Kyle Busch: "I don't know if we were chasing the track as much as we were chasing the car. The track did change a little from day to night." Credit: CIA Stock Photo

Cup regulars use Busch event as test session

New surface at Lowe's Motor Speedway still baffling to veterans

CONCORD, N.C. -- Two hundred laps of racing on Saturday night at Lowe's Motor Speedway could be the difference when the checkered flag drops on Sunday for the Coca-Cola 600.

Carquest Auto Parts 300 Results Standings

The top four finishers and six of the top seven in Saturday night's Carquest 300 NASCAR Busch Series event all happen to be Nextel Cup drivers, and if there was ever a time to pull double duty, it was Saturday night, given the unpredictable nature of the new levigated surface at Lowe's.

Winner Kyle Busch not only ran the Busch race, he ran the Truck race during the All-Star weekend to get a handle on the new surface.

Top finishersRyan Newman talks about his third-place finish Victory LaneKyle Busch celebrates his CARQUEST Auto Parts 300 win Final lapsAfter a late wreck, Kyle Busch holds off Marlin for the win Sadler in the wallElliott Sadler wiggles and slaps the wall hard on Lap 141 Kahne crashesPolesitter Kasey Kahne hits the wall hard on Lap 54 Early cautionShane Hmiel backs his car into the wall on Lap 17 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

"It helps out a lot," Busch said. "Being able to run the Truck race, I learned a little of what happens during the event, like where you run on new tires in the beginning or in the later stages, or old tires, the same thing.

"Tonight I learned that in the beginning of the race, I could really run well on the bottom, but the longer we went and the later it got, I couldn't run the bottom as well as I thought I should be able to, so I had to move up and run the top.

"It's just kind of a deal where you work around a little bit and learn what your car is going to do."

Busch was strong at various stages, especially toward the middle, but Ryan Newman caught and passed him on Lap 139, prompting Busch to back off a bit.

"As soon as I got behind Ryan, my car went really, really tight," Busch said of the latter stages. "I just backed off and tried to save my right front tire. I knew we'd have one more pit stop to adjust, and we took two rounds of wedge out of the left rear and went up two rounds on the track bar, and air pressure here and there.

"We just kept trying to free it up all night long. I don't know if we were chasing the track as much as we were chasing the car. The track did change a little from day to night."

As the race progressed, the unpredictability of the new surface bit more than one Cup driver, such as Tony Stewart and Elliott Sadler.

Bobby Labonte (right) made a rare Busch appearance and finished sixth. Credit: Getty Images/Nick Laham

Stewart, who started 32nd, raced to the front in short order, was in the hunt for the lead when he crashed, and Sadler was chasing the leaders when he ducked out from behind Greg Biffle and seemed to snowplow, sending him into the wall off Turn 4.

Asked what he learned in the Busch Series race, third-place finished Newman was typically cryptic. "It's good to be out front, that's about all I can say," he said.

"Our car was pretty good the whole race and we didn't have to change too much. Maybe we should have. I did notice that the 2 and the 60 and the 90 struggled, and I really didn't anticipate them struggling based off practice times."

Sterling Marlin, who finished second, elaborated on that.

"Turn 2 was our bad spot tonight," he said. "They didn't grind the track like the should have and I couldn't get up under anybody off Turn 2.

"I could really get them through 3 and 4, and get beside them, but we'd get back around to Turn 1 and I'd just have to let them go again. We started the race early, and my car was so loose I like to spun twice off Turn 2 before we got it tight enough to where it would go."

Marlin took two tires on the final pit stop and had a fair shot at chasing down eventual winner Kyle Busch, but fell short at the end.

One thing Marlin noticed was that track position was even more important than usual, especially on restarts.

"If you started in the top two or three, you could really break away," Marlin said. "We started one time about 25th and it was real hard to pass coming off Turn 2. You just lost grip. I couldn't run the bottom at all."

Two tires, four tires, fuel only, it didn't seem to matter which strategy was employed, all worked to one degree or another, which should make for an interesting night on Sunday.