LONG POND, Pa. — Kyle Busch’s historic trifecta skidded to a last-place ending.
The Sprint Cup series points leader finished 43rd Sunday at the Pocono 500, set back by a wreck 47 laps into the race. Busch didn’t appear to see Jamie McMurray behind him on his right when Busch veered right and into McMurray. Busch then hit the wall, forcing him into the garage for major repairs.
Busch returned to the track down 87 laps, but he skidded again with 22 laps to go and spun into the infield.
So ended a weekend that started with much hoopla about Busch’s successful quest to become the first driver to race in all three of NASCAR’s national series at three different tracks.
His cross-country tripleheader started out well Friday night when, after qualifying at Pocono, he flew to Texas and finished second in a Truck Series race.
But things slowly turned south from there for the Joe Gibbs Racing star.
Busch wrecked his car at practice back at Pocono on Saturday, forcing him to go to a backup. That night, after flying to Tennessee for the second stop of his three-day tripleheader, Bush finished 20th, three laps down, in a Nationwide Series race.
Then Sunday, Busch said the mirror broke on the backup car while his crew tried to adjust it before the race, leaving him blind out of his right rear quarter panel. It appeared that Busch’s spotter tried to warn his driver over the radio about McMurray before Busch veered right, though Busch said in the garage that he didn’t get the message.
“So I couldn’t clear myself,” Busch said. “The spotter didn’t see say anything so I apologize to McMurray for wrecking their day.”
Busch’s older brother, Kurt, also had some trouble Sunday when he skidded out of the first turn into the infield, kicking up grass on the fender of his No. 2 Dodge. But Kurt Busch rallied to finish eighth.
PASSING PATCH: As expected, the 3,800-foot stretch of new asphalt between Turns 2 and 3 turned out to be popular territory for drivers. Clint Bowyer and Juan Pablo Montoya learned about the downside to the patch the hard way.
Bowyer’s No. 7 Chevy spun out of the third turn 81 laps in, and Montoya bumped into him with no options to get around. Bowyer slammed into the inside wall, while the rear of Montoya’s car caught fire.
It was a dramatic scene as Montoya’s No. 42 Dodge veered down pit road with flames shooting from the rear. He finally brought the car to rest in front of a fire truck and jumped out unhurt.
Helmet off with his head down, Montoya looked dejected as he trudged safely away while firefighters extinguished the blaze. Later in the garage, Montoya said his crew told him over the radio that his car was on fire.
“I looked and saw smoke and said ‘It’s not a big deal.’ It kept rolling pretty easy and I said, ‘You’ve got to get out,’” Montoya said. “So I just jumped out as fast I could out of there.”
Montoya said it was “near impossible” to get through traffic all afternoon.
Bowyer, who began the day eighth in the Sprint Cup standings, said “I just went in under someone and lost it. That stripe that they did down there of patch work created one line in there, and it’s hard to pass.”
Montoya finished 38th, one ahead of Bowyer.
Dario Franchitti, in his return to the Sprint Cup series since breaking his ankle at Talladega in April, was involved in two wrecks, the first of which he appeared to swipe David Gilliland around the turn. Franchitti said he had been jockeying for position around the patch.
Track owner Joseph Mattioli had the new asphalt installed after he found baseline cracks in the road last August.
DEJA VU: Sam Hornish Jr. pulled off his own trifecta Sunday — three wrecks, the last of which sent him out of the race with 70 laps to go.
Two of the accidents involved Patrick Carpentier, 11 laps apart leading to back-to-back caution flags.
The first bump came 58 laps in when both cars spun out down low, with Hornish’s Dodge skidding sideways into the infield, before Carpentier’s Dodge later appeared to come loose out of the same turn and bumped into Hornish.
The third wreck involved Franchitti around the first turn, which sent Hornish out for good.
“Pretty bad day for us for sure. We got involved in a couple altercations early and that right there was my fault,” Hornish said. “Not a very good weekend for us for sure.”
A frustrated Franchitti was much less forgiving of his former IndyCar Series rival. Both drivers are former Indianapolis 500 and IRL champions.
“The Hornish incident, I don’t know. I went in there pretty deep and I got into the apex and he just drilled us,” said Franchitti, who finished 41st, one ahead of Hornish. “Whether his brakes failed or his brain failed, I don’t know but he seems to be wrecking a lot of race cars.”
JUNIOR’S BIG WIN: Dale Earnhardt Jr. came in fifth at the Pocono, though he did get a first-place finish for the flagship No. 88 Chevrolet he fields in the Nationwide Series. When the moment finally came, he didn’t even get to see it.
The satellite feed at Pocono Raceway crashed with 10 laps remaining in Saturday night’s race in Nashville, and Earnhardt had to monitor Brad Keselowski’s first career victory over the Internet.
“I’d have liked to have been there,” Earnhardt Jr. said before Sunday’s race. “We’ve been waiting for that for a long, long time.”
Earnhardt hired Keselowski last season and paired him with crew chief Tony Eury Sr. Then Earnhardt partnered with Rick Hendrick to bolster his organization. The team was rewarded when Mark Martin gave it its first win in the No. 5 car at Las Vegas earlier this season.
But the No. 88 is Earnhardt’s baby, and he’d been waiting for that car to make it to Victory Lane. Now that its made its maiden trip, Earnhardt thinks the team is a championship contender.
Keselowski is fifth in points, 192 out of the lead.
“It makes us a legitimate contender for the championship this year,” said Earnhardt Jr., who finished fourth at Pocono. “From an owner’s standpoint, it puts us in the winner’s circle (money) program. There are a lot of different things that it will change for our program and help our program. It really gives us a stronger footing in the series and our ability to be there and compete for a few more years.”
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