Rain just before the scheduled start time was about the only thing that slowed Kyle Busch on this day.Busch started his day off in Iowa in fine fashion setting a new track record for this division with a speed of 135.484 mph in his Toyota of Des Moines sponsored ride putting him on the pole next to California driver David Mayhew who also went below the previous track record during qualifying. A pesky light rain just before driver introductions delayed the start of the race for about an hour and when the green flag flew Busch and Mayhew left the rest of the 37-car field far behind. A caution on lap seventy brought most of the field down pit road while Claremont, California, driver Chris Johnson remained on the speedway to inherit the lead. Having qualified 34th on the starting grid at a speed that was over seven miles per hour slower than Busch it was pretty much expected that Johnson's time at the front would be short-lived. That was not the case though as he quickly opened up a ten car length advantage when the race went back to green.
Busch was around the twelfth spot on the restart and he seemed to pick off a car a lap and when he made it up to the second spot it took him several laps to reel in the leader. One lap past the halfway mark, lap 101, Johnson slid up the race track off of turn two allowing Busch to make a run at him down the backstretch to regain the lead. Johnson pitted a lap later under green and lost a couple of laps to the field and would no longer be a factor, but he was certainly impressive for the nearly thirty laps that he ran out front. As Busch pulled away from the pack the battle for second heated up as four cars, including local standout Brett Moffitt, bunched together nose-to-tail in traffic on lap 145. A sixteen-year-old sophomore in high school from Grimes, Moffitt moved by Jason Bowles to take the third spot during that battle and was giving Brian Ickler quite a challenge for second when the caution came out on lap 177 with Ryan Truex riding along the wall in turns one and two.
There would be just sixteen laps remaining for the restart and although nobody had shown that they could mount a serious challenge on Busch, both Mayhew and Ickler had proven that they could keep pace with him. With the return of the green Ickler made a bold move to the inside of Busch coming out of turn two putting his nose under the Cup star, but Busch was able to fight off the challenge down the back straightaway to maintain the advantage. There would be no chance for Ickler to think about the lead over the final laps as Mayhew pulled to his inside and the two raced wheel to wheel for all but the final two laps as Ickler prevailed in the battle to be the runner-up to Kyle Busch. Moffitt was fourth on that final restart only to have Paulie Harraka go by him with seven laps remaining and Jeffrey Earnhardt, the son of Kerry Earnhardt and grandson of Dale, passed him two laps later. Earnhardt nipped Harraka by a nose at the checkers to finish in the fourth spot while Moffitt brought his Karl Chevrolet sponsored ride in fourth sixth. Idaho driver Brett Thompson finsihed in the seventh spot followed by Jesus Hernandez, Bowles and Johnny Borneman.
Sixteen-year-old Brett Moffitt and nineteen-year-old Jeffrey Earnhardt chat before introductions. Both drivers would end up finishing in the top six.There is no doubt that "Rowdy" Busch would have preferred to continue the tradition of winning the big money in Charlotte the night before, but it was also obvious from his victory celebration on the front straightaway that he was very happy to start a new tradition of the Cup star taking the win here at the Iowa Speedway.
Jimmie Johnson's younger brother Jarit is greeted by Richard Petty during pre-race ceremonies. Johnson was running ninth with twenty-seven laps remaining when he pitted with a smoking racecar.Newton Notes and Observations......Our day started off with a brief press conference featuring Richard Petty who was making his first trip ever to the Iowa Speedway. The King was very entertaining to listen to as he spoke of how racing has changed so much from his first Cup championship in 1964 and noted that while the youth movement of today is impressive, these kids have likely been racing something since the age of five. Back in his day you had to be twenty-one or so just to scrape together enough junk to get out there to compete. Petty also stated that the drivers of today must not only be talented behind the wheel, but they also must be able to be good public speakers and represent their sponsors in the right manner. Forty or fifty years ago he likened some of the best drivers as somebody that you would let out of a cage, have them drive the race and then make sure that you put them back in the cage.
My favorite part of the King's press conference though came when Kirk Elliott from http://www.racinboys.com/ asked him to comment on the recent ground breaking for the Victory Junction camp in Kansas City. It was very obvious that Richard and the entire Petty family and organization take great pride in the camp and what it has meant to the lives of the kids who attend. I thought I could hear his voice waiver a couple of times as he described with passion the activities that the children with special needs participate in and the confidence that it gives to these kids when they return to their everyday world.....My partner here at PR.com, Barry Johnson works in the media relations department at the Speedway and he was a bit down on himself after the event. Seems that as he was delivering the winner's trophy to victory lane it came apart on him. Kyle Busch though made light of the situation and stated that he would fix it himself as loves collecting trophies. After the winner's press conference the Speedway staff offered to have the trophy fixed and shipped to Busch and Kyle once again said "no problem, I can fix this!"
.....My father-in-law Bob Shores joined me today and one of his friends Leon Emmons added to our enjoyment as he showed us around some of the places that we would have never seen without him. Leon's business Mr. Executive is a long time sponsor of Des Moines IMCA Stock Car star Steve Jackson......Due to commitments at other races, tickets to college football games, family events, etc., etc., I had yet to make it out to the Iowa Speedway until today. Several people have told me what a fantastic facility this is, but their glowing accounts still did not do this place justice. This facility is first class from top to bottom for the drivers, their crews, the media and most importantly for the fans. An extensive lineup of food and drink options and at very affordable prices just add to the great sight lines that the grandstand area provides and the configuration of the track offers up the two main things that race fans are looking for; speed and competition. Yes, I am and always will be a dyed in the wool dirt track fan, but as a race fan and as a native Iowan I felt a great sense of pride now knowing that we have this gem right here in our midst. Those of you who have been there already know this, and for those of you who perhaps like me, just haven't put forth the effort to check this place out yet, please do so. You won't be disappointed! Click on their website right now at http://www.iowaspeedway.com/ to purchase your tickets. I look forward to returning soon.
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