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Sunday, June 1, 2008
 Thief caught after making off with Kyle Busch's helmet
By Terry Blount
ESPN.com

AP Photo/Rob Carr

Kyle Busch lost his helmet Friday night but had it back in time to win the Best Buy 400.

DOVER, Del. -- Kyle Busch almost had to go to a backup helmet this weekend. His helmet was stolen from the garage Friday night, but track security officers caught the culprit.

"Somebody snuck in the garage with the cleanup crew and stole it," Busch said. "Somebody saw it happen, I guess, and they told security guards outside. They were checking everybody that was leaving and they found him and brought the helmet back."

Did the helmet have any special significance to Busch?

"It didn't matter," he said. "It's not a lucky helmet."

But Busch now has two victories with that helmet, including Atlanta.

"On second thought, it might be a lucky helmet," team owner Joe Gibbs said.

Not taking one for the team

Greg Biffle felt the finish of the Best Buy 400 could have been a little closer, but he blamed Travis Kvapil for not allowing him and Carl Edwards to get by after the final pit stops.

"It's a delicate situation to talk about," Biffle said. "Carl and I both spent about 10 laps trying to pass one of our teammate cars [Kvapil]. We lost a tremendous amount of track position."

Kvapil drives for Yates Racing, which has a partnership agreement with Roush-Fenway Racing.

"He deserves to be out there like anybody else," Biffle said of Kvapil. "But he was running by himself and he held us up for 10 laps. That's unacceptable."

Kvapil finished 11th, but was one lap down. Biffle was asked if he considered bumping Kvapil out of the way.

"You can't get close enough to do that," he said. "I would have done it in a second, but I just couldn't get there. I would have jacked up his tires and sent him in the fence backwards, but these cars are so aero-tight and so big that you can't do it."

Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.

An up and down day

Hornish

Sunday at Dover was a significant points swing for some drivers inside and outside the 12-man Chase cutoff. The nine-car accident early in the race had a major impact on the rankings, dropping Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart down the ladder.

Hamlin's 43rd-place finish dropped him from fourth to ninth. Stewart fell from eighth to 11th, only 35 points ahead of David Ragan in 13th.

Edwards second-place showing moved him up from sixth to fourth, but those points don't matter as much as victories.

Kyle Busch now has a 142-point lead, but more importantly, he's No. 1 in victories with four. Drivers are seeded by wins (10 points per victory) when the 10-race playoff starts in September.

Busch would rank first, 20 points ahead of Edwards. Busch has one more win than Edwards, but Edwards was docked 10 bonus points as part of the penalty from the oil-tank lid violation in his Las Vegas victory.

Scott Riggs suffered the most damaging points hit of the season. First came the 150-point penalty from NASCAR for the rear wing violation at Charlotte, dropping Riggs from 27th to 33rd in the standings.

But this 39th-place finish Sunday moved the No. 66 Chevy to 36th in owners points, meaning Riggs will have to qualify on speed next weekend at Pocono. Only the top 35 have a guaranteed spot in the field.

Sam Hornish Jr. moved back inside the top 35 with his 18th-place finish. Hornish was 36th in owners points but now is 33rd, 58 points ahead of Riggs.

Standings

A fine day for Fords

Aside from not winning the race, Roush Fenway Racing had quite a day Sunday with three top-5s and all five of its drivers in the top 15.

RFR drivers finished second (Carl Edwards), third (Greg Biffle) and fourth (Matt Kenseth). Jamie McMurray finished 10th, while David Ragan was 15th.

It also was a good day for Yates Racing, which has a working agreement with Roush Fenway. Travis Kvapil was 11th and teammate David Gilliland finished 16th.