The Kyle Busch Show: Kyle Busch Wins The Lucas Oil 150
The past three years at Phoenix International Raceway, Kevin Harvick Incorporated (KHI) has won with Kyle Busch second. Going into this year, Busch said no more as he brought a brand new truck, set to take down KHI.
“Big thanks to the guys in the chassis shop,” crew chief Eric Phillips said afterwards. “They put their heads together on building a brand new truck – its not like anything in the shop.”
On lap 43, Busch came down pit road second to KHI driver Clint Bowyer, though with a quick stop from his pit crew, Busch gained the lead and never looked back as he led the final 50 laps on his way to victory. The win gave Busch his 25th Camping World Truck Series victory and 50th top five in 87 starts.
“It’s pretty amazing and its been that way for a long time,” Busch said in victory lane. “I’ve had a lot of awesome people stand behind me all the way. Man, I was scared there near the end thinking Clint was going to walk the dog there but Eric’s made some awesome changes on these trucks.”
The Kyle Busch-KHI one-two finish show kept going as it was Bowyer who finished second.
“I knew once he beat us out of the pits,” Bowyer said. “You know, in clean air, once you drive off and leave them you’re a tenth better than the field. Its like when we won in the Fall. I knew in practice that he’d be the one to beat.”
In the last 50 laps, Bowyer had multiple chances to get Busch on the restart, but he could never get that run.
“One time I’d spin the tires; the next time I’d hit the REV limiter,” Bowyer said. “These things hit the REV limiter quicker than the Cup cars do.”
His teammate Ron Hornaday finished third while Johnny Sauter and Austin Dillon rounded out the top five. Rookie Cole Whitt finished sixth for his first truck series top 10, followed by Matt Crafton, Justin Johnson, Joey Coulter and Jason White.
The first 43 laps went green, though the final 100 laps saw eight cautions as multiple trucks found themselves in trouble.
With his seventh place finish, Matt Crafton takes over the points lead by one point over Clay Rogers. Clay Rogers, who was the points leader coming into the weekend, finished 16th.
Unofficial Race results
| Pos. | St. | No. | Driver | Make | Pts. | Bon. | Laps | Status |
| 1 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 0 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 2 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 0 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 3 | 4 | 33 | Ron Hornaday | Chevrolet | 41 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 4 | 8 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | Chevrolet | 40 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 5 | 2 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 39 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 6 | 9 | 60 | Cole Whitt * | Chevrolet | 38 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 7 | 6 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Chevrolet | 37 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 8 | 14 | 51 | Justin Johnson* | Toyota | 36 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 9 | 10 | 22 | Joey Coulter * | Chevrolet | 35 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 10 | 17 | 23 | Jason White | Chevrolet | 34 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 11 | 21 | 32 | Brad Sweet | Chevrolet | 33 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 12 | 11 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota | 32 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 13 | 22 | 8 | Nelson Piquet Jr. * | Chevrolet | 31 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 14 | 7 | 30 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | 30 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 15 | 18 | 9 | Max Papis | Toyota | 29 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 16 | 13 | 92 | Clay Rogers | Chevrolet | 28 | 0 | 150 | Running |
| 17 | 12 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Toyota | 27 | 0 | 149 | Running |
