LEE, N.H. — The terrain surrounding Lee USA Speedway is overwhelmingly green and harmonious, typical for the Eastern portion of the Granite State. Yet there was nothing quiet about the scene Friday evening at the NASCAR Home Track located just 35 miles from New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Not with Rowdy in town.
In case one wasn’t aware two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch was competing in the track’s “Battle for the Belt” on Friday, the jam-packed parking lot spilling onto the Calef Highway was the tell. So was the long, winding line of patrons waiting to buy tickets for seats in already-full grandstands.
This is what happens when a NASCAR star like Busch carves out time in his schedule to compete at the short-track level. Though he finished second to late-model racing ace Derek Griffith, Busch understands that when he races on this platform, everybody wins.
“It takes the fans in the stands at these short tracks to be able to get these short tracks going,” a worn-out Busch said. “I know what it’s all about. … It was nice to see a good crowd out here.”
PHOTOS: Kyle Busch racing at Lee USA Speedway
Busch’s desire to compete — and, frankly, to have a little fun — made his answer a quick and easy yes when his Richard Childress Racing spotter Derek Kneeland called before the season and asked about running in the Pro Stocks division (Super Late Models) at Lee USA a couple days before the Cup race at New Hampshire. Busch said he was in … as long as he’d have a good car.
He had just that with the No. 8 Go Fas Racing Chevrolet. Busch qualified fifth and ran around that position for the entirety of the 125-lap race. In the closing stages, he found himself running second and attempting to chase down Griffith before settling for his runner-up result.
In typical Rowdy fashion, disappointed he couldn’t finish one spot better, he accepted the second-place trophy with a sarcastic cheer as the crowd returned sincere applause.
Busch’s run was impressive nonetheless considering he was driving a new car on what was to him a foreign track.
“Whenever you come to places like this, it’s always hard to out-do the guys who have been here and have a thousand laps here,” Busch said. “Coming in for the first time with a brand-new car, one I had never driven before, it was interesting trying to feel it all out and learn what there was to learn.
“Early on I was just trying to ride. But when I saw [Griffith] picking them off and going a little bit, I was like, ‘OK, he knows what he’s doing, so I need to go a little bit, too.’ I just wasn’t as strong as him getting through [the field] before him.”
Busch was at least stronger than his Cup Series spotter Friday night. Also competing at Lee, Kneeland battled a loose race car in the opening laps and was forced a lap down when he pitted to address the issues. He joked that he was waiting for Busch to run him into the wall when the latter was passing by.
Kneeland has been racing is own Super Late Model all over the country over the last few years. Friday’s race at Lee USA gave him another chance to do so with the NASCAR national series activities at New Hampshire taking place so close.
Kneeland’s car issues kept him from battling Busch the way he did former RCR driver Tyler Reddick in the same race at Lee USA last year, but he echoed Busch’s sentiment on the joy both feel racing on a short track.
With that said, he knows his driver as well as anybody.
“I’d say he had some fun,” Kneeland said of Busch. “But I know he’s not going to be happy to finish second.”