DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - NASCAR yesterday docked Kyle Busch 25 Nationwide points and fined crew chief Jason Ratcliff $5,000 after Busch’s No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota failed inspection before last week’s race at Texas. NASCAR also placed Ratcliff on probation through the end of the year for actions detrimental to stock car racing, using improper equipment and use of an improperly attached weight.

It didn’t take Dave Rogers long to face a huge decision as crew chief for the volatile Kyle Busch. Rogers said it wasn’t much of a decision at all. He was sure Busch had enough fuel to stay in front to the finish yesterday in Texas, where Rogers made his debut atop the pit box for the No. 18 Toyota. Rogers was wrong by three laps. That’s when Busch ran out of gas just as he was starting another trip around the 1½-mile high-banked oval. He sputtered through the backstretch and was passed by older brother Kurt Busch and quite a few others. Kyle Busch finished 11th.

TALLADEGA, Ala.—Kyle Busch used a generous bump from teammate Aric Almirola a few hundred yards from the finish to win the Mountain Dew 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway yesterday. Busch and Almirola pulled wide behind leader Todd Bodine on the final lap, and Almirola nudged Busch’s No. 51 Toyota to the front. They overtook Bodine just before the finish line in fading daylight at the 2.66-mile oval.

Former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin continued to lead the Chevy Rock & Roll 300, dominating the field after 350 laps.

As he sits on his pit-box perch tonight deciding whether to take four tires, two tires or no tires, crew chief Drew Blickensderfer will have another decision to make on his radio calls to Matt Kenseth. Aggressive or cautious? Try to win if the car is strong, or do just enough to beat the other Bubble Boys for one of the 12 spots in the Race to the Chase?

Crew chief Pat Tryson, who has been working with Kurt Busch, will leave at the end of the season, reportedly to work for Martin Truex Jr.‘s team in 2010. Busch said that the team would finish up the season, including the Chase, before they parted ways, though added that the timing of the announcement was not ideal. “It’s unfortunate that Pat made that type of decision,“ he said. “It seems like our focus right now should be on the Chase and making it in the Chase, so it’s a tough week for that type of news.“

Kyle Busch sits on the Chase bubble despite being tied for the Sprint Cup Series lead in victories this year. Kyle Busch, wunderkind of a NASCAR driver, doesn’t always leave the best impression with other drivers and fans. That does not appear to bother him. “I feel like I’ve got a lot of fans who like who I am and how I drive,“ Busch said. “There are, of course, the legion of fans that may not like me for what I say on TV, for what I do on the racetrack or whatever, sometimes.

Kyle Busch acknowledged the crowd at Richmond International Raceway in May after one of his four Sprint Cup victories this season. Busch sits in 14th place in Cup points. Kyle Busch and Mark Martin belong in the Sprint Cup championship chase. There, I’ve said it. Busch and Martin have won more races, four, than any drivers on the circuit this year, and winning is the point of racing.

CHARLOTTE, N.C.—Chase Austin caught a flash of blue and orange out of the corner of his eye right before he drove into the side of the race car. He wasn’t sure whom he had hit until he heard the crowd roar with delight. Austin cringed. He’d just wrecked Kyle Busch. While Busch was leading the race. It was a disastrous moment for the fledgling 19-year-old NASCAR driver. Austin was running in just his fourth Nationwide Series race when he wrecked Busch at Bristol Motor Speedway on Friday night.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Kyle Busch deviated from his traditional victory celebration when he spotted a crying fan in the grandstands and tried to hand her the checkered flag through the fence at Bristol Motor Speedway. He was at Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville the next day for a Late Model race sponsored by the Kyle Busch Foundation. Handling problems forced him out of the 150-miler, but he still went to victory lane to present the guitar trophy to the winner.

Kyle Busch saved his season last night by winning a gutsy side-by-side sprint to the finish against Mark Martin at Bristol Motor Speedway. Fighting hard for a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Busch drove a steady and smooth race at one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR to climb off the ropes and keep his title hopes alive. His fourth win of the season—tied with Martin for most in the Sprint Cup Series—jumped him two spots in the standings to 13th.

There was an awkward moment at the start of last night’s race when feuding drivers Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers shared the same truck for their introductory lap around Bristol Motor Speedway. The two drivers didn’t appear to speak as they stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the back of a truck and waved to the sold-out crowd. Some fans and an ESPN camera crew shared the ride, which appeared to be tense.

BRISTOL, Tenn.—Brian Vickers expected to discuss his recent Sprint Cup victory, a contract extension with Red Bull Racing and his chances of making the Chase for the Sprint Cup when he arrived at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Heading for a short-track shootout in Bristol, Ralph and Chris say Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth are the drivers to watch.

Kyle Busch pulled away from Matt Crafton on the closing laps to easily win the O’Reilly 200 truck series race last night at Bristol Motor Speedway. Busch passed Jason White for the lead on Lap 124 and then steadily pulled away from Crafton after the race’s final caution period on Lap 175. Driving the No.51 Toyota for Billy Ballew, Busch claimed his second consecutive win at the .533-mile short track and his third victory of the season. He has 12 victories in the three NASCAR national touring series this season.