Joe Gibbs Driven

After leading seven times for a total of 169 laps, Busch drove his No. 18 M&M’s®/Indiana Jones Toyota Camry to victory lane for the third time this season. With the win, he boosted his points lead to 79 markers over second-place Jeff Burton.

“(This win) means a lot,” Busch remarked afterwards. “This racetrack, don't get me wrong, I don't know all the history and heritage of it, but I know there's a lot to it. I know watching Carl Edwards' piece with (David) Pearson, having the fun day he had, then watching some of the highlights of the races here. It's kind of fun to watch those and see what the track was like back in the heyday.”

“But we're running around here so fast now it's confusing,” continued Busch. “To me it's just neat to be able to go around this place and remember all that and yet still be able to become the winner tonight. It means a lot, especially because it's Mother's Day weekend now, and of course my mom was here to be able to help celebrate with us. Happy Mother's Day to her. And having Indiana Jones and M&M's on board this weekend with us, that was pretty cool, too. Glad we could get them a win for the special promotion they had going.”

It was a victory, for all intents and purposes, that never should have happened. He tried to knock the wall down more than once, flattening the right side of his race car. He had a loose lug nut in the pits that sent him back to 29th only 60 laps in. His car just wasn’t handling right. And besides, he’s only 23. He shouldn’t be this good, right? But Kyle Busch once again silenced all doubters, proving he’s NASCAR’s hottest driver and it’s going to take a mighty effort to knock him from the top.

As noted, Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s team overcame several setbacks throughout Saturday night’s 500-mile race. The new racing surface added speed and new challenges to an already treacherous race track. But crew chief Steve Addington and the entire crew stayed on top of changing track conditions and the car’s handling, as they worked hard all night to keep their driver in contention. In the end, it was Busch’s fierce competitive streak that would not allow him to falter.

Busch, starting from the sixth position, wasn’t the top qualifier, however, from the Joe Gibbs Racing stable. That honor went to Tony Stewart who started in fourth. Stewart recovered from an early wreck to finish 21st. Denny Hamlin, starting from 21st, ended with a seventh-place result.

But again, it was Kyle Busch who continued to rewrite the record books by becoming the youngest Darlington winner at 23 years, eight days of age. He also helped to create a new record average race speed of 140.350mph. With a 3.115-second margin of victory, Busch expanded his points lead and increased his Cup Series win total to three for the season. He also now has eight total wins in NASCAR’s top three divisions for 2008.

Behind Kyle Busch’s dominating win, Carl Edwards finished in the second spot. Seven-time Darlington winner, Jeff Gordon, finished in third and picked up two spots in the points standings. Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished in fourth, while rising star, David Ragan, rounded out the top five.

Next week the Sprint Cup teams take a break from the points championship chase to compete in the Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night. It’s the annual all-star competition where drivers compete for both pride and one million dollars. Live television coverage will be provided by SPEED starting at 7:00pm EDT. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) will provide radio coverage.