Busch scores Nationwide milestone

LOUDON, N.H. -- Kyle Busch spent most of his race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he's most familiar.

Out in front.

Busch won the New England 200 Nationwide Series race on Saturday and became the career laps-led leader in NASCAR's second-tier series with 8,118.

Busch bowed to the crowd, which saluted his sixth win of the season in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. The Las Vegas native earned his 36th career victory and passed Mark Martin on the career laps-led list (8,117).

"That's pretty cool," Busch said. "There's one more record I'm after, and that's the win record. I want to try and beat him and see how many I can set."

Busch is tied with Kevin Harvick for second on the career Nationwide win list. Martin leads the series with 48.

Busch held off Brad Keselowski, who finished second and had his solid run derailed by a poor pit stop. Carl Edwards, Joey Logano and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five.

Keselowski stretched his points lead to 247 over Edwards.

Busch left with a lengthy list of milestones. He won here last year and is the first driver to win multiple Nationwide races in the track's 24-race history dating to its inaugural event on July 15, 1990.

Danica Patrick finished 30th, five laps down. Patrick tangled with Morgan Shepherd early and went into the wall seven laps into the race. The IndyCar regular posted her best finish in four Nationwide races.

Patrick started 25th in her first NASCAR race since February and ran into trouble in her No. 7 Chevrolet almost instantly.

Shepherd got loose and sent Patrick into the wall. She radioed to her crew, "He totally took me out."

Patrick returned to the track a lap down and never got any momentum. She later tapped Shepherd to let him know she didn't appreciate getting caught up in the early accident.

The 68-year-old Shepherd -- 40 years older than Patrick -- was apologetic.

"Anybody who tries to pass her needs to be patient. She's got a very fast race car," he said. "I hate that I got into her."

Patrick fared no better than 31st in three starts on the Nationwide Series in February. She said a top-15 or top-20 finish would be a success. She returns to the series in two weeks at Chicagoland Speedway

"There's a lot for me to learn," she said.

Busch has it mastered. He maneuvered up front on the strength of some long runs and held off a nipping Keselowski. Keselowski, who started from the pole, could have made it a two-car race to the finish until a slow pit stop with about 50 laps to go dropped him to seventh. Busch led 125 of the 200 laps.

■ NHRA -- At Norwalk, Ohio, Greg Anderson claimed $50,000 by winning the K&N Horsepower Challenge, a special bonus event for Pro Stock competitors at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals.

Anderson used a quicker reaction at the start to upset top seed Mike Edwards. In a matchup between Pontiac GXPs, Anderson crossed the finish line first in the final round with a 6.685-second run at a top speed of 206.23 mph before Edwards could catch him with his quicker performance of 6.677 at 207.11.

If Anderson can win today at Motorsports Park, he will pocket an additional $25,000 bonus for sweeping both events.

All of Friday's qualifying leaders remained atop their respective categories as Larry Dixon (Top Fuel), Ashley Force Hood (Funny Car), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Steve Johnson (Pro Stock Motorcycle) will lead their divisions into today's eliminations.

■ FORMULA ONE -- At Valencia, Spain, Sebastian Vettel earned Red Bull's eighth pole in nine Formula One races this season, posting the fastest time in qualifying for today's European Grand Prix.

Vettel drove the quickest lap in 1 minute, 37.587 seconds. His teammate Mark Webber was second in 1.37.662, with Lewis Hamilton third for McLaren.