Race 2 Win: NEXTEL Cup Series Race Notes

Nextel Cup Series

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER NOTES FOR THE SHARP AQUOS 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2007.

Kyle Busch led seven times for 97 laps to earn WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honors in tonight’s Sharp AQUOS 500. Busch captured the award for the first time this season and became the 11th different driver to earn the honor in 2007. He has led 274 laps in 13 races this season.

Busch finished third in tonight’s race, his sixth top-five and 14th top-10 finish of the season. He grabbed his second consecutive top-10 and third in the last four races.

Busch is eighth in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, 20 points behind seventh-place Jeff Burton and 152 ahead of ninth-place Clint Bowyer.

DID YOU KNOW? In 18 NEXTEL Cup Series races at California Speedway, the WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race has scored 13 top-five finishes.

BUSCH QUOTES: “That’s awesome to win the WIX award. It feels good to have a car that was that strong and that dominate through much of the race. I’m just sorry that I wasn’t able to capitalize the way we wished we could, being able to run up front there at the end and challenge Jimmie [Johnson] for the win.” HOW DID YOU NEED THE RACE TO PLAY OUT TO HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN? “To have it be a 300-miler, really [smiles]. I don’t know. He was just so strong on restarts. He could just take off and there at the end he really got his stuff going on the long runs, too, so he was just beating us overall. I don’t know there was much we could do to run him down.” DID THE TRACK CHANGE A LOT DURING THE RACE? “Yeah, the track changed quite a bit all day. It was back and forth from the bottom to the top for me. At the beginning of the run I’d run down below and at the end of the run I’d run up top. I was just trying to find somewhere where I could get some grip out of the car.”

Jeff Gordon leads Tony Stewart by one race (6-5) in the overall WIX Filters Lap Leader standings.

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD STANDINGS
Jeff Gordon 6
Tony Stewart 5 
Jimmie Johnson 3
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 3
Denny Hamlin 2 
Matt Kenseth 1 
Martin Truex Jr. 1
Robby Gordon 1
Clint Bowyer 1
Kasey Kahne 1
Kyle Busch 1 

WIX FILTERS LAP LEADER AWARD WINNERS BY RACE
EVENT DRIVER
Daytona 500 Tony Stewart (35 laps) 
Auto Club 500 Matt Kenseth (133 laps)
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 Jeff Gordon (111 laps)
Kobalt Tools 500 Jimmie Johnson (135 laps)
Food City 500 Tony Stewart (257 laps)
Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (137 laps)
Samsung 500 Jeff Gordon (173 laps)
Subway Fresh Fit 500 Tony Stewart (132 laps)
Aaron’s 499 Jeff Gordon (71 laps) 
Crown Royal 400 Jeff Gordon (114 laps)
Dodge Avenger 500 Denny Hamlin (179 laps)
Coca-Cola 600 Jimmie Johnson (83 laps)
Autism Speaks 400 presented by Visa Martin Truex Jr. (216 laps)
Pocono 500 Denny Hamlin (49 laps) 
Citizens Bank 400 Jimmie Johnson (56 laps)
Toyota/Save Mart 350 Robby Gordon (48 laps)
LENOX Industrial Tools 300 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (64 laps)
Pepsi 400 Clint Bowyer (55 laps)
USG SHEETROCK 400 Tony Stewart (108 laps)
Allstate 400 at The Brickyard Tony Stewart (65 laps)
Pennsylvania 500 Dale Earnhardt Jr. (eight laps)
Centurion Boats at The Glen Jeff Gordon (51 laps)
3M Performance 400 Jeff Gordon (25 laps)
Sharpie 500 Kasey Kahne (305 laps)
Sharp AQUOS 500 Kyle Busch (97 laps)