The Kid Gives It His All

A couple of years ago, when Kurt Bursch burst onto the NASCAR scene and started winning races, the folks back in Las Vegas smiled and told anyone who would listen, “If you think Kurt is good, just wait until you see his kid brother Kyle.”

They saw The Kid Sunday.

In front of a packed California Speedway and a national TV audience, little brother Kyle -- barely 20 -- became the youngest winner in NASCAR history, impressively holding off Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers and pole-sitter Carl Edwards in a two-lap shootout after a late accident brought out a yellow flag.

“Just incredible, just incredible,” said an emotional Busch as his blue and yellow clad Kellogg’s Chevrolet crew enveloped him on the track, followed by car owner Ray Hendrick and big brother Kurt, who finished 12th.

Then he donated his winner’s purse of $241,065 to the Hurricane Katrina relief fund.

“For how much joy we’re able to share here, I still want to dedicate it to all those guys down there in Louisiana and Mississippi,” he said, then turned to Hendrick and said, “We’re going to donate your share and my share to them down there.”

Busch became NASCAR’s youngest winner by four days. He is 20 years, 4 months, 2 days old. The previous youngest was Donald Thomas, who was 20 years, 4 months, 6 days when he won at Atlanta in 1951.

In a race dominated earlier by “Chase for the Championship” talk, the dramatic rush of the younger Busch from 25th starting position to take the lead in 82 laps overshadowed a confusing day-into-night of racing.

“My nerves were on edge when I made my last pit stop,” he said. “I didn’t know what the other guys would do, but when I looked in my mirrors and saw them coming in with me, I thought, ‘Hey, that’s good.’ ”

Busch led the final 11 laps but had to live through three caution periods. The last involved an accident on the backstretch involving Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer and Jeff Burton that forced race officials to call for a green-white-checkered two-lap shootout.

“Kyle got a great restart there,” said Biffle, who won at Fontana in February but could not catch Busch. “Congratulations to him and that whole Hendrick team.”

California Speedway has been good to the Busch family in the past, even counting the day in 2001 when Kyle was the fastest qualifier for a Craftsman Truck race only to be prevented from racing because he was underage.

“That was a sad night for the Busch family, but in the end it turned out fine because it was that night that I became associated with Ray Hendrick,” Kyle said.

Kyle also won the pole for the Auto Club 500 in February. Kurt Busch won that race in 2003.

“Beating Biffle, it was kind of like my first win in the Busch series,” Kyle said. “He was hunting down my rear spoiler then, too. To be able to beat all 42 Nextel Cup competitors out here it’s just amazing.”

After 3 hours 43 minutes of action that saw 30 lead changes among 12 drivers, Mark Martin clinched a spot in the Chase, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth moved into the top 10, Ryan Newman is one point back of 10th and Jeff Gordon fell from 10th to 12th and is in danger of missing out.

Only one race remains, Saturday night’s Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond, Va., before the 10-race Chase shootout.

Four-time champion Gordon was running as high as 10th after 200 laps, but faded to 21st and is now 30 points out of 10th place.

“It was a hell of a night,” said Gordon. “We’re definitely the ones that are behind. I thought we had a great car here, then things went backward. That shows how much I know.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had an engine blow, and that blew away his last fading hope of running for the championship. Junior finished 38th.

“Our car was horrible,” said Earnhardt. “I’m glad it’s over with and I’m ready to go to Richmond. ... It was all over for me for at least 80 laps. The motor just blew up. If it hadn’t blown up it would have gone to hell.”

Edwards, who won the pole Saturday before winning a Busch series race, led 21 laps early in the race before a blown tire sent him into a double spin and back to 33rd place before he worked his Roush Ford back to fourth place.

The comeback put Edwards into position for a berth in the Chase if he finishes 19th or better at Richmond.

Tony Stewart, the Nextel Cup leader, finished fifth after leading 56 laps.

“I’m pleased with the whole race,” he said. “It was such an improvement from the way we ran here in the spring. The car probably got a little big tighter [when the sun went down] but we were still really fast when it got dark. I think we had the third-best car in the race.”

Stewart, Biffle, Jimmie Johnson, Rusty Wallace and Martin are securely in the Chase, and Kurt Busch will be in by starting the Richmond race. Jeremy Mayfield needs only to finish 39th or better to make it.

Ricky Rudd, whose father died Friday, returned in time to drive and finished ninth. Jon Wood had qualified the car, so Rudd had to start last.

