship at the same time.
Busch won his ninth Nationwide Series race of the season and the 30th of
his accomplished career. Also, in the three NASCAR series, he chalked up
his 20th victory in 2009. He led seven times for 73 laps.
"This was such a great year and a true testament to this team," the
victor said. "To win the final race of the season means a lot to us. We
set out to do this, and we did it. To win the race (crew chief), Jason
Ratcliff took some good swings at it the car, and it worked.
"What an awesome race it was -- first Jeff Burton was running strong on
the bottom of the track and Carl Edwards was just as strong on the top.
It was such a fun deal, and I am glad we could hold those two off."
Said Ratcliff, "Back in February if you asked me for one thing we could
do going into the final race of the season, it would be to win the race
and the championship at the same time."
Added Joe Gibbs, who captured his second owner's title, "This car ran
great all season, but we wanted to go all the way to the last race
before we won the championship."
Finishing a close second, just .482 seconds behind, was 2009 Nationwide
Series champion Carl Edwards in the Ortho Ford. Edwards came in for
tires with 15 laps to go, dropping to eighth place, but he roared
through the field and pushed hard in the closing laps to get close to
the leader.
"It was close and we tried really hard," Edward said. "I drove my heart
out at the end, and I wasn't going to be able to catch and pass him the
right way, so we settled for second.
"Congratulations to Kyle (Busch). Those guys really earned it. They
performed well, and they did not back into this. I hope they enjoy it."
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Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. Photo by Getty Images.
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Jeff Burton, one of eight leaders, came in third in the Holiday Inn
Chevrolet. "It was a fun evening even though we came up short at the
end."
Busch's teammates Joey Logano took fourth place while Denny Hamlin
battled back from an early race one-lap penalty to earn the fifth spot.
Hamlin and Brad Keselowski have been feuding for a spell, and it
appeared that Hamlin intentionally spun his foe on the ninth lap. NASCAR
officials summoned Hamlin to the pits where he was held for a lap, and
they also awarded an extra set of tires to Keselowski's team, as he
flat-spotted a new set during the spin.
Asked if he was disappointed with the penalty, Hamlin said, "No, not
at all. If you do something blatant, which I did, you would expect a
penalty. To be honest I thought it would be two laps."
Keselowski finished 12th.
David Reutimann, Ryan Newman, Steve Wallace, Scott Speed and Matt
Kenseth rounded out the top-10 finishers.
In the final Nationwide Series point tally, Busch was on top with
5,682 and Edward was in second with 5,472, or 210 behind the victor.
Keselowski took third with 5,364, Jason Leffler fourth with 4,540 and
Mike Bliss fifth with 4,075.
