A Spectacular Show for the Fans at Berlin

Dawsonville, GA (June 18, 2010) - NASCAR driver Kyle “Rowdy” Busch got his revenge Wednesday night at Berlin Raceway in the second Annual Rowdy’s Revenge 251 Presented by Keyser’s Port City Racing, but it was 14-year-old Chase Elliott who made him earn it.

Elliott had never raced at the famed Michigan short track, but the fans in attendance would never have known it. He took to the track like a duck to water and raced Busch as hard as any short track veteran could.

In fact, it was Elliott leading Busch for most of the first race but Busch would prevail at the end of the second race, with Elliott the runner-up. The CRA Super Series-sanctioned show was considered one of the best in years at the track, so good that the drivers got a standing ovation at both the halfway break and at the conclusion.

Elliott qualified eighth in a star-studded field, but didn’t stay there long. By Lap Five, he was working on Ross Kenseth, Matt Kenseth’s son and a Berlin veteran, for third place and grabbed that by Lap 10. He was closing in on the #20 car of Brian Campbell [ the defending race winner] when caution was displayed on the track on Lap 19. The top three at the drop of the green on lap 26 would be Busch, Campbell and Elliott. Elliott took over the second position on Lap 38 and began working Busch for the lead. On Lap 46 he put his Aaron’s Ford Fusion in the top spot and pulled away to a three-carlength lead, which he maintained until the caution was again displayed on Lap 64 of the event. The restart came on Lap 75, and Elliott and Busch battled until Lap 83 when Elliott finally pulled away two to three car lengths, maintaining his lead and beginning to put cars down a lap.

Caution flew again on Lap 101, bunching the field up and giving Busch another opportunity to get by Elliott on the restart. The two drivers, one a veteran Cup driver and the other barely a teenager raced running side by side for the next 10 laps before Elliott prevailed once again and took the checkered flag winning the first 125-lap duel.

Elliott then brought his Aaron’s Dream Machine to pit road for service and adjustments during the 20-minute break. During this time Elliott signed autographs and watched the 50-lap Modified event that was won by Sprint Cup driver A.J. Allmendinger.

The field lined up to start the second half of the program with Elliott leading Busch and the rest of the field to the green flag. On Lap 144, the caution flag flew again, but Elliott held the lead. On the restart, Busch immediately took the second position and then the lead from Elliott, who dropped to third.

Elliott’s communication to his crew indicated no panic. “I’m just riding guys, waiting for this to get sorted out,” he said. “The car is really good.” Another caution came out on Lap 194, and Elliott lined up second behind Busch for the restart.

When the lap count rose to 237, Elliott’s crew chief Ricky Turner told his driver to hold nothing back. And he didn’t.

On the double-file restart, Elliott pushed up the track losing a spot to Kenseth who had pitted on the last caution for two fresh tires leaving Elliott and Busch at a slight disadvantage. Another restart on Lap 244 found Elliott lined up behind Busch with Kenseth on the outside. This time it was Kenseth spinning his tires on the restart allowing Elliott the opportunity to get by and Elliott took full advantage.

Busch and Elliott brought the field to the green for the last restart of the evening. Elliott battled Busch nose to tail while fighting Kenseth to maintain his second place position but came up just short of the win and took home second place.

“This was a lot of fun! I feel like we’ve gained a lot especially through consistency in our program but we still need a little bit to get the wins”, Chase Elliott said.