By: Jay W. Pennell
Sprint Cup Correspondent
HardcoreRaceFans.com

To win at Darlington Raceway there certain things a driver needs to do. Stay patient, take care of the equipment, race the race track and have a pretty successful record at the famed 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval. However, none of that mattered to race-winner Kyle Busch.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver started the day with a shower of boos even his mother could not prevent. Undoubtedly the most hated man in the grandstands following last week's run-in with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the closing laps, Busch took what the fans had to offer with a smile - even pretending to wipe tears from his eyes during his parade lap.

Putting on a show once again, Busch answered his critics the best way he knows how - leading 169 of the 367 laps en route to his third victory of 2008. Starting from the sixth spot, Busch took the lead for the first time on Lap 17, when the he powered the No. 18 Mint Crisp M&M's 'Indiana Jones' paint scheme underneath Earnhardt Jr.

Even out front, 'Rowdy' Busch used and abused his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for much of the evening. Not even fifty laps into the 500-mile event, Busch had already opened a 3.5 second lead, wore out his brakes and hit the wall. Busch described his car as pathetic and complained continuously to crew chief Steve Addington as he battled Greg Biffle for the lead.

A loose lugnut - the first of many - under the first round of yellow flag stops on Lap 140 brought the No. 18 Toyota back to pit road for a second time, forcing Busch to restart the race in 23rd spot. With brakes glowing as if they were running at Martinsville, it appeared Busch was out of the picture.

Not to be outdone or let trouble set him back, Busch methodically made his way back into the top-10 in just thirty laps (Lap 170) and retook the lead from Jeff Gordon on Lap 270.

After losing the lead on pit road under the seventh caution of the day, Busch headed back on the track in second spot and set his sights on Gordon. Locked and loaded, Busch drove under Gordon's No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet to take the lead just one lap after the restart. Making things interesting, Busch smacked the outside wall again, this time coming off Turn 2.

"I can't tell you how many times he [Busch] tried to give the race away by hitting the wall," Gordon explained. "You wouldn't believe how torn up the right side of his car was.?

With just twenty-five laps to go, Busch maintained a comfortable three second lead over second-place Carl Edwards. With fuel mileage a bit of a concern, this left Addington and Jeff Dickerson - Busch's spotter - the arduous task of slowing Busch down in order to save his equipment.

"I know you are digging, dude, but you've got to take care of that thing there," Dickerson told his driver late in the race. "You're scaring the fans. There's not enough security up the Turn 2 wall. Just nice and easy."

Again, none of that mattered to the guy behind the steering wheel, as the 23-year-old cruised to victory for the first time at Darlington Raceway. As Busch celebrated with doughnuts, a burnout and a bow to the crowd, his entire No. 18 crew huddled up on pit road with coach Joe Gibbs right in the middle of it.

Pulling his car into Victory Lane, it was clear Busch had done more than earn his 'Darlington Stripe'. "How many times did I hit the wall? I don't know, one, two, three, four, probably five or six," Busch joked after climbing out of his car. "I've got to thank my team, they build them as strong as they can for me, 'cause I like to knock the walls down with them.

"Darlington showed again tonight it's one of the hardest places. Always has been, always will be." This win was the first for Busch at the famed Darlington Raceway and made him the youngest driver ever to win at the speedway. In addition, the track's newly paved surface kept the speeds high and the lap times down, setting a new track-record race average speed of 140.350 mph.