Kyle Busch Avoids the Wrecks to Claim Infineon Victory

Races at Infineon Raceway are often decided on pit strategy and fuel mileage. The 2008 Toyota / Save Mart 350 instead featured way too many cautions and one driver that simply had them covered. Kyle Busch avoided the wrecks all day long by having the fastest car and using it to stay out front to claim the first road racing win of his career.

Qualifying

Kasey Kahne continued his hot streak and ripped off a quick lap on Friday to put his car on the pole for the Toyota / SaveMart 350. Hendrick Motorsports' Jimmie Johnson started on the outside of the front row.

Dodge drivers Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte made up row number two. Five-time Infineon Raceway winner Jeff Gordon rounded out the top five.

Drop Of The Green

Kasey Kahne lead Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch into turn one as the field quickly got in line on the twisty road course. They stayed that way until the end of lap five when Jimmie Johnson got past Kahne for the lead.

The 2003 winner of this event Robby Gordon was moving towards the front early and looked to be a factor in the 2008 Toyota / Save Mart 350.

Storylines

With 32 laps to go road racing ringer Marcus Ambrose dove under Sprint Cup regular Jamie McMurray for third place. He overdrove the corner and mangaged to knock second place Juan Pablo Montoya back into the pack.

This is the danger of bringing in these one-shot racers. Ambrose has nothing to lose so he can drive it like he stole it. Meanwhile there are legitimate Sprint Cup racers out there racing for points who suffer when one of these guys gets overagressive.

To be fair, Ambrose was not the only driver to make a mistake. The end of this race featured many drivers doing dumb things. However, when one Sprint Cup star takes out another it's just hard racing. The road course ringers need to be extra cautious to avoid having an effect on the points.

Chasing The Checkers

The long string of late-race cautions eliminated the typical strategy-based finish at Infineon. As the drivers lined up for the restart with 6 laps to go the top five were Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart, David Gilliland, and Kevin Harvick.

Kyle Busch got a good restart and got away while Jamie McMurray made a small mistake and let Stewart get past. The Kevin Harvick got into a corner way too fast and spun himself, McMurray and Tony Stewart out of contention.

The final green-white-checkers restart then saw Kyle Busch, David Gilliland and Jeff Gordon lead them down to the green. Once again Busch was solid on the restart and he rolled comfortably home for the win.

Top Ten

1. Kyle Busch
2. David Gilliland
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Clint Bowyer
5. Casey Mears
6. Juan Pablo Montoya
7. Ryan Newman
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Carl Edwards
10. Tony Stewart

The Points

Kyle Busch pulled a new trick out his hat by winning on a road course. He is having an incredible 2008 so far and continues to lead in the points.

At the back of the top twelve Matt Kenseth raced his way into twelfth bumping Kevin Harvick from a Chase qualifying spot. There are ten races left until the cutoff so all eyes will be on the critical twelfth spot from here until Richmond.

The top twelve are now:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Jeff Burton -103
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -152
4. Carl Edwards -258
5. Jimmie Johnson -326
6. Jeff Gordon -367
7. Greg Biffle -389
8. Denny Hamlin -400
9. Kasey Kahne -450
10. Clint Bowyer -484
11. Tony Stewart -500
12. Matt Kenseth -516

Next Week

Next week the Sprint Cup series returns to oval racing on the east coast. New Hampshire Motor Speedway will host the Lenox Industrial Tools 301. This week's race provides a sneak peak of the Chase since the series will return here for the first Chase race of 2008.