EASLEY, S.C. — Things have been going so right for NASCAR’s Kyle Busch this season that only his name need appear on the car for it to find its way to victory lane.
Alex Haase, 18, a developmental driver for Busch competing in the Pro All Star Series (PASS) for late models, won the Firecracker 125 Thursday night at historic Greenville-Pickens Speedway, surviving several restarts and a green-white-checkers finish that added two extra laps to the event on the banked half-mile and kept runner-up Corey Williams in the running.
Like Busch, whose late pass of Carl Edwards Saturday at Daytona delivered his sixth Sprint Cup victory of the season, Haase had to wait until the very end before finding the issue settled.
“I thought it was over three or four times,” said Haase, driving the No. 51h Kyle Busch Foundation-sponsored Toyota. “But we had put ourselves in a good position, and we were able to hang in there at the start for the last time and take the win.”
Haase held off Williams, who  charged from his 19th-starting spot to second, to get the victory for the second time in as many PASS South races. The two battled to the same results June 20 at Wake County Speedway in Raleigh, N.C.
Williams overcame a mechanical problem that held him out of qualifying and started at the rear of the field. He refused to stay there very long.
“This is the second race in a row I’ve finished second to Alex, but maybe we can get on up there pretty soon,” Williams said. “It was a good race. We are getting better and better, and I found that high line, and I really thought I had the race won.”
Williams tried to take the high line around Haase, but Jeff Fultz, who was second fastest in qualifying and finished third, attempted to take the low line to victory, but was thwarted by contact from behind.
“I went down in the first turn and got hit in the rear. I don’t know why, but we’ll figure that out later,” said the veteran Fultz.
While Fultz settled for third, Mark Gibson finished fourth and Dean Clattenburg completed the top five.
The finish:
Alex Haase, Corey Williams, Jeff Fultz, Mark Gibson, Dean Clattenburg, Logan Ruffin, Jimmy Doyle, Heath Heindman, Perry Brown, Brandon Johnson, Justin Wakefield, Clete Caywood, Spencer Wauters, John Stancill, Rodney Brooks, Tim Pinion, Michael Buckner, Alex Fleming, John Batten.