BUSCH

• Busch widens points lead with another victory at Charlotte

  
  

  Concord, NC (Sports Network) - Days after suffering serious flu-like symptoms, Kyle Busch put on a dominating performance and outran the rain to win Friday's Dollar General 300 at Lowe's Motor Speedway for the second year in a row.

  With showers approaching the 1.5-mile track, Busch moved into the lead for good after a cycle of green-flag pit stops was completed with 55 laps remaining.

  He easily held off Mike Bliss at the finish by nearly two seconds to end an 11-race winless streak in the series.

  "It's been a holding pattern," said Busch, who led a total of 137 laps en route to his first victory since two months ago at Gateway International Raceway.

  Busch scored his seventh victory of the season and the 28th of his Nationwide career.

  He also stretched his lead to 195 points over Carl Edwards with just four races remaining in the season.

  Last Saturday at California, Denny Hamlin relieved Busch during the first caution early in the 300-mile race.

  Hamlin and Greg Biffle made contact and crashed into the wall while battling for the lead with less than 10 laps remaining.

  Busch was credited with a 31st-place finish and saw his lead trimmed to 155 points over Edwards.

  David Gilliland also took over for Busch early in Sunday's 500-mile Sprint Cup race at California.

  Busch has now recorded five victories at Charlotte, which is one short of Mark Martin's track record.

  "This is my house on the Nationwide side; Jimmie [Johnson] can call it his house on the Cup side," Busch added.

  Bliss, who won the rain-shortened race here in May, finished second in the No.11 Toyota. Earlier this season, Bliss was released from his ride at Phoenix Racing, and has jumped from car to car since then.

  "I've been kicked around pretty hard this year," Bliss said. "To come back and run second again, it feels really good." Dave Blaney finished an impressive third in Joe Nemechek's No.87 car, while Brian Vickers came in fourth and Edwards was fifth. Edwards started on the pole but did not lead a lap in the race.

  Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton and Tony Raines completed the top-10.

  The 300-mile race at Charlotte featured three multi-car crashes, including a major pileup which occurred on lap 69.

  Jason Leffler got loose and put Erik Darnell into the wall. The incident then created an accordion effect with five more drivers crashing.

  "I just got loose and then got ran over," said Leffler, who remained fourth in points despite a 32nd-place finish.

  Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano, the winner of the last two Nationwide races, were among those involved in the big wreck.

  "We just kind of got collected in that mess," Kenseth said.

  Kenseth's night ended early with a 33rd-place finish, but Logano continued on. Logano made it back into the top-10, but NASCAR black-flagged him after a piece of his bumper was dragging from the car onto the track. The 19-year old driver finished one lap down in 14th.

  10/16 23:31:03 ET