“We didn’t get any practice so the car wasn’t set up quite the way I like it at the very beginning,” said Rudd. “I wish we could have adjusted it a little bit more, but I have to thank Jon Wood and the whole Wood Brothers team for everything they did the past two days.”

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Race roundup

Top five finishers in Sunday’s Sony HD 500 race and the six drivers who have qualified for the Nextel Cup championship chase:

SONY HD 500 RESULTS

*--* PL DRIVER ST CAR 1 Kyle Busch 25 Chevrolet 2 Greg Biffle 4 Ford 3 Brian Vickers 9 Chevrolet 4 Carl Edwards 1 Ford 5 Tony Stewart 14 Chevrolet

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NEXTEL CUP STANDINGS

*--* PL DRIVER POINTS BEHIND 1 Tony Stewart 3,570 -- 2 Greg Biffle 3,361 209 3 Jimmie Johnson 3,312 258 4 Rusty Wallace 3,257 313 5 Mark Martin 3,149 421 6 Kurt Busch 3,114 456

*--*

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Still in the race

The top six drivers have qualified for the Nextel Cup chase for the championship. Drivers 7-16 are still contenders. Nextel Cup leaders:

*--* POINTS MONEY 1. Tony Stewart 3,570 Jeff Gordon $5,272,326 2. Greg Biffle 3,361 Tony Stewart $5,201,086 3. Jimmie Johnson 3,312 Kurt Busch $5,099,895 4. Rusty Wallace 3,257 Jimmie Johnson $5,015,986 5. Mark Martin 3,149 Dale Earnhardt Jr. $4,327,793 6. Kurt Busch 3,114 Mark Martin $4,201,695 7. Jeremy Mayfield 3,073 Greg Biffle $4,117,680 8. Carl Edwards 3,014 Matt Kenseth $3,974,956 9. Matt Kenseth 2,939 Ryan Newman $3,963,436 10. Jamie McMurray 2,929 Kasey Kahne $3,681,980 11. Ryan Newman 2,928 Elliott Sadler $3,633,056 12. Jeff Gordon 2,899 Kevin Harvick $3,593,326 13. Elliott Sadler 2,877 Rusty Wallace $3,563,058 14. Dale Jarrett 2,812 Jeremy Mayfield $3,398,255 15. Kevin Harvick 2,798 Bobby Labonte $3,372,800 16. Joe Nemechek 2,794 Joe Nemechek $3,079,349

*--*

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Race Statistics

* Time of race: 3 hours 43 minutes 32 seconds.

* Margin of victory: 0.554 seconds.

* Winner’s average speed: 136.356 mph.

* Caution flags: 11 for 43 laps.

* Lead changes: 30 among 12 drivers.

* Lap leaders: C.Edwards 1; M.Martin 2-5; Kurt Busch 6-10; G.Biffle 11-23; M.Kenseth 24; G.Biffle 25-26; C.Edwards 27-46; Kurt Busch 47; G.Biffle 48; Kurt Busch 49-81; Kyle Busch 82-93; T.Stewart 94; J.Mayfield 95; T.Stewart 96-115; M.Waltrip 116-118; T.Stewart 119-145; J.Green 146; M.Kenseth 147-149; T.Stewart 150-151; Kyle Busch 152-165; T.Stewart 166; M.Kenseth 167-169; T.Stewart 170-172; Kyle Busch 173-199; T.Stewart 200; D.Earnhardt Jr. 201-202; M.Kenseth 203-209; Kyle Busch 210-240; T.Stewart 241; R.Gordon 242-243; Kyle Busch 244-254.

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One race remains before the Nextel Chase for the championship begins. The remaining schedule:

* Saturday, Chevy Rock & Roll 400, Richmond, Va.

* Sept. 18, Sylvania 300, Loudon, N.H.

* Sept. 25, MBNA 400, Dover, Del.

* Oct. 2, UAW-Ford 500, Talladega, Ala.

* Oct. 9, Banquet 400, Kansas City, Kan.

* Oct. 15, UAW-GM Quality 500, Charlotte, N.C.

* Oct. 23, Subway 500, Martinsville, Va.

* Oct. 30, Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, Atlanta

* Nov. 6, Dickies 500, Fort Worth

* Nov. 13, Checker Auto Parts 500, Phoenix

* Nov. 20, Ford 400, Homestead, Fla.