Kyle Busch wins Nationwide in Texas

Busch made his way right through the field from 31st on the grid, where he started following the cancellation of qualifying due to rain on Thursday.

It took him just over 50 laps to catch up with the leaders, and 70 before he grabbed the lead, as the race ran caution-free from lap three to lap 92.

From then on Busch led almost all the way to the checkered flag, only briefly giving up the lead when he pitted for fuel and tyres. His blistering pace - and the fact that there were only four cautions - helped him set a new average speed record for the race on his way to victory lane.

Before this race Busch had led more laps this year than any other driver in the Nationwide Series but some bad luck and a few mistakes had prevented him from getting a well deserved victory.

"This means so much," said Busch, who has now won in all three major NASCAR series this season. "I've finished second here twice before, but I've never won here. I proved that, because I didn't know where victory lane was. I got lost on the way here.

"It's been tough times in this Nationwide Series. Finally, we were able to get somewhere today and win one. Now, if we could just keep it going like this, it would be great."

None of his rivals were able to keep up with Busch's pace, with the possible exception of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Tony Stewart, who was leading the race before his right rear tyre was damaged when he ran over a lug nut, forcing him to pit under green and fall a lap down.

But before the two Gibbs Toyotas took over the show at Texas, Kevin Harvick had looked like the driver to beat. He led the first 53 laps of the race and was battling up front with Stewart while Busch was closing in, before an axle broke and forced him to go to the garage for a lengthy stop.

In another good showing for Richard Childress Racing, Jeff Burton crossed the finish line second, ahead of points leader Clint Bowyer and a third RCR car driven by former Cup and Nationwide champion Bobby Labonte. Jamie McMurray rounded up the top five and was the best Ford.

Dale Earnhardt Jr also took part in the race and ran solidly in the top ten most of the day, claiming a seventh place finish in the end. Stewart recovered and was able to finish on the lead lap in tenth.

Dario Franchitti had one of his best races of the season thus far, claiming a solid 11th place and finishing on the lead lap, in a race that saw only 15 drivers on the same lap as the winner by the end. The Ganassi driver also achieved the milestone of leading his first lap in the Nationwide Series, when he made his first pit stop after the leaders.

"That was a good run today to somewhat make up for the disappointment of yesterday, not qualifying [for the Sprint Cup race]," he said. "It's good to go out there and run well in the Fastenal Dodge. It was one of those days the track changed a lot, the car changed a lot. We were keeping pace with it and we were just learning a lot today again, really learned a lot."

Fellow IRL IndyCar Series champion Sam Hornish Jr also took part in the race and finished 19th, a lap down on Kyle Busch.

Pos  Driver                Car        Laps
 1.  Kyle Busch            Toyota     200
 2.  Jeff Burton           Chevrolet  200
 3.  Clint Bowyer          Chevrolet  200
 4.  Bobby Labonte         Chevrolet  200
 5.  Jamie McMurray        Ford       200
 6.  Brian Vickers         Toyota     200
 7.  Dale Earnhardt Jr     Chevrolet  200
 8.  David Ragan           Ford       200
 9.  Jason Leffler         Toyota     200
10.  Tony Stewart          Toyota     200
11.  Dario Franchitti      Dodge      200
12.  Jason Keller          Chevrolet  200
13.  Carl Edwards          Ford       200
14.  David Reutimann       Toyota     200
15.  Brad Keselowski       Chevrolet  199
16.  Steve Wallace         Chevrolet  199
17.  Kelly Bires           Ford       199
18.  Marcos Ambrose        Ford       199
19.  Sam Hornish Jr        Dodge      198
20.  Robby Gordon          Dodge      198
21.  Kasey Kahne           Dodge      198
22.  Brad Coleman          Ford       198
23.  Bobby Hamilton Jr     Ford       198
24.  Mike Bliss            Chevrolet  197
25.  Mike Wallace          Toyota     197
26.  Kenny Wallace         Chevrolet  196
27.  Stanton Barrett       Chevrolet  196
28.  Mark Green            Chevrolet  194
29.  Robert Richardson II  Chevrolet  194
30.  DJ Kennington         Dodge      190
31.  Kevin Lepage          Ford       189
32.  Kertus Davis          Chevrolet  189
33.  Kyle Krisiloff        Dodge      184
34.  Kevin Harvick         Chevrolet  179
35.  David Stremme         Chevrolet  163
36.  Eric McClure          Chevrolet  145
37.  Derrike Cope          Chevrolet  42
38.  Brett Rowe            Chevrolet  40
39.  Johnny Chapman        Chevrolet  33
40.  Burney Lamar          Ford       29
41.  Larry Gunselman       Chevrolet  23
42.  Morgan Shepherd       Dodge      17
43.  Mike Harmon           Chevrolet  13