Kyle Busch has been putting in some great drives this year, but falling just a little bit short of where he wanted to be. This Saturday he led 126 laps of the O'Reilly 300 in Texas, including the one that counted most, finishing just 1.041 seconds ahead of Jeff Burton at the line. The race was relatively clean and fast with only four caution flags contributing to Kyle’s new track record average speed of 151.707 mph in the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

Kevin Harvick, last year’s fastest man at Texas, sheared off an axle shaft at the first pit stop and sat out 26 laps while the crew fitted a new one. Tony Stewart called in on lap 70 saying he had a serious vibration. Next time around the Camry pitted and the team found a chunk missing from the right rear Goodyear. Observers believed if he had not immediately come in there was a strong chance he would have tagged the wall on the following lap. Smart driving meant a 10th place finish instead of a potentially spectacular DNF.

Kyle Busch’s seventh Nationwide Series start this season has another significance that may point to a different future for NASCAR. The top five finishers were driving Toyota, Chevy, Chevy, Chevy, Ford. While Toyota is a solid, accepted player in the Truck Series, they are just now gaining the results they want in stock cars. Four Toyotas and four Chevrolets in the top 10… Expect to see those Camrys running up front this season, and maybe overtaking the Detroit iron for dominance of NASCAR.