“I can tell you right now, coming out of turn four, that’s not my racing style,” Gale said of the contact he made with Busch on the final lap en route to win. The emotional victor went on to explain that he didn’t know when he’d have the same kind of opportunity (to win) again, so he had to take advantage of it.

Busch was relegated to the runner-up spot after leading several laps late in the race.

“It just doesn’t matter,” a dejected Busch said of the physicality of his late-race duel with Gale.

Joey Coulter finished third in the No. 22 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. With the top-three finish, Coulter was able to move from fourth to third in points to end the year in the top-three.

Parker Kligerman started on the pole and led the first five laps before he was passed Nelson Piquet Jr. Piquet remained up front for until Busch beat him off pit road during a caution that came out on lap 35 to restart in the lead position. Busch held on to the lead until he was passed by Kyle Larson on lap 51.

Larson, in only his fourth-career Truck Series race, was able to stay up front until the race field cycled through green-flag pit stops with about 48 laps to go in the race’s scheduled 134-lap distance.When the cycle completed, Larson was back out front, but he lost the top spot when the yellow flag waved for the third time in the race with about 30 laps to go.

Johnny Sauter got off pit road first by taking only two tires. When the race went back to green, Busch moved into the lead by getting by Sauter while Larson lost several spots.

Larson then began his move back toward the front. With three laps to go, Larson was racing the No. 3 of championship contender Ty Dillon when their two trucks made contact, sending Dillon into the wall, just as he had moved to within one point of points leader James Buescher, as they ran on the race track.

“It’s tough that I got into a point contender there, but I’m racing for a win, too,” Larson said of the incident. “I don’t know if it was my fault. It was just hard racing.”

Dillon wound up finishing the race 25th and dropping to fourth in the season-ending points standings, losing third spot with which he entered the weekend to Coulter. Buescher claimed the series championship afdter finishing the race 13th.

“I hate it had to come down to us hitting the wall,” Dillon said.

The Larson-Dillon incident resulted in a red flag for track cleanup and a two-lap, green-white-checker sprint to the finish. Busch and Gale lined up on the front row for the two-lap dash to the win. The two raced side-by-side for the lead in the final laps, making contact several times. The finish was close enough that Gale didn’t know for sure that he’d won until his crew infomred him over the radio that he was the winner.

Brazilians Piquet. and Miguel Paludo finished fourth and fifth. Sauter was sixth, Kligerman was seventh, and Timothy Peters held on to finish second in points with an eighth-place race finish. Justin Lofton was ninth and Ross Chastain was 10th.

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Camping World Truck: James Buescher (11-point lead over Timothy Peters) must finish seventh or better to win the Truck Series championship, no matter how Peters fares. If Buescher leads a lap, he’ll also need to finish the race 8th or better. That requirement falls to ninth or better if Buescher is the race’s lap leader.

Nationwide Series: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (20-point lead over Elliott Sadler) must finish 16th or better to claim the title, even if Sadler leads the most laps or wins the race. If Stenhouse leads at least a lap, he’ll only have to finish 16th or better. He’ll clinch with a finish of 17th or better if he leads the most laps.

There’s a separate championship battle in the Nationwide Series for the owner’s championship. The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team (33 points ahead of the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing team) only needs to finish 28th or better on Saturday to claim the owner’s title for team owner Joe Gibbs. Joey Logano, a nine-time winner this year, will be behind the wheel. Logano has to finish only 29th or better if he leads a lap, or inside the top-30 if he leads the most laps.

Sprint Cup: Brad Keselowski (20-point lead on Jimmie Johnson) needs to finish 15th or better to lock up his first Sprint Cup, regardless of Johnson’s finish. If Keselowski leads a lap, he’ll need to finish 16th or better. If Keselowski leads the most laps, he’ll only need to finish 17th or better.

– Photo courtesy of Getty Images for NASCAR
– Follow Stock Car Spin on Twitter @SCSblog or like Stock Car Spin on Facebook
– Amanda’s also on Twitter @NASCARexaminer and has a fan/like page on Facebook: NASCAR Examiner