Kyle Busch kept it simple Friday night at Darlington Raceway.
The strategy was basic—win the pole and win the race. Busch dusted the rest of the field at the venerable track in the South Carolina sandhills, pulling away to win the VFW Sport Clips Help a Hero 200 by .935 over Elliott Sadler, who recovered from an early spin to finish second.
Brian Vickers came home third, followed by Joey Logano and Matt Kenseth.
The victory was Busch’s fifth in eight Nationwide Series starts this season. Busch, who led 107 of 147 laps, extended his career win record in the series to 56.
About the only thing that could slow Busch’s progress was an issue on pit road. Busch came out sixth after a slow stop on Lap 51 under yellow for Sadler’s spin off Turn 2. Charging forward after the restart, Busch was on Kenseth’s bumper, challenging for the lead by the time the race reached Lap 74, just past halfway.
For the next eight laps, Busch hounded Kenseth, finally clearing his teammate for the lead on Lap 82. Busch held the top spot until a caution on Lap 119 for Kyle Fowler’s wreck changed the running order again.
Joey Logano and Austin Dillon stayed out on old tires and led the field to a Lap 125 restart. Sadler restarted third after a two-tire stop, while Busch took the green in fourth on four fresh tires.
Busch made short work of the drivers on older rubber and passed Logano for the lead on Lap 130. Game over.
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