Kyle Busch made a statement Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway. So did pole-sitter Mark Martin, who pressured Busch during a four-lap run to the checkered flag of the Sharpie 500 but couldn't make the pass for the win. Instead, Busch won for the fourth time this season and for the second time at Bristol in 2009, despite having a car Saturday night that was no better than second-best.
Busch showed emphatically he is not out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup picture, and Martin strengthened his hold of a spot in NASCAR's postseason. Busch moved up two positions in the standings to 13th, 34 points behind 12th place Matt Kenseth. Martin likewise gained two spots to 10th, 60 points ahead of Busch. The top 12 drivers after the Sept. 12 race at Richmond qualify for the Chase. "Mark Martin -- what a class act," said Busch, who won for the 16th time in the Cup Series. "He deserved to win this race. I'm sorry he came home in second. I know how he feels. I drove as hard as I could. "He had a chance. He could have done it [moved Busch out of the way]. But he didn't. He raced me clean."
Marcos Ambrose ran third, followed by Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin and Ryan Newman. Kurt Busch came home seventh, followed by Jimmie Johnson, who recovered from trouble on pit road to salvage a top-10 finish. Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished ninth and Kenseth was 10th.
