Busch uses good fortune to capture 300 at Lowe's



When leader Joe Nemechek lost control, Kyle Busch pulled away to win.
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) -- Kyle Busch needed a bit of good fortune to take the lead late in Saturday's Carquest Auto Parts 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
Then the rookie just made sure he had enough gas to hold on.
When leader Joe Nemechek lost control with 18 laps to go, Busch pulled away and moved ahead of the field before winning under caution. It was his second win in his last three NASCAR Busch Series races.
Busch finished second in this race last year in his Busch debut, falling behind Matt Kenseth on a late restart. This time, Busch benefited from the late caution on Nemechek's spinout to save gas for a final push to the checkered flag.
Busch won under caution after Tony Raines hit the wall with two laps to go.
"I just kept watching the fuel gauge making sure we were all right," Busch said. "We were doing pretty good and saving fuel on those last cautions."
Low on gas
Several of the leaders were apparently low enough on gas that they drove on the apron during the last caution to avoid the banked turns, which could slosh gas away from the intake and stall the car.
"We just moseyed around there as quickly as we could," Busch said.
After the race, Busch burned his tires on the front straight-away, sending thick clouds of white smoke into the air. When the haze cleared, the exuberant 19-year-old was standing on the door of his car with his helmet off and arms raised in celebration.
Jamie McMurray finished second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jason Leffler and Tony Stewart.
Nemechek fell to sixth after spinning out into the grassy infield before charging back to challenge McMurray for second. But he ran out of gas with four laps to go and finished a disappointing 21st.
"Well, I think it's just kind of our luck right now," Nemechek said. "We drove from the back to the front, and I was just conserving gas. Coming off [Turn] 4, it just turned around. I couldn't save it."
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