Mike Bliss used a gutsy three-wide pass to take the lead, then held off a charging Matt Kenseth over the final few laps to get his first Busch Series victory Friday night.
Bliss sat back and watched a side-by-side battle between Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson when The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie 300 restarted with 19 laps to go at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
As Kenseth and Johnson fought for the lead, Bliss pulled up next to them and coasted by in a three-wide pass coming out of Turn 4. He drove away to a sizable lead as Kenseth and Johnson continued to waste time racing each other.
Bliss would have coasted to victory, but Dave Blaney wrecked 14 laps from the finish to bring out a record-tying 12th caution.
The race restarted with 11 laps to go with Bliss leading, Kenseth second and Johnson in third. The three fanned out in a single-file line and Bliss held off Kenseth over the final two laps for his first Busch Series victory in 70 tries.
"I didn't care about second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth," he said. "I wanted to win. I just drove my heart out."
The victory was special for Bliss, who currently drives for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Busch Series, but has been told he won't be back next season.
"I don't want to go anywhere. I love these guys," he said, motioning to his team.
| Fin |
St |
Car |
Driver |
Make |
Sponsor |
Pts/Bonus |
Laps |
Status |
| 1 |
7 |
#20 |
Mike Bliss |
Chevrolet |
Rockwell Automation |
185/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 2 |
13 |
#17 |
Matt Kenseth |
Ford |
Alka-Seltzer Plus |
175/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 3 |
20 |
#48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
Chevrolet |
SpongeBob SquarePants |
170/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 4 |
3 |
#60 |
Greg Biffle |
Ford |
CNN America Votes 2004/Charter |
160/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 5 |
18 |
#5 |
Kyle Busch* |
Chevrolet |
SpongeBob SquarePants |
160/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 6 |
9 |
#8 |
Martin Truex Jr. |
Chevrolet |
Bass Pro Shops/Tracker |
155/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 7 |
1 |
#41 |
Casey Mears |
Dodge |
Discount Tire |
156/10 |
200 |
Running |
| 8 |
4 |
#66 |
Jamie McMurray |
Dodge |
Duraflame |
142/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 9 |
14 |
#23 |
Kenny Wallace |
Chevrolet |
Stacker 2 |
138/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 10 |
12 |
#33 |
Clint Bowyer* |
Chevrolet |
Kevin Harvick, Inc. |
134/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 11 |
8 |
#21 |
Kevin Harvick |
Chevrolet |
Reese's/RCR 35th Anniv. |
130/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 12 |
21 |
#25 |
Mike McLaughlin |
Ford |
U.S. Marines |
127/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 13 |
33 |
#37 |
David Green |
Chevrolet |
Timber Wolf |
124/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 14 |
16 |
#18 |
Bobby Labonte |
Chevrolet |
Banquet Foods |
121/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 15 |
27 |
#2 |
Ron Hornaday |
Chevrolet |
ACDelco/RCR 35th Anniv. |
118/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 16 |
22 |
#47 |
Robert Pressley |
Ford |
Clorox/Wisk |
120/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 17 |
36 |
#31 |
Randy LaJoie |
Ford |
Whelen Engineering |
112/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 18 |
32 |
#44 |
Justin Labonte |
Dodge |
U.S. Coast Guard |
109/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 19 |
40 |
#4 |
Mike Wallace |
Ford |
GEICO/Sportclips |
111/5 |
200 |
Running |
| 20 |
39 |
#14 |
Casey Atwood |
Chevrolet |
Navy "Accelerate Your Life" |
103/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 21 |
31 |
#1 |
Sterling Marlin |
Dodge |
Miccosukee Gaming & Resorts |
100/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 22 |
25 |
#74 |
Jimmy Spencer |
Chevrolet |
Outdoor Channel |
97/0 |
200 |
Running |
| 23 |
34 |
#99 |
Michael Waltrip |
Chevrolet |
Aaron's |
94/0 |
199 |
Running |
| 24 |
24 |
#126 |
Mark Green |
Chevrolet |
lovefifi.com |
91/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 25 |
15 |
#82 |
Dave Blaney |
Chevrolet |
Goulds Pumps |
88/0 |
198 |
Running |
| 26 |
35 |
#59 |
Stacy Compton |
Ford |
Kingsford/Bush's Beans |
85/0 |
196 |
Running |
| 27 |
5 |
#00 |
Blake Feese |
Chevrolet |
Haas Automation |
82/0 |
194 |
Out of Race |
| 28 |
42 |
#72 |
Kevin Lepage |
Chevrolet |
MacDonald Motorsports |
79/0 |
184 |
Out of Race |
| 29 |
2 |
#55 |
Robby Gordon |
Chevrolet |
Fruit of the Loom |
81/5 |
179 |
Out of Race |
| 30 |
19 |
#22 |
Jason Keller |
Ford |
Nestle Toll House |
73/0 |
179 |
Running |
| 31 |
23 |
#12 |
Tim Fedewa |
Chevrolet |
Hot Tamales |
70/0 |
168 |
Out of Race |
| 32 |
30 |
#91 |
Stanton Barrett |
Chevrolet |
Bojangles/carsponsor.com |
67/0 |
156 |
Out of Race |
| 33 |
17 |
#43 |
Aaron Fike |
Dodge |
Ollie's Bargain Outlet |
64/0 |
154 |
Out of Race |
| 34 |
29 |
#332 |
David Stremme |
Dodge |
TrimSpa |
61/0 |
143 |
Out of Race |
| 35 |
10 |
#46 |
Ashton Lewis |
Chevrolet |
Parker Power Products |
58/0 |
132 |
Out of Race |
| 36 |
11 |
#38 |
Kasey Kahne |
Dodge |
Great Clips |
55/0 |
114 |
Out of Race |
| 37 |
43 |
#24 |
Steve Grissom |
Chevrolet |
Global Industrial Contractors |
52/0 |
111 |
Out of Race |
| 38 |
38 |
#49 |
Derrike Cope |
Ford |
Advil Liqui-Gels |
49/0 |
108 |
Out of Race |
| 39 |
41 |
#02 |
Hermie Sadler |
Chevrolet |
Zapf Creation |
51/5 |
102 |
Out of Race |
| 40 |
28 |
#35 |
Wally Dallenbach |
Ford |
Mr. Clean AutoDry Carwash |
43/0 |
98 |
Out of Race |
| 41 |
37 |
#27 |
Johnny Sauter |
Chevrolet |
Kleenex Anti-Viral |
40/0 |
91 |
Out of Race |
| 42 |
26 |
#87 |
Boston Reid |
Chevrolet |
ditech.com |
37/0 |
75 |
Out of Race |
| 43 |
6 |
#88 |
Joe Nemechek |
Chevrolet |
Cellular One |
39/5 |
37 |
Out of Race |
