In 2009, Kyle Busch sat on the outside pole in his No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota at Kentucky in the 200-lap Meijer 300. The only driver to best him in qualifying was his 19-year-old teammate Joey Logano. Logano was the defending champ of the biggest race in the Bluegrass State on four tires, and was looking to become the first driver to repeat as a winner in Kentucky’s Nationwide Series race.
Busch walks out onto pit road before the 2009 Meijer 300
The younger Busch brother was a formidable opponent. He had won the 2004 version of the Meijer 300, defeating Greg Biffle by nearly 1.3 seconds.
Logano had burst onto the Nationwide Series scene by winning the ’08 Meijer 300 just weeks after turning 18 and getting his NASCAR driver’s license. Back at the site of his first-ever NASCAR sanctioned win, Logano looked like the car to beat after qualifying.
Busch had other plans.
He fired out to the lead in his Toyota, and although the youngster from Middletown, Conn., stole the lead from Busch on lap 15, Busch would get it back on lap 35 (after a cycle of yellow flag pit stops) and set sail, pacing the field for the next 104 laps.
Logano couldn’t catch his teammate. Every time Logano would get close, Busch would pull away.
Late in the race it looked like Carl Edwards would battle the Gibbs teammates for the checkers at Kentucky, but two pit road speeding penalties cost the current Sprint Cup points leader a chance at the win.
Carl Edwards prepares to answer questions the day before the Meijer 300 at Kentucky
Edwards was audibly frustrated over the radio.
Busch and Logano were bunched back up on lap 182 when the No. 1 car of Mike Bliss slammed the outside wall in the tri-oval of the frontstretch at Kentucky. From there, Logano set his name in stone as the first back-to-back winner of the Nationwide Series Meijer 300 at Kentucky.
Logano and crew chief Dave Rogers (currently Busch's Cup Series crew chief) after their win in 2009 at Kentucky
He passed Busch with 10 to go and beat the No. 18 back to the line by 1.624 seconds, clinching his second straight win at Kentucky.
Busch got ten bonus points for leading 162 of the 200 laps, but Logano got the trophy and the glory, having paced the field for only 20 laps of the event.
Busch said, “We always lose at the end. Joey’s just better than we are in these places.”
And Logano said, “This place is one of my favorite racetracks. It’s one of those places that just suits you. To win two for two here, that's really cool for me and the whole team.”
By the way, Logano has never lost at Kentucky, but on that night in June of 2009, it looked like he didn’t stand a chance next to Busch, who was nearly flawless. Will the inaugural Sprint Cup event turn out like that night? We’ve got 18 days to find out.
The countdown is on.
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