Kyle Busch kicks off Kansas weekend with Nationwide win

Oct 4, 2014; Kansas City, KS, USA; NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Kyle Busch (54) during the Kansas Lottery 300 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Busch passed Kevin Harvick with about 20 laps to in the Kansas Lottery 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series on Saturday to kick off his Kansas Speedway weekend with a win. It was Busch’s 69th-career win in Nationwide Series competition.

"“We raced a guy that’s probably going to win tomorrow,” Busch said of Harvick, looking ahead to Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race."

Harvick was all by himself on the lead lap when the yellow flag waved for the eighth time on lap 143 of the 200-lap race when he was the only driver who hadn’t yet pitted during a cycle of green-flag stops. After Harvick made his stop under yellow, the rest of the field took the wave-around, with Ryan Blaney, Busch and Brian Scott retarting second, third and fourth.

Busch got up to second on the restart, and the yellow flag was quickly displayed, again. Harvick was able to hold off Busch for awhile before losing the lead and then having to hold off Blaney for the second spot. Blaney finished third.

"“Kyle was just a little bit faster there as we got toward the end,” Harvick said. “Did all we could do and just came up a little bit short, there.”"

Blaney battled Harvick for second for a few laps until Harvick was able to pull away and settle into the second spot in the closing laps.

"“I was just a little bit too free, there, that last bit,” Blaney said. “We just didn’t adjust enough, and that was my fault. I didn’t want to adjust on it.”"

The first seven cautions of the race came in the first 90 laps, with the yellow flag waving for the first time by lap four. Pit strategies varied throughout the race’s first half, from staying out, to taking two tires to changing four. In all the yellow flag waved nine times, with only two cautions in the second half of the race.

Harvick, Blaney, Chris Buescher and pole sitter Ty Dillon were mainstays up front early in the race. Buescher was caught up in an on-track incident with Kyle Larson, who also ran near the front early on, when Larson sput, bringing out the caution on lap 90.

"“I was really surprised I got loose there,” Larson said. “I had been extremely tight all day yesterday and all the race.”"

Brendan Gaughan also got up front to lead laps by staying out when the yellow flag waved for debris on lap 45.

Gaughan’s time up front was short-lived, though, as Blaney took the lead when the race restart. Scott also led laps by pit strategy, taking two tires during a caution that came out on lap 73. But when the race restarted from that caution, Matt Kenseth took the lead after a three-wide battle with Elliott Sadler and Scott.

Sadler also led laps before Busch took the race lead for the first time with about 75 laps to go, just before the only green-flag cycle of stops in the race.

Paul Menard and Dillon finished fourth and fifth. Finishing sixth through 10th were Kenseth, Sadler, Trevor Bayne, and Chase Elliott.

With his 10th-place finish, Elliott grew his championship points lead to 38 points over JR Motorsports teammate and second-place driver Regan Smith. Smith wound up on pit road with the hood up on his car late in the race after starting the day in the back because of a wreck during qualifying. Smith wound up finishing 22nd.

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