Darlington experienced its first NOS Bath in victory lane when NASCAR’s hottest driver turned up the heat on Saturday May 10, as he brought the crowd to his feet with another victory! The newly-renovated and historic “Lady in Black” left a lasting impression on the 43-car field in tonight’s Dodge Challenger 500, as she always does. But it was the young superstar, Kyle Busch, who left the most vivid impression on the NASCAR world with another dominant performance. After leading seven times for a total of 169 laps, Busch drove his No. 18 M&M’s®/Indiana Jones Toyota Camry to victory lane for the third time this season. With the win, he boosted his points lead to 79 markers over second-place Jeff Burton.

“(This win) means a lot.” Busch remarked afterwards. “This racetrack, don’t get me wrong, I don’t know all the history and heritage of it, but I know there’s a lot to it. But we’re running around here so fast now it’s confusing.” continued Busch. “To me it’s just neat to be able to go around this place and remember all that and yet still be able to become the winner tonight. It means a lot, especially because it’s Mother’s Day weekend now, and of course my mom was here to be able to help celebrate with us. Happy Mother’s Day to her. And having Indiana Jones and M&M’s on board this weekend with us, that was pretty cool, too. Glad we could get them a win for the special promotion they had going. Once I pulled into victory lane, it never gets old spraying down my crew and receiving a NOS Bath in victory lane!”

It was a victory, for all intents and purposes, that never should have happened. He tried to knock the wall down more than once, flattening the right side of his race car. He had a loose lug nut in the pits that sent him back to 29th only 60 laps in. His car just wasn’t handling right. And besides, he’s only 23. He shouldn’t be this good, right? But Kyle Busch once again silenced all doubters, proving he’s NASCAR’s hottest driver and it’s going to take a mighty effort to knock him from the top.

As noted, Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s team overcame several setbacks throughout Saturday night’s 500-mile race. The new racing surface added speed and new challenges to an already treacherous race track. But crew chief Steve Addington and the entire crew stayed on top of changing track conditions and the car’s handling, as they worked hard all night to keep their driver in contention. In the end, it was Busch’s fierce competitive streak that would not allow him to falter.

But again, it was Kyle Busch who continued to rewrite the record books by becoming the youngest Darlington winner at 23 years, eight days of age. He also helped to create a new record average race speed of 140.350mph. With a 3.115-second margin of victory, Busch expanded his points lead and increased his Cup Series win total to three for the season. He also now has eight total wins in NASCAR’s top three divisions for 2008.

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