| 18 | 27 | 66 | Justin Marks | Chevrolet | 26 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 19 | 29 | 1 | Jeffrey Earnhardt * | Chevrolet | 25 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 20 | 25 | 20 | Johanna Long * | Toyota | 24 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 21 | 23 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Chevrolet | 23 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 22 | 30 | 93 | Shane Sieg | Chevrolet | 22 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 23 | 31 | 46 | Craig Goess * | Toyota | 21 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 24 | 36 | 45 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | 20 | 0 | 148 | Running |
| 25 | 28 | 7 | Miguel Paludo * | Toyota | 19 | 0 | 147 | Running |
| 26 | 19 | 15 | Dusty Davis* | Toyota | 18 | 0 | 145 | Running |
| 27 | 35 | 57 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet | 17 | 0 | 145 | Running |
| 28 | 16 | 244 | Greg Pursley | Chevrolet | 16 | 0 | 144 | Running |
| 29 | 5 | 119 | David Mayhew | Chevrolet | 15 | 0 | 143 | F. Pump |
| 30 | 24 | 77 | Justin Lofton | Toyota | 14 | 0 | 139 | Running |
| 31 | 26 | 4 | Ricky Carmichael | Chevrolet | 13 | 0 | 132 | Accident |
| 32 | 20 | 29 | Parker Kligerman * | Dodge | 12 | 0 | 132 | Accident |
| 33 | 34 | 10 | Chase Mattioli * | Ford | 11 | 0 | 128 | Running |
| 34 | 15 | 81 | David Starr | Toyota | 10 | 0 | 112 | Accident |
| 35 | 32 | 7 | B.J. McLeod | Chevrolet | 9 | 0 | 104 | Accident |
| 36 | 33 | 5 | Travis Kvapil | Toyota | 8 | 0 | 99 | Accident |
SM Pick ‘Em: Subway Fresh Fit 500
The two Kyles were the only writers able to pick top-ten finishing drivers at the Daytona 500. Kyle Ocker earned ten points for correctly picking Trevor Bayne as the winner (his dark horse pick) and Kyle Brandt earned six points for his dark horse pick Juan Pablo Montoya finishing sixth.
UPDATED POINTS AFTER DAYTONA 500 PICKS: Kyle Ocker 11; Kyle Brandt 7; Jeffrey Boswell 1; Mark Odor 1; Ashley McCubbin 0; Barry Albert 0; Ben Gunby 0; Ed Coombs 0; Matt LaFlair 0; Roberta Cowan 0.
Matt LaFlair
WHO I REALLY THINK WILL WIN: Carl Edwards
Edwards set fast lap in November at Phoenix last year and I believe he is going to lay down about 300 fast laps on Sunday. Edwards will carry momentum from his 2nd place finish at Daytona into defending his win from November of last year.
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Clint Bowyer
Chevys have pretty much cleaned up here as of late. Outside of Edwards, I do not see anyone changing the trend. Watch for Bowyer to be towards the front when the checkers fly Sunday Afternoon.
Kyle Brandt
Who I think will win: Jimmie Johnson
Jimmie has the best average finish at Phoenix (3.25), and has logged top-ten finishes in each of his 4 starts there since February of 2009, leading 27% of
the total laps in that timeframe.
Dark Horse: Ryan Newman
Ryan has a strong track record at Phoenix, having logged top-ten finishes in two of the four races at the track since 2009, and the fourth best average among
active drivers at the track (9.75). Having a win during the Spring 2010 race at the diamond in the desert makes his stock a lot stronger.
Jeffrey Boswell
Who I Really Think Will Win: Jimmie Johnson
My Dark Horse Pick:A.J. Allmendinger
Comments: Johnson and Carl Edwards battle down the stretch, both refusing to concede an inch. Johnson nips Edwards at the line, and the two exchange heated words afterwards, and Johnson boasts of his choke hold on the Sprint Cup.
Mark Odor
WIN: Jeff Gordon
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Brad Keselowski
Ed Coombs
WHO I REALLY THINK WILL WIN: Jimmie Johnson
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Dale Earnhardt Jr
COMMENTS: I’m thinking Johnson will make a statement in Phoenix by taking charge and dominating this race. No one really knows how the teams are doing because they’ve only tested at Daytona so its anon plate track. I am going to think nothings really changed since last season.
Barry Albert
WHO I REALLY THINK WILL WIN: Jimmie Johnson
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Carl Edwards
Roberta Cowan
WHO I REALLY THINK WILL WIN: Jimmie Johnson
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Kevin Harvick
Kyle Ocker
WHO I REALLY THINK WILL WIN: Carl Edwards
MY DARK HORSE PICK: Regan Smith
COMMENTS: I’m just glad that I was one of the only people in the world who picked Trevor Bayne to win the Daytona 500, albeit as my dark horse. Still right.
