NASCAR NATION – 6-2

Chip Ganassi may have left Indianapolis with the first win of the day, but it was longtime friend and rival Roger Penske who got the last laugh at Charlotte.
Ganassi’s Dario Franchitti took home the checkered flag from the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but it was Penske’s Kurt Busch that edged Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing’s Jamie McMurray to capture his first Coca-Cola 600.
Busch led a race-high 243 of 400 laps to win his second race of 2010. He also won the All-Star race the weekend prior at Charlotte, sweeping the early season stay at the track.
Busch, after taking the checkered flag, reminded viewers of the friendly rivalry between owners Ganassi and Penske.
“Roger, this one is for you,” Busch said from Victory Lane. “I thought about the Ganassi car behind me. He wasn’t getting by us. To win the 600 and All-Star back to back, this is something that will be front and center in Roger (Penske’s) NASCAR trophy case. I was happy to deliver.”
McMurray, along with Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann, spent a majority of the race inside the top ten. McMurray appeared as those at several points he would be able to challenge Busch for the victory, leading four different times for 29 laps, but didn’t have enough time to catch the No. 2 of Busch.
Kyle Busch was able to rally late to finish third, but not before agitating a veteran driver to the point of confrontation following the race. After an on-track incident involving slight contact between two vehicles, Jeff Burton tracked down Busch following the race and was very verbal with Busch following the race, voicing his frustration with the contact.
Mark Martin, driving his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, finished fourth, while Reutimann was fifth. Polesitter Ryan Newman finished ninth. Mayetta, New Jersey native Martin Truex Jr. started third, and ran in the top-15 for much of the day before falling to 23rd for the finish.
Indianapolis 500:
Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti captured his second Indianapolis 500, holding off Dan Weldon, who finished second. Marco Andretti was third, followed by Alex Lloyd in fourth and Scott Dixon in fifth. Danica Patrick finished sixth, the highest of four women in the race.
A scary accident with just a few laps remaining featured the car of Mike Conway going airborne before hitting the outside retaining fence and breaking into several pieces, Conway suffered a broken leg in the wreck and was airlifted to a local hospital.
Nationwide Series:
Kyle Busch rebounded from being down two laps to come back and win the TECH-NET Auto Service 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Busch led 64 of 203 laps, one shy of the race-high 65 laps led by second place finisher Brad Keselowski. It was Busch’s fifth Nationwide Series victory of 2010.
Joey Logano was third, Justin Allgaier fourth, and Ryan Newman fifth.
Coming Up:
All three series head to different tracks for the first time this season, as the Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway, the Nationwide Series to Nashville Superspeedway, and the Camping World Truck Series to Texas Motor Speedway.
Bruce Knoll, 18, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.com
Bruce Knoll, 18, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.