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NNS Race Recap: Kyle Busch Ties Martin's Record With 49th Nationwide Win

By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

LOUDON, N.H. — It was a day of major milestones for Kyle Busch, who tied Mark Martin for the career victory lead in NASCAR's Nationwide Series with Saturday's win in the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

The victory was Busch's sixth of the season in 14 starts and the 49th of his career, tying Martin. At the same time, Busch, 26, won for the 100th time in NASCAR's top three series combined.

Busch pulled away on a restart after contact from Steve Wallace knocked Joey Logano's Toyota into the Ford of Trevor Bayne on Lap 190 to cause the eighth caution of the race. The accident also collected the No. 32 Toyota of Reed Sorenson and deprived Sorenson of a chance to wrest the points lead from Elliott Sadler.

That wasn't the last major incident. When the field reached the second corner on Lap 197, a massive pileup slowed the race for the ninth time, and necessitated a green-white-checkered-flag finish that sent the race six laps past its scheduled distance at the 1.058-mile flat track.

Busch beat Kevin Harvick to the finish line by .304 seconds. Kasey Kahne ran third, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Aric Almirola.

Brad Keselowski was first out of the pits for a restart on Lap 130, with enough fuel to go the distance. After quickly dispatching Mikey Kyle, Kenny Wallace and Stenhouse, who had stayed on the track under the fifth caution of the race, Keselowski opened a lead of more than a half-second over Stenhouse.

But Keselowski surrendered the top spot to Stenhouse on Lap 152 and began to fade. Stenhouse stayed out front through an intense battle with Busch until NASCAR called the sixth caution for debris on the frontstretch on Lap 167.

With history in his sights, Busch passed Stenhouse for the lead on Lap 173 and began to pull away.

News - Kyle Busch Reaches NASCAR National Series Victory No. 100

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 16, 2011) – In winning the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch became the third driver with 100 NASCAR national series victories.

Busch also tied Mark Martin atop the all-time NASCAR Nationwide Series wins list, at 49.

The Las Vegas, Nev. native has won 22 times in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, 49 in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and 29 in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

Busch’s first win came in the 2004 NASCAR Nationwide Series event Richmond International Raceway, 12 days after his 19th birthday. He nabbed his 100th at the age of 26.

Here is the list of top winners in the three NASCAR national series (defined as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series):

NASCAR National Series Winners
Driver                   Wins
Richard Petty          200
David Pearson       106
Kyle Busch            100
Dale Earnhardt        97
Darrell Waltrip         97
Mark Martin             96
Jeff Gordon            89
Bobby Allison         86
Cale Yarborough   83

Busch has won across NASCAR’s three national series at 25 different tracks, capturing wins in all three series at eight different tracks including NASCAR’s first three-race weekend sweep a year ago at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Busch ranks tied for 28th with Terry Labonte in NASCAR Sprint Cup career victories.

The 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series champion has won races in eight consecutive seasons in the series, including a record-breaking 13 victories in 2010.

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck, Busch ranks second to Ron Hornaday Jr., who has 48 wins.

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RaceResultsNew Hampshire Motor Speedway 22nd Annual New England 200