#17-Matt Kenseth became the 18th different winner in 18 NASCAR Busch Series races after winning the Siemens 200 at New Hampshire International Speedway, however, much of the postrace excitement centered around what happened behind him on a restart on Lap 183. #22-Jason Keller lined up fourth and #5-Kyle Busch was fifth when the green flew, but Busch got an early jump on the start and ran into the back of Kellers Ford. Keller bounced off the outside wall and came back across the track, clipping Busch. The incident left Busch 25th, Keller 26th and nobody particularly happy. Busch was black-flagged and penalized a lap for aggressive driving by NASCAR. “I got into the back of Jason,” Busch said. “I thought he was going and obviously I was wrong.” Drivers and teams exchanged words on pit road and did so again in the garage when Busch headed over to speak with Keller to try to smooth things over. “I think they were kind of immature about it,” Busch said. “I am a championship contender and I wouldnt do anything to mess up my own chances. I got into the back of him. OK, I wrecked him, sorry. I am sure there is going to be one for me later on this year, but thats not the way I race.” The incident did have ramifications in what has become a two-team race for the Busch Series title. Despite hitting the wall and being penalized for having his fuel can stuck in his car on a pit stop, Martin Truex Jr. salvaged an 11th-place finish and picked up 42 points on Busch in the standings. Truex now leads by 94 points. Ron Hornaday Jr., who finished sixth Saturday, is 338 points back in third. Kenseth made his last pit stop on Lap 108 and went the rest of the way on that fuel load to score his 16th career Busch victory and his second this season. #12-Tim Fedewa, winless in the series since a victory here in May 2000, challenged Kenseth on the late restarts but could not wrestle away the lead after Kenseth got it on Lap 151. He held on for second, with #00-Jason Leffler, #38-Kasey Kahne and #21-Kevin Harvick rounding out the top five.(ThatsRacin.com)
Race results at:
ThatsRacin.com
BGNRacing.com
MotorsportsOne
NASCAR.com.(7-24-2004)
