Busch wins at Chicagoland as JGR ties series record

JOLIET, Ill. -- Break up Joe Gibbs Racing!

Oops! Tony Stewart has already taken care of that -- for next year, anyway -- but Stewart's departure at the end of the season, made official this weekend, couldn't slow Gibbs' momentum in the Nationwide Series.

With a 10-second lead after a round of green-flag pit stops cycled through on Lap 155, Kyle Busch drove his No. 18 Toyota to a comfortable victory over Sprint Cup teammate Denny Hamlin in Friday night's Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway (watch video).

Official Results

Dollar General 300

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
2.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
3.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
4.	Brian Vickers	Toyota
5.	David Reutimann	Toyota
6.	Greg Biffle	Ford
7.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
8.	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
9.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
10.	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet

• Results | Videos | Photos

Busch's fifth 2008 victory, the 16th of his career, gave JGR a series-record-tying 13 victories in a single season, matching in 20 races the 13 wins Richard Childress Racing recorded in all of 2007. Hamlin, who narrowed Busch's margin to 3.120 seconds at the finish, was driving Todd Braun's No. 32 Toyota on Friday.

"It's definitely an awesome feeling to be here [Friday night]," Busch said in Victory Lane. "We weren't that good early in the race, but we made some adjustments, and this car just came to life."

In NASCAR's top three series combined, Busch has 13 victories, six in Cup and two in the Craftsman Truck Series to go with his five Nationwide wins.

"It's definitely been a phenomenal year," Busch said. "It's the kind of thing that doesn't come along very often."

Hamlin started the race from the rear of the field on an owner points provisional, because a mechanical problem during qualifying forced the team to make unauthorized repairs under impound. By the end of the race, Hamlin had perhaps the fastest car on the track.

"We really ran that 18 down on that last run," Hamlin said. "He just got too far ahead, and we couldn't overcome the track position."

Brad Keselowski, second in the series championship standings, ran third and trimmed Clint Bowyer's points lead to 183. Brian Vickers was fourth, followed by pole-sitter David Reutimann, Greg Biffle, Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Stewart and rookie Landon Cassill.

Drivers on Friday night were also able to get acclimated to late evening/night conditions at Chicagoland for the first time in a major competition and prepare for Saturday's Sprint Cup Series race, the LifeLock.com 400.

Eight of the top 12 drivers from the Cup Series were entered Friday night, hoping to get a feel for the track under different circumstances. Busch got pretty comfortable. He'll also be on the pole for Saturday night's race.

"It means plenty for [Saturday], that's for sure," Busch said. "The biggest thing I learned [Friday night], the track didn't change much. It got cooler, it gained grip and the balance didn't change a whole lot. That was pretty cool to see.''

Now he'll try to apply that to Saturday's 400-mile race.

Notes: Stewart started second in the No. 20 JGR Toyota that has won nine Nationwide races this season, but Smoke made a rare mistake with a missed shift at the start of the race. Kevin Harvick slammed into the back of Stewart's car, damaging both machines and preventing them from contending for the victory (watch video). ... Busch has taken three different cars to Victory Lane this season: the No. 18 Toyota he drove Friday, the No. 20 Gibbs Toyota and Braun's No. 32.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.