DARLINGTON — Kyle Busch isn’t going to win any popularity contests.
But that’s fine with him as long as he continues to win races.
Busch overcame a pit road incident and hitting the wall numerous times in putting together a dominant performance to win the Dodge Challenger 500 on Saturday night at Darlington Raceway.
Busch led a race-high 169 of 367 laps in winning his third Cup race of the season. The win definitely wasn’t a popular one among many fans. Busch was booed during pre-race introductions and showered with debris as he headed to Victory Lane.
“Someone threw a beer can at me. The next time they do it could they at least make sure it’s full so I can enjoy it?” Busch joked. “This team loves it when the fans keep making noise, so keep it up. If I win, it makes the fans more upset and they can cry on their way home.”
Busch, who turned 23 this week, is the youngest Cup winner in Darlington’s history. The previous mark was held by Terry Labonte, who was 23 years, nine months, when he won Sept. 1, 1980.
The win continued what has been a dominant season for the Las Vegas native. Busch has won eight races overall in NASCAR’s top three series and leads the Sprint Cup points standings by 79 points over Jeff Burton.
But lately, he hasn’t been known for wins as much as for his ability to stir up things on the track.
During the week, he spent most of the time answering questions after he wrecked Dale Earnhardt Jr. last week with three laps to go at Richmond.
“He just gets himself into situations and it follows him. He needs to go with it and be himself,” said Jeff Gordon, who finished third. “Having a love-hate relationship isn’t a bad thing. at least they are making a lot of noise.”
Carl Edwards finished a distant second behind Busch and was followed by Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Ragan.
Busch’s main competition came from pole-sitter Greg Biffle, who dominated for much of the early part of the race. The Roush Fenway driver led for 95 laps but went out on lap 234 when his engine blew up.
Once Biffle was eliminated, that opened the door for Busch, who went from first to 23rd after he was sent back down pit road for a missing lugnut during a pit stop on lap 141.
With his wild and unique driving style, Busch charged through the field, often riding along the wall of the track’s egg-shaped turns. Busch said he hit the wall at least six times in the race.
“He tried giving it away. I don’t know how many times I saw him hit the wall,” Gordon said. “His right side was completely destroyed.”
It was the first Cup race on Darlington’s new surface and also was the fastest in the track’s 58-year history with Busch’s winning speed at 140.350 mph. The previous record was 139.958, set by Dale Earnhardt on March 28, 1993.
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