New England 300 Tickets
Flush with the success of his team's second lead-lap result in 19 races this season, Morgan-McClure Motorsports owner Larry McClure revealed his plans for the next three races with his No. 4 Kodak Pontiac on Sunday after the New England 300
McClure has been performing a driver-development exercise for the past four races, using three different pilots. On Sunday, Busch Series regular Johnny Sauter made his second career Winston Cup start and finished 23rd, the next-to-last driver to complete 300 laps.
"It was a step in the right direction -- we had a race today," McClure said. "We knocked the toe-in out about an inch midway through the race, made some adjustments and he drove his little butt off. We're going to look for some more of that.
Kurt Busch wasn't going to be denied on Sunday at New Hampshire International Speedway. Starting 32nd on the grid, Busch took the lead from Ryan Newman on lap 171 and drove to victory in the Siemans 300, several car lengths over runner-up Jeff Gordon. It was the tenth career victory for Busch, his last coming in March at Bristol. It's his second win of the 2004 season . Busch led 2 times for a total of 110 laps, including the final 68 of the 300 laps raced. Ryan Newman led the most laps, 187. It was the most laps led by Newman in his career. It's the sixth victory for Ford in 2004. Chevrolet has 11 and Dodge has two. Newman finished third followed by Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart, Michael Waltrip, Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Dale Jarrett and Jeremy Mayfield.
Martin Truex Jr., filling in for Dale Earnhardt Jr., had a miserable day, hitting the turn one wall once and finished a disappointing 31st on the day. Jimmie Johnson extended his lead in the Nextel Cup standings to 165 points over Earnhardt Jr. by virtue of his eleventh place finish. The Nextel Cup Series moves to Pocono Raceway next Sunday, TNT race coverage starting at 12:30 PM/Eastern time. The Nextel leader bonus will be worth $90,000.
Matt Kenseth couldn't beat the field with speed, so he did it with strategy yesterday in the crash-filled NASCAR Busch Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway. The reigning Nextel Cup champion, making only his seventh Busch start of 2004, came up with his second win of the season and 16th of his career in the Siemens 200. Runner-up Tim Fedewa tried hard to overtake Kenseth, moving alongside the leader on a restart with 13 laps to go. But Kenseth, with the outside position, was able to hold off the challenge and eventually pulled away, winning by 1.51 seconds -- about six car-lengths. Jason Leffler finished third, followed by Kasey Kahne and Ron Hornaday Jr., who led the first 66 laps of a race that included 10 caution flags for a total of 49 laps.
Kyle Busch was involved in two crashes. On lap 163, Busch banged off the rear of pole-starter Jamie McMurray's car and sent series leader Martin Truex Jr. banging off the wall. Both were able to continue and, on a restart on lap 183, Busch rammed the back of Jason Keller's car and the two collided again as they spun. NASCAR gave Busch a one-lap penalty for rough driving and he wound up 25th. Busch and Keller exchanged heated words in the pits and again in the garage following the race. Busch is now 94 points behind Truex, who finished 11th on the same track where he is set to make his Nextel Cup debut today, filling in for the injured Dale Earnhardt Jr.