CONCORD, N.C. — The team orders of Rick Hendrick seemed to be as much plea as directive.
They were radioed to race leader Jeff Gordon, who had a race and a substantial championship point lead at stake, and Kyle Busch, the occasionally brash youngster who was shown the door in favor of Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports in 2008.
“Don’t wreck,” Hendrick implored each of his drivers. “Look at the big picture.”
The “big picture” was coming more and more into focus as midnight approached on Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Gordon’s fifth Nextel Cup title is coming closer and closer to within his grasp with five races to go as teammate Jimmie Johnson threatens and Busch fades from contention in The Chase.
Still, the question that remained prior to a restart with five laps to go and another that set up the race’s green-white-checkers finish: Would Busch, whose hard luck during The Chase has come via the bumpers of other race cars, be a team player?
Busch answered that question on the first restart as Gordon’s car sputtered due to fuel-level issues at the drop of the green flag. Busch got his bumper beneath Gordon and, for a split-second, a wreck seemed likely, but Busch backed off just enough to allow Gordon to clear as Ryan Newman sped by the front-running pack on the outside.
“I didn’t want to dump him. If it was anybody in that situation, you don’t want to wreck him,” said Busch. “I feel like I could have done and did a pretty good job of not running into the back of him.”
Hendrick said he was proud of the way Busch handled not only Saturday night’s finish but also the season since the announcement of Earnhardt’s move to Hendrick and Busch’s ensuing move to Joe Gibbs Racing in 2008.
“I think in racing and it comes down between two cars and there’s a caution, I believe if you just come on the radio and tell them to think about it and look at the big picture, not just The Chase, but what’s made the organization what it is today, working together; think about it,” said Hendrick.
“Jeff and I talked on the radio and if Kyle got there (Jeff) was not going to try to block him. You know, if he was better than Jeff, they were not going to wreck… It was up to Kyle to just think.”
On the final restart, Gordon’s No. 24 Chevrolet didn’t sputter, but he did spin the tires and Clint Bowyer, who was in second, gave him an unintentional shove, which Gordon said got him going. Busch held on to third place and is now sixth in The Chase standings, 280 points behind Gordon.
Hendrick noted the maturity Busch has shown on the track and off since the summer — maturity never more evident than Saturday night and a hint that Joe Gibbs Racing may be getting a new and improved Kyle Busch in its No. 18 Toyota next season.
“I just try to go out there and race a race car to the best of my ability week-in and week-out,” Busch said. “You know, if it’s getting in crashes of my own doing or not of my own doing, that’s a part of it, I guess. And if it’s good finishes like it was tonight and the first two Chase races, so be it.
“It’s tough to have to go through those rough times, but everybody does that sometimes.”