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Busch Escapes Last-Lap Melee To Score Third-Place Finish at Talladega

M&M’s Driver Rallies from One Lap Down To Score Eighth Top-Five of 2012

Date: Oct. 7, 2012
Event: Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 (Round 30 of 36)
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Location: Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (2.66-mile oval)
Start/Finish: 13th/3rd (Running, completed 189 of 189 laps in a green-white-checkered finish)
Point Standing: 13th (912 points, 47 ahead of 14th)
Winner: Matt Kenseth of Roush Fenway Racing (Ford)

Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), rallied from a pit road speeding penalty that put him a lap down and managed to make it through a 24-car pileup on the last lap to finish third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 Sunday at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

“We had a really, really fast M&M’s Camry today and drove up toward the front a few times,” said Busch, who earned his third top-five finish in 16 starts at Talladega, including his April 2008 win at the 2.66-mile oval. “We were able to make the outside-lane move a couple times. We pushed Junior (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) to the lead early today, and there was a time when I think it was green flag pit stops. And I just did not get slowed down near fast enough for the first segment, and I got busted for speeding, so that was my fault. We had to battle through that. That was probably one of the most tense part of the races for me, having a race for the lucky dog or to get back on the lead lap.

“I probably led more laps at the front of the field without leading those laps because I was the tail-end guy. But all in all, our guys had some good pit stops, and we gained some spots. We had some fuel-only stuff going on. It was a typical Talladega day. I’m just glad and thankful that I was able to get out through the wreck with no damage and make it through unscathed.”

After starting 13th, Busch tucked into the draft and ran consistently within the top-10 for the first 60 laps of the 500-mile race. Busch knew he must avoid the inevitable multicar accidents and be near the front at the end of the race to have a shot at victory.

But as Busch made a green flag pit stop on Lap 60, he was ticketed for speeding on entry to pit road, which required a return trip down pit road for a drive-through penalty. Having lost the draft, Busch was caught and put a lap down by the pack on Lap 75. But Busch and the M&M’s team never gave up, as he sat at or near the front of the pack until the M&M’s team caught the break it needed on Lap 139. As the caution waved for debris, Busch was beneficiary of the “lucky dog,” when NASCAR rules allow the highest-running car one lap down around the pace car and back on the lead lap.

From there, Busch restarted in third on lap 141, as many in the rest of the field dove on pit road to top off their tanks for the run to the finish. Busch found himself in sixth place on Lap 184 when the final caution of the day waved, setting up a final pit stop for a splash of fuel on Lap 185 and a two-lap dash to a green-white-checkered finish.

Busch restarted 13th on lap 187 and took the bottom line behind the No. 24 car of Jeff Gordon. As the pack roared through turn four for the final time, chaos developed in front of them, with 24 cars involved. Somehow, Gordon and Busch dove to the bottom and made it through the mess, bringing home a top-five finish.

“I was on the bottom,” said Busch of his last-lap move to stay out of the melee. “I was about seven, eight rows back on the bottom. We were slow. We were the slowest lane, and I just seen everybody going by, and I just (thought), ‘All right, just finish where we finish there.’

“I don’t know what happened up front. I think the 14 (Tony Stewart) was the first thing I saw get turned sideways, and then I think he ended up upside-down going over (Greg) Biffle, and I could see him outside my right window, but I shot for the apron as best I could to just get away from everything. I dodged the cars that were coming down the banking and coming back to the infield, so we made it through with our M&M’s Camry. We made it through unscathed and finished third, so not too bad.”

Busch’s JGR teammates – Denny Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry, and Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry – finished 14th and 32nd, respectively. Both were caught in separate accidents.

Matt Kenseth won the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500 to score his 23rd career Sprint Cup victory, his second of the season and his first at Talladega.

Gordon finished behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot as the race ended under caution. Busch, David Ragan and Regan Smith rounded out the top-five. Greg Biffle, Brad Keselowski, Travis Kvapil, Ryan Newman and Jeff Burton comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were five caution periods for 17 laps, with 17 drivers failing to finish the 189-lap race, which was extended one lap by a green-white-checkered finish.

Hamlin is representing JGR in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup, and he left Talladega holding on to third place in the standings with 2,156 points, 23 points behind Chase leader Keselowski.

Busch maintained 13th in the standings with 912 points, 47 ahead of 14th-place Newman. Logano held his 18th position with 797 points, 115 points behind Busch in 13th. Since they are not Chase participants, Busch and Logano can finish no higher than 13th.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Bank of America 500 on Oct. 13 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The race begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT, with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with a pre-race show at 7 p.m.