Newman celebrates his fifth consecutive Busch Series win. Credit: Autostock

Newman gets fifth consecutive NBS win

CONCORD, N.C. -- Ryan Newman won his fifth consecutive Busch Series race Friday night, avoiding a track-record 14 cautions en route to the victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Newman, who has only entered seven Busch races this season, came into the event tied with Sam Ard for the series record for consecutive wins in a single season. Ard won four-straight in 1983 and Newman beat him by winning the past five events he's run.

Ryan Newman celebrates another Busch Series win. Credit: Autostock

ALSO Among the many things that went bump in the night Friday at Lowe's Motor Speedway might have been the Busch Series title hopes of Clint Bowyer.  •   Complete story,  click here DOLLAR GENERAL 300 •   Unofficial Results •   Unofficial Standings Victory LaneNewman celebrates his fifth consecutive Busch Series win Final lapsHarvick, Stewart wreck and Newman gets a wild win Down and outSorenson cuts a tire down and hits the wall hard Red flagWallace, Green, Earnhardt Jr. caught in a multi-car wreck Points hitChampionship contender Clint Bowyer hits the wall Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Dale Earnhardt Jr. also has five consecutive wins, however those came over a period of three seasons.

"Just happy to be running as good as we are and I look forward to doing it again," Newman said.

He was the driver to beat the entire race, leading 133 of the 200 laps and avoiding any of the problems that led to the numerous accidents and blown tires.

Newman was the leader when Kevin Harvick blew a tire and hit the wall late in the race to bring out the 13th caution. The race restarted with nine laps to go, and Newman had to fend off fellow Cup driver Tony Stewart.

As Stewart tried to make a pass for the lead after the restart, he lost control of his car and spun into the wall. As his disabled car came down the track, it was hit by several others and was briefly lifted off the ground when David Stremme drove into him.

Stewart, the Nextel Cup points leader, was slow to get out of the car but waved to the crowd as he walked toward the ambulance for the obligatory trip to the care center.

"That stung a little bit," Stewart said.

That accident brought out the second red-flag race stoppage of the night. It lasted just over 10 minutes and Newman had to defend his lead on the restart with three laps left. Elliott Sadler never made a pass attempt and Newman easily beat him to the finish line.

Sadler was second, followed by Paul Menard, Carl Edwards and Jason Leffler.

The race was a preview for Saturday night's Nextel Cup event, a race that could be marred by numerous cautions because of the smoothed out track surface.

Lowe's Motor Speedway president H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler has twice used a grinding process on the track to smooth it out and the work has caused the speeds to increase dramatically. After his accident, Harvick said the Cup race could get dicey.

"See that room right there?" he asked, pointing to the infield care center, "I told them to make sure they have a lot of stretchers ready."

Goodyear officials acknowledged its tires were struggling with the track surface and the company was working to prevent similar issues from occurring in the Cup event.

"Due to the high speeds, we are seeing some right rear blistering. We are looking at what changes we can make and trying to diagnose the problem to see if it is related strictly to the Busch car setups," said Goodyear spokesman Chad Fletcher. "We have no indication that this will happen on the Cup cars."

The race gave series points leader Martin Truex Jr. a cushion in the standings after eight of the top-12 drivers hit the wall at various times. Truex, who came into the race with a 49-point lead over Clint Bowyer, finished 14th and has a 120-point advantage.