Green wins after wild finish at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) -- David Green led just one lap down the stretch, and that was all he needed to win Saturday at Kansas Speedway and retake the lead in the Busch series points.

Mr. Goodcents 300  Results  Standings

Green won a wild one-lap shootout, passing Bobby Hamilton Jr. after a restart to win the Mr. Goodcents 300.

"You sort of don't want to have a caution, because more bad stuff can happen after a caution than before the caution," said Green, who won the Busch series title in 1994. "But when we did have it, I figured I had a shot at Bobby."

Kevin Harvick, who won two weeks ago at Dover, was second and Greg Biffle was third.

Vickers loses points lead  KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- To hear Brian Vickers, evil lurked somewhere deep within the steel recesses of his No. 5 Chevrolet.  Vickers fought a losing battle Saturday to an ill-handling race car, spinning and slapping the wall on lap 90 of the Mr. Goodcents 300.  Full Story

The race finished under caution when Hamilton crashed on the last lap, causing momentary confusion in the announced points standings because of a new NASCAR rule that prohibits racing back to the line after a yellow flag.

Drivers said they were unclear when the caution flag came out after Hamilton's crash, and several cars changed position on the last lap. Consequently, Scott Riggs was briefly listed as the new points leader.

Green's victory in a Pontiac was his third Busch series win of the season, and eighth of his career. It came two weeks after he crashed and finished first at Dover, losing the lead in the standings to race winner Brian Vickers.

"The hardest blow we took was at Dover," said Green, who leads Riggs by 21 points and Vickers by 46. "It's good to get back out there, and I don't care where the points fall, honestly."

Riggs finished 13th and Vickers was 32nd after a wreck that caused him to miss 52 laps, although he finished running.

	Michael Waltrip dominated, leading 140 of the 200 laps. Credit: Autostock

The race appeared headed for a boring conclusion until pole winner Michael Waltrip's right front tire blew and he crashed with just under four laps to go.

Waltrip, coming off a Winston Cup win last week at Talladega, dominated the race, leading 140 of 200 laps.

His crash brought out a caution as Hamilton moved into the lead, with Green second. Greg Biffle was third as the cars came out of the restart for one last lap.

Green shot past Hamilton on the inside, and Biffle tried to go outside. Instead, he collided with Hamilton, who spun into the wall.

Mr. Goodcents 300 Notes  KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Michael Waltrip was on cruise control, holding an easy lead on Bobby Hamilton Jr. as the Mr. Goodcents 300 wound down.  But a not so funny thing happened as Waltrip was en route to his second Busch Series victory in three races. A right-front tire went down on Waltrip's No. 99 Chevrolet, and he bounced off the wall along the frontstretch.  Full Story

"I didn't realize the 25 (Hamilton) was out there, and I got into him," Biffle said. "Kevin snuck back by, and I was third, right back where I started."

Waltrip's wreck in the 197th lap dropped him to a 24th-place finish and continued a streak of bad luck at Kansas Speedway.

Last year, he won the pole for the Busch race but blew a tire and crashed. He started fourth in the Winston Cup race but wrecked after cutting a tire.

Vickers, who complained over his radio that tight handling was making his car act "evil," spun into the wall out of turn 2 in the 91st lap. He returned to the race -- minus his hood and front fenders -- and finished

"It just wasn't our week," Vickers said after the crash. "You can't drive a car like that 200 miles an hour down the track sideways, and do it all day long."