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Harvick wins NCWTS race at Texas while Busch gets parked for the evening

Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR
The action is always bigger in Texas – well, tonight was no different. With the championship on the line, Austin Dillon and James Buescher went into the race separated only by 11 points. Buescher started on the pole position but alongside him was Dillon.

Just 15 laps into the race, a jaw-dropping incident occurred between Kyle Busch and Ron Hornaday. Initially running three-wide, Hornaday moved up the track which caused Busch to hit the wall; Hornaday also hit the wall moments later. Pulling away, both trucks were fine, no major damage and there were in drivable condition. Busch was angry, and drove up into the rear of Hornaday, sending him into the wall head on. Hornaday hit the wall, in a hard impact but was thankfully uninjured.

NASCAR responded immediately, parking Busch for the remainder of the race and directing him and crew chief Eric Phillips to the NASCAR hauler following the race.NASCAR officials met with Busch after the race although only briefly, a meeting has been scheduled with Busch and JGR management for Saturday morning prior to Cup Series practice. 

As a result of the accident, Hornaday is now out of contention for the NCWTS championship. After being treated and released from the infield care center, Hornaday stopped to talk with the media and respond about the wreck. “You guys seen it all. I thought I had a pass on the front straightaway. He got a good run to get up on the quarter panel. I got a little loose and I got into him. It was a racing deal. That crap he pulled down there, they parked (Kevin) Harvick for the same retaliation at Martinsville. If they don’t park (Busch) on Sunday, I’ll be really upset. That’s just ignorant and stupid. I don’t know what you want to call it. He’s such a candy-ass, he won’t stay around to get a whooping like he’s supposed to get. It’s a shame. It’s not like I did anything wrong. I ran him down from a straightaway. He knew I was faster. A (lapped truck) was there. I moved up down the straightaway. He had his fit. Left front tire to my right quarter panel, you know you’re going to get loose and that’ what he meant to do.’’


Credit: Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR
Busch briefly spoke to the media and was asked about the incident. “I’m racing for a win just as much as Ron Hornaday. It’s lap 15. He wants to make it three-wide with a lapped car and knowing you always get loose when you’re on the inside. He got loose and got into me and knocked me up into the wall and I lost my cool, yeah, no doubt about it. I retaliated. It’s certainly my fault for doing that. For everybody who wants to say that Hornaday is racing for a championship, just roll over. That’s not my fashion. That’s not anybody else’s fashion out here. All these race car drivers are racers (and) go out to win a race. That’s what I was here to do and I got taken out of it on lap 15.”

Busch was asked by Ray Dunlap of SPEED, if he lost his mind for a few seconds and did he consider that Hornaday was contending for the title. Busch’s reply was glib. “If you consider that Ron was in the championship, maybe Ron could have played it a little bit smarter on lap 15 and checked up a little and given room to everybody around. Obviously, it you make it a three-wide situation, I can’t go up in the dirt. I’m already 8 on the outside lane, there’s not three lanes out here right now. It’s the first race … of the weekend. If I just lie over and give up everything for Ron Hornaday, that’s not Kyle Busch’s fashion. I’m out here to win a race just as much as anybody else is. When he races up on my inside and gets loose and takes me up to the fence, I ended up losing my cool. I’ve been wrecked four weeks in a row and finally I just had enough of it. Sorry it was Ron Hornaday and he’s going after a championship but the fact of the matter is, you can’t place all blame on one person. There were two people that got into it to begin with and there were two people that ended it.’’

With all this happening, Kevin Harvick sought redemption for KHI. After leading a total of 61 laps, Harvick took the checkered flag. 

Austin Dillon now leads the points by 20, James Buescher ran out of fuel with just a few laps remaining and dropped to third in the points standings. Capitalizing on Buescher’s misfortune was Johnny Sauter, who moved to second place with one race remaining. Dillon needs to finish just 16th or better to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship when the series heads to Homestead-Miami in just two weeks.


Of note, in only his second NCWTS race, Ty Dillon scored a third-place finish. After the race, brother Austin said of Ty, “The little fart is good!” When Austin moves to the Nationwide Series in 2012, Ty will take over the reins of the No. 3 truck.


Race Results:
  1. Kevin Harvick
  2. Austin Dillon
  3. Ty Dillon
  4. Nelson Piquet Jr.
  5. Matt Crafton
  6. Joey Coulter
  7. Johnny Sauter
  8. Ricky Carmichael
  9. Miguel Paludo
  10. Justin Lofton
  11. Timothy Peters
  12. Jason White
  13. Todd Bodine
  14. Max Papis
  15. Ryan Sieg
  16. Ross Chastain
  17. Cole Whitt
  18. Johanna Long
  19. James Buescher
  20. Jennifer Jo Cobb
  21. BJ McLeod
  22. Clay Greenfield
  23. David Starr
  24. Rick Crawford
  25. Jake Crum
  26. Jack Smith
  27. Blake Feese
  28. Parker Kligerman
  29. Johnny Chapman
  30. Mike Harmon
  31. Brendan Gaughan
  32. TJ Bell
  33. Kyle Busch
  34. Ron Hornaday Jr.
  35. Chris Jones
  36. Mike Garvey
Harvick wins NCWTS race at Texas while Busch gets parked for the evening Harvick wins NCWTS race at Texas while Busch gets parked for the evening Reviewed by Unknown on Friday, November 04, 2011 Rating: 5