Kyle Busch qualifies repaired car No. 1 for Saturday’s Nationwide Series race at Charlotte

By Jerry BonkowskiMay 24, 2014, 12:14 PM EDT
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Kyle Busch took his car from the body shop to the top of the speed charts, qualifying No. 1 for Saturday afternoon’s History 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch wrecked the car during practice Thursday. According to a report on ESPN, per NASCAR rules, a team is allowed to take a damaged car off-site to repair it, and that’s what Busch’s team apparently did, taking it back to Joe Gibbs Racing’s headquarters in suburban Huntersville, N.C.

The car came back seemingly better than the original, as Busch made it look easy with a best lap of 183.094 mph.

Just like he’ll start in Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 Sprint Cup race, Brad Keselowski earned the outside pole in NNS qualifying with a speed of 182.655 mph.

Kyle Larson (182.199), Dylan Kwasniewski (181.788) and Kevin Harvick (181.543) rounded out the top-five.

Sixth through 10th were Brian Scott (180.898), Matt Kenseth (180.349), Regan Smith (179.910), NNS points leader Chase Elliott (179.892) and Elliott Sadler (179.700).

Here’s the starting grid for Saturday afternoon’s History 300, with the green flag set to fall at 2:45 pm ET:

Row 1 Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski

Row 2 Kyle Larson, Dylan Kwasniewski

Row 3 Kevin Harvick, Brian Scott

Row 4 Matt Kenseth, Regan Smith

Row 5 Chase Elliott, Elliott Sadler

Row 6 Ty Dillon, Jeb Burton (making his NNS debut)

Row 7 Chris Buescher, Landon Cassill

Row 8 James Bueschder, Trevor Bayne

Row 9 Chad Boat, Mike Bliss

Row 10 Ross Chastain, Brendan Gaughan

Row 11 JJ Yeley, David Starr

Row 12 Ryan Reed, Johnny Sauter

Row 13 Josh Wise, John Wes Townley

Row 14 Dakoda Armstrong, Ryan Sieg

Row 15 Jeffrey Earnhardt, Kyle Fowler

Row 16 Jeremy Clements, Tommy Joe Martins

Row 17 Carlos Contreras, Eric McClure

Row 18 Kevin Lepage, Derrike Cope

Row 19 Harrison Rhodes, Joey Gase

Row 20 Chris Cockrum, Tanner Berryhill

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Donny Schatz edges Kyle Larson for Outlaws victory at Lake Ozark

Trent Gower/World of Outlaws
By Nate RyanMay 30, 2020, 11:30 PM EDT
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Donny Schatz made a last-lap pass on Kyle Larson, snatching a World of Outlaws victory Saturday night at Lake Ozark Speedway.

Larson started on the pole, led 30 of 35 laps and was in control until a caution set up a two-lap shootout to the finish before a limited crowd in Eldon, Missouri.

Schatz and Larson traded the lead twice over the final two laps, but the 10-time champion emerged with his first victory since the NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series returned in mid-May from a two-month layoff because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

‘THEY’VE STUCK BEHIND ME’: Kyle Larson comments on future, Outlaws plans

“Man, I don’t know what to say, but Kyle’s a damn good racer,” Schatz, who led five laps, told DirtVision after his 296th Outlaws win. “I kind of had to go where he didn’t. We got that green-white-checkered, and I decided I was going to send it. He decided the same thing.

Donny Schatz celebrates at Lake Ozark Speedway after his second Outlaws Sprint Car victory of the season (Trent Gower).

“I’m glad to get the win. It feels like it’s been forever. I’ve been out here 24 years, and every night is a learning experience still.”

Larson finished second in his fifth start since he began racing with the Outlaws after being suspended from NASCAR.

“Obviously, it would have been nice to get the win,” Larson said on DirtVision. “I figured Donny would rip the middle. The restarts before, he’d almost clear me in (turns) 3 and 4. I should have known to protect and block his momentum. I felt I exited 2 OK. We don’t have spotters or rearview mirrors so you can’t see how close he is or really hear it when the pace is so slow.

“I just didn’t do a good enough job to run a smarter final couple of laps.”

Brad Sweet, Larson’s brother in law, finished third, with Shane Stewart and David Gravel rounding out the top five.

Larson rebounded from a 10th in Friday’s feature at Lake Ozark Speedway, continuing his streak of top-10 finishes in all five of his starts since the Outlaws’ return.

“We got our car a lot better from last night, so that was a plus,” said Larson, who finished second and first in back-to-back nights last week at Federated Auto Parts Raceway at Pevely, Missouri. “These guys are really tough. To be on the podium with Donny and Brad, they’ve won lots of big races and championships, it’s nice. I just didn’t do what I needed to do that last restart.”

Larson nearly had a flawless night Saturday, turning a 11.426-second lap to capture his second pole position this season and won the pole dash to start first in the feature.

Larson, who was fired by Chip Ganassi Racing from his NASCAR Cup Series ride last month for using a racial slur in an iRacing event, said last week that he plans to run several more NOS Energy Sprint Car Series races this year.

Larson remains indefinitely suspended by NASCAR but was approved to race by the Outlaws after completing sensitivity training.