Ricky Stenhouse takes Points lead as Busch continues to win: The Royal Purple 300 Review

Let’s get this out of the way first: Kyle Busch won the Royal Purple 300. Busch has now won three of the first five Nationwide races this year. This was also Joe Gibbs Racing’s seventh straight win at Auto Club Speedway. Busch has five of those wins, with Logano and Stewart having one each. Most of those wins were done by dominating the race but Busch’s win this past Saturday was a steal. Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick were the class of the field before green flag pit stops gave Busch and Jason Ratcliff a chance to steal one. Ratcliff called for two tires on the final stop, putting Busch out front by 4 seconds with just 18 laps to go. Busch was able to hold on and win.

The other story from this past weekend is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Stenhouse would have been a favorite to win if a late race caution was thrown. Stenhouse blasted past his teammate Carl Edwards and led for ten laps before Edwards’ car came to him. It was obvious that Stenhouse was better on short runs, as he was the fastest car for the final 20 laps of the race.

Oh and by the way ladies and gentlemen, your new points leader is 23 year old Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ricky has a worst finish of 14th in the first five races of this year, with four top 10s and Saturday’s top 5. Remember last year? 2010 was very unkind to the young Stenhouse. He had a best finish of 25th in the first five races. The other four were 30th, 31st, 36th (DNF) and a 39th place (DNF). Ricky was 32nd in points. What a difference a year can make. Ricky is a front runner for comeback driver of the year.
Results and More after the Jump!

We are starting to see more of the Nationwide Regulars running better. I hope this trend continues. Here’s the battle for the Nationwide Series championship:

Joe Gibbs Racing continues to blow away the Nationwide teams every week. It’s a two team race for Owner’s Championship at this point. Here’s the battle:

Auto Club was the last race to use last years owner’s points to set the field. We now roll over to the 2011 top 30 in Owner’s points. In two weeks at Texas, this is how the battle is looking:

Should be interesting to watch. The Nationwide Boys have off next week, so join us in two weeks for the race at Texas! Enjoy!