NNS - Federated Auto Parts 300

Kyle Busch scores a smashing win in Saturday night's Federated Auto Parts 300 Nationwide Series race @ Nashville Superspeedway.

After leading the most laps in the past 3 series races without a win to show for it, things finally went Busch's way. He led 4 times for 173 of the 225 laps around, giving up the lead only for pit stops. He led the final 24 laps and beat Keselowski by 0.891 seconds.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

To the surprise of many, he slammed the special trophy given to Nashville race winners, a Sam Bass-designed Gibson Les Paul guitar.

"Pete Townsend?" Busch wondered. "I think Ozzy's done it, too. I think Kiss has even done it. Everybody's done it, expect race car drivers. All them sorry saps, they take it home in one piece and put it on their shelf, man. I break that thing up and spread it within the team so everybody's got a piece."

Busch said he made a promise to his team members last year that if he ever won a race @ Nashville, he would give them each a piece of the guitar. However, the guitar didn't break into too many pieces.

"It didn't break according to plan," Busch said. "I was actually hoping to get more pieces for the guys on the team. We'll go back to the shop and cut it up, and they can have nice, smooth pieces of it."



Sam Bass was in attendance @ Nashville. He too was surprised by Kyle's actions. "Just like everybody else in victory lane, I was stunned when it happened," said Bass. "When I took a picture with Kyle as I traditionally do, the first thing he said to me was that there was no disrespect to me or the trophy or the speedway or any of the sponsors. He just said that he told his guys that he was going to give each one of them a piece of the trophy whenever he won the guitar." Bass continued, "That was his way, in the spirit of rock and roll to break the guitar like a Kiss concert and share it with all the guys on the team. That made me feel a lot better. As a person that loves rock and roll the way I do and appreciates a good show, Kyle Busch put on as great show in victory lane and shocked the world."

There were 4 cautions for 24 laps including a 13 minute and 7 second red flag for an accident on lap 126 involving the 2, 16, 27, 33 and 99 in turn 4.

There were 12 lead changes among 8 drivers:

K. Busch 1-67; C. Edwards 68; Brad Keselowski 69-72; J. Leffler 73-93; K. Wallace 94-100; K. Busch 101-115; J. Leffler 116-120; K. Busch 121-187; Brad Keselowski 188-193; M. Bliss 194-199; M. McDowell # 200; E. Darnell 201; K. Busch 202-225.

For (unofficial) results, click here.

Need For Speed Martinsville Preview

The Martinsville Speedway will host its 122nd Sprint Cup Series race this Sunday.

Thesouthern Virginia track is the oldest on the cup schedule and one of the oldest continuously operating racing facilities in the US. The first cup series race was held on Sept. 25, 1949.

Known for its tight turns and paper clip shape, drivers will have to be up on the wheel for 500 laps/263 miles.

Will we see Hendrick domination @ Martinsville once again? Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have combined to win 9 of the last 12 races there.

Who's Mr. Martinsville?

Jeff Gordon leads all active drivers with 7 wins and 7 poles @ Martinsville. He's won 4 of the last 12 races there. He's also finished in the top 5 in the last 8 races. He has an average finish of 6.9 - 2nd best among active drivers. The bad? Gordon has extended his winless streak to 46 races now. The good? He's been on top of the point standings for 3 consecutive weeks now. He has only 1 finish outside the top 10 so far into this season. Gordon finished the Daytona 500 - 13th.

Jimmie Johnson has won 5 of the last 9 races @ Martinsville along with posting 10 top 5s and 13 top 10s in his 14 races at the track. His average finish of 5.6 is tops among all active drivers. The plus: Johnson's finished in the top 10 in all of his races @ Martinsville except for one - his only DNF at the track.

This weekend marks the 25th anniversary of Hendrick Motorsports first Sprint Cup Series win. Geoffrey Bodine drove the #5 to victory lane on April 29, 1984.

Denny Hamlin is the defending race winner. In his 7 Martinsville races, he's notched 1 victory, 4 top 5s, 6 top 10s and 1 pole. His average finish of 8.9 ranks 3rd best among active drivers and right behind Johnson & Gordon. The plus: Momentum means everything in this sport. Hamlin's runner up finish last week @ Bristol moved him up 6 spots in the series standings. Hamlin's currently 8th in points.

A Chevy driver has won 11 of the last 13 races @ Martinsville. The bad? Chevy is the only manufacturer that hasn't won a race so far this season. It's the first time since 2002 that a Chevy hasn't made it into victory lane by this point in the season. It was 9 races into the 2002 season for Chevy to pick up their first manufacturer win.

And... we can't forget Kyle Busch. He has yet to win @ Martinsville however he's won a race in 1 of NASCAR's top 3 national series in each of the past 4 race weekends: Bristol (NSCS), Atlanta (NCWTS), Las Vegas (NSCS) and California/Auto Club (NNS & NCWTS).

47 drivers are on the entry list for Sunday's race. Beginning this weekend now, the top 35 based on this year's owner points are locked in.

The Camping World Truck Series Kroger 250 - Saturday at 2pm on FOX
The Sprint Cup Series Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 - Sunday at 1:30pm on FOX