Kyle Busch shines in Charlotte debut

Tuesday, May 27, 2003 | 9:48 a.m.

Tony Renna and Al Unser Jr. posted top-10 finishes in the Indianapolis 500, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively.

But the most impressive performance of the weekend by a driver with Southern Nevada ties was turned in by 18-year-old Kyle Busch, who finished second Saturday afternoon in his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Busch led 33 of the 200 laps and finished second to Winston Cup veteran Matt Kenseth after Busch's crew chief, Brian Pattie, elected to take on two new tires during a late-race pit stop while Kenseth's crew opted for four.

"To come out here and finish second to Matt Kenseth, that's basically winning the race," Busch said. "We both thought that more guys would take two (tires) but, obviously, most of them didn't.

"Being able to run in the Busch Series is something else. Coming out here and finishing second I think shows my ability and probably puts NASCAR down a little bit for kicking me out of the Truck Series back in the day."

Busch ran six NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races in 2001 before the sanctioning body ruled drivers in touring series be at least 18.

Busch also competed in Friday's ARCA race at Lowe's and put on an even more impressive driving display in finishing 11th. Busch started 29th in the 40-car field after qualifying was rained out and the field was set based on car owner's points.

Busch passed 16 cars on the first lap, was running in the top 10 by lap 4 and was in fifth place six laps into the 67-lap race. The handling on Busch's car began to go away in the closing laps and he recovered from a late-race spin and finished 11th.

Busch's older brother, Kurt, was running among the leaders in Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 Winston Cup race at Lowe's when he ran over debris and cut a tire. He was in 15th place when NASCAR called the race due to rain after 276 of the scheduled 400 laps.

Renna, a former Las Vegas resident who made his first Indianapolis 500 start Sunday with Kelley Racing, finished seventh despite losing fifth gear late in the race.

"It's very satisfying to give Kelley their highest finish in the 500," said Renna, a former instructor at the Derek Daly Performance Driving Academy at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "For my first 500-mile race of my career, to finish here in the top 10 solidly, I'm pretty happy.

"Unfortunately, just right there at the end, we lost our fifth gear so it made it a little bit difficult to compete in traffic the last little bit. We just ran a consistent race and stayed out of trouble. It was a great time."

So did Kelley Racing teammate Unser, a part-time Henderson resident who enjoyed his best Indy 500 finish since he won the race in 1994.

"We've certainly had better days at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway but ... my Corteco crew did a great job," Unser said. "They got me in and out of the pits really quickly and we were able to work our way up through the field.

"The Corteco team did a nice job and, yes, we have a top-10 finish. The Kelley Racing team is a great team and the Toyota engine is a great engine and what else can I say, we hung in there today."

Which was more than Las Vegas resident Jimmy Vasser and Richie Hearn of Henderson could say. Hearn left the race following a crash on lap 62, in which he wasn't injured, and Vasser's race ended after 102 laps due to gearbox failure.

Hearn was driving for team owner Sam Schmidt, also a Henderson resident.