Kyle Busch cruises to win teammate Denny Hamlin's charity race
Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch won the Short Track Showdown charity race on Thursday at Southside Speedway.
// Tim Parks, NASCAR Scene
MIDLOTHIAN, Va. - For the second straight year, Kyle Busch stole the show at NASCAR Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown charity race.
Busch led all but the opening few laps of the 175-lap Limited Late Model event held at Southside Speedway Thursday night to support the Denny Hamlin Foundation, which cites raising awareness and funding for those affected by cystic fibrosis as its main objective.
Hamlin, who hails from nearby Chesterfield, Va., finished second in the second annual race but was no match for Busch, who sprinted away from the field on a final restart with five laps to go and cruised to the win.
Hamlin’s other Cup teammate, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Joey Logano, battled back after an unscheduled pit stop to finish sixth, last among lead-lap cars in the 28-driver field.
Also in the race were Curtis Markham, a former driver in what is now known as the Nationwide Series who now serves as Hamlin’s Cup spotter, and Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner/driver Tony Stewart.
“We’re in a good position to help each other out, and it’s not necessarily helping each other out. It’s just helping the causes in which we support,” Hamlin said of his fellow Cup drivers’ participation.
Even though Hamlin was no match for Busch, he still fared relatively well compared to the other drivers with Cup ties.
Stewart, making his first appearance in the race, went to pit road with a flat tire on lap 123 and was never in contention again.
Markham was poised for a top-10 finish until a flat tire sent his car into the Turn 1 wall to bring out the final yellow flag of the caution-plagued race.
All proceeds from the event will benefit Hamlin’s foundation.
