Rain Spoils Busch’s Run at LMS

CONCORD, N.C. (Oct. 10, 2003) – Kyle Busch learned the hard way that the fastest car doesn’t always finish first. Busch, driver of the No. 87 ditech.com Chevrolet, started 30th in Thursday night’s EasyCare 150 ARCA Series event at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. In his final ARCA appearance of 2003, the Las Vegas native took off as if his No. 87 Chevrolet was fired out of a cannon. Quickly moving to the front and passing for the lead on Lap 26, it didn’t take long for the 18-year-old to track down points leader Frank Kimmel. Busch pulled away from the second-place car until the caution flag waved on Lap 30. On Lap 37 another yellow flag was displayed and, on Lap 42, Busch pulled the No. 87 ditech.com Chevrolet to pit road for four fresh tires and fuel. Many of the other competitors on the lead lap elected not to pit, relegating Busch to restart the race on Lap 44 in 21st. A major pile-up involving several cars on the frontstretch forced ARCA officials to display the yellow flag again on Lap 45. Because so many cars were involved, the cleanup process was extensive. On Lap 52, with Busch in 17th, rain moved in, forcing the field of cars to make several laps behind the pace car. Unfortunately, on Lap 66, the race was called and made official due to rain. Busch crossed the rain-soaked start-finish line in 17th. The ditech.com team will next compete in the NASCAR Busch Series event at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park on Oct. 18. Live coverage of the race can be seen on NBC beginning at 2 p.m. ET.