Race rewind: Busch forgives rookie after hard crash

Thursday, August 27, 2009

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Kyle Busch thought he was just darting by a lapped car when he was suddenly run into by Chase Austin. The contact sent Busch’s car crashing hard into the wall on lap 53 and then behind the wall for lengthy repairs.

Austin said he had a flat tire and was trying to get low on the track. Busch was understanding of the rookie’s mistake.

“[Our car] was coming right to the front, got all the way up there and was taking the lead, … but you know, mistakes happen sometimes, I’ve made plenty, so we’ll go on and get them next week,” Busch said.

“We had a fast car. We were coming right to the front, passing for the lead and just got wadded up there.”

Busch ended up 28th and saw his points lead cut from 339 to 248 by Carl Edwards, who finished second.

“It blew coming out of [Turn] 4 and the car just started to turn down the track, and I was trying to hurry up to get out of the way because I knew they were coming,” Austin said. “It was unfortunate for Kyle I got into him.”

Keselowski, Kenseth rebound from trouble

Brad Keselowski and Matt Kenseth were involved in early incidents but came back for solid finishes.

Keselowski was battling for the lead with Justin Allgaier on lap 38 when Keselowski got loose and drove into Allgaier, whose car suffered the brunt of the damage.

“I was just driving too hard, too early,” Keselowski said. “It was 100 percent my fault.”

Keselowski had some right-front damage to his car but was able to stay on the lead lap, restart 31st and finish third.

Kenseth rallied from the rear of the field to fifth after a wreck on lap 6 where he spun out by himself.

“I got in there and I don’t know what happened, to be honest with you,” Kenseth said. “Overall, it was all right, but we want to be up there battling for wins.”

Annett touts improved team after top 10

Michael Annett finished in the top 20 in eight of his first 17 races this year but has now finished in the top 20 in six of his last seven, including an eighth-place finish at Bristol.

The Germain Racing rookie changed crew chiefs from Bruce Cook to Mike Hillman Sr. in June, and his Bristol performance marked his first top-10 in a companion event to a Sprint Cup race this year.

“I don’t think it was necessarily just changing one person,” Annett said. “We got a bunch of people that got their hands around it, and we just kind of sat down and knew something needed changing and we made a change. You can just tell watching my guys around the garage area – their heads are up and they’re excited and they’re excited to make the car better.”

Winners ...

Carl Edwards: Not only did he finish second, he gained 91 points on leader Kyle Busch.
Michael McDowell: His second top-10 in the last four races for the Keselowski team.
Matthew Carter: Former Cup team owner Travis Carter’s son stayed out of trouble and finished 12th.

Losers ...

Brad Coleman: Flat tire and accident resulted in 29th-place finish.
Danny O’Quinn: Involved in two accidents after running strong early. Team announced the next day he was leaving.
Kyle Busch: Leading the race when he was taken out by Chase Austin; wound up 28th.