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Busch returns with fastest practice time

CONCORD, N.C.

Walking gingerly, his mood upbeat, Kyle Busch climbed back into his race car for the first time in almost three months.

He quickly settled into the No. 18 Toyota, got used to his new seat, and ripped the fastest lap in Friday’s practice session for the All-Star race.

Make no mistake, Rowdy has officially returned.

“I didn’t sleep all that great last night and I was wondering why — I wasn’t sure if my body was just thinking I would miss an alarm,” Busch said Friday.

Busch broke his right leg and left foot when he crashed into a concrete wall during the Feb. 21 Xfinity Series race at Daytona. He missed the Daytona 500 the day after the accident and 10 other races, but had his eye on returning for Saturday night’s $1 million All-Star race during his recovery.

The date seemed optimistic to his doctors, who weren’t quite sure Busch could recover from his injuries in such a fast timeframe. But he was determined, even as he admitted Friday that he briefly considered trying to get back for races at Talladega or Kansas before giving himself two more weeks to heal.

“Charlotte looked really good and it seems, so far, to be a good choice to come back for here,” he said. “I think it was kind of always a goal, and whether or not I could meet that goal was just how hard we worked and pushed and tried to get ready for this day.”

Although the All-Star race doesn’t count toward the Sprint Cup standings, Busch will use this weekend as a warmup for the May 24 Coca-Cola 600, the longest race of the NASCAR season.

He’s been granted a waiver to participate in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship should he qualify, which would likely require him not only cracking the top 30 in points but also winning a race.

Busch believes it gives him a solid shot to make the 16-driver field and race for the title.

“It gives us a legitimate chance to try to qualify for the Chase and to be able to race for a championship. That’s all you can ask for,” he said. “I’m ready to tackle the challenge. I know it’s not quite going to be easy, but if we do the right things and make some of the right calls and try to win some of these races, we’ll see what we can do and get ourselves Chase eligible, and go race them in the end.”

Biffle, Bowyer earn spots in All-Star Race

CONCORD, N.C.

Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer raced their way in to the $1 million All-Star event, and Danica Patrick won the fan vote to complete the field for Saturday night’s race.

Biffle won the first 20-lap segment in Friday night’s Sprint Showdown. The race was for all drivers not already qualified for the All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Biffle then took his car to the garage and watched the final 20-lap segment, which was won by Bowyer. Biffle led every lap of the first segment, but Bowyer needed a three-wide pass to get to the lead.

Kahne captures Truck Series race

CONCORD, N.C.

Kasey Kahne edged Erik Jones by 0.005 seconds in after a contact-filled, final-lap duel Friday night in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Kahne, a Sprint Cup regular making his first start for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s new trucks team, passed Jones on a green-white-checkered finish that ended with his truck wobbling across the line a few feet ahead of Jones. It tied for the second-closest finish in Truck Series history and left Jones with a second straight heartbreaking loss.

The 18-year-old Jones led 88 of 134 laps. A week ago at Kansas, Jones also led the most laps but ran out of gas late.

Points leader Matt Crafton was third, followed by Tyler Reddik and Brad Keselowski.

Associated Press