Staff Writer

OXFORD – Behind all of the equipment, four tires waited for a chance.

As the TD Banknorth 250 progressed Sunday evening, these four were the anointed ones. If Kyle Busch had a chance, these were the tires.

“This set here is the best we’ve got,” said Craig Langille, who came down from Nova Scotia to be part of Busch’s crew for the second straight year. “LF HR, that stands for left front, home run. Of all the tires we’ve got, these are the one’s that Kyle liked the best.”

Busch had that chance in his second appearance at the 250. By lap 111, Busch had moved into third and soon thereafter, the crew was putting the “home run tires” on and swinging for the fences with 123 laps to go.

By lap 159, Busch was making his move. Trying to pass Jeremie Whorff on the straightaway, Busch raced to the outside only to watch his hopes, and those of his crew, go up in a puff of smoke.

One moment his crew was cheering, “Come on Kyle,” only to face the sullen reality that the night was over. As smoke poured out of the back of Busch’s car, his evening had ended. If the sight of the smoke didn’t make that fact known, the dejected faces of his crew painted the picture. Busch drove off the track, and the crew began packing up. Some on the crew assumed the motor had blown.

“We’re not sure what happened,” said Bill Hill, who worked with Seth Holbrook as the crew chief for Busch. “He never came back on the radio. So we never heard.”

Busch had wowed the crowd earlier in the day, going from last to first in his consolation race. It had his crew primed for the evening’s action.

“I think everybody’s ready to go,” Langille said. “After watching the heat races and the consolation race, that got everyone pumped to go racing, but you have to remember that you’re also deep in the field.”

Busch had a number of crew members returning from last year. Along with Langille, Bill Lowell of Turner and his son, Troy, who came from Ohio, were back. York’s Jim Reilly was also a returnee. Rick White, Alan Hammond, John Hobbs, Rob Finlayson and David Bath were all new as was Hill.

“You just try to concentrate and don’t make mistakes,” Bill Lowell said. “If you do (make a mistake), you don’t get yourself down.”

With the start of the race, the dizzying swarm of sound hummed all around. The crew stood idly by at first, some standing with arms folded and others pacing, but it didn’t take long to rush into action.

An early collision wreaked havoc with the right front panel of the No. 5 car, the same machine that had won the race a year ago again when driven by Mike Rowe. Busch was in the pit during a caution on lap 22, and the crew was applying the duct tape.

The problem didn’t go away. On subsequent yellows, Busch would pit twice on each, allowing the crew, as many as five at a time, to bend, pound and tape the panel into submission, or at least some cooperation.

On a caution on lap 111, Busch didn’t pit and the “home run tires” were moved into position for his next pit stop.

“He said the front isn’t handling right, but we can’t fix it now,” said Reilly. “He said if he runs up high, it seems to go pretty well.”

Busch moved up the leaderboard and put himself in position. The “home run tires” go on and Busch tells his crew that Billy Ryan Jr., the track owner, should pay him next year for the number of cars passed.

Soon thereafter, Busch nearly misses a crash on lap 145.

“If that wasn’t close, I don’t know what was,” Busch said.

With less then 100 laps to go, Busch is in striking distance of the leader but disaster struck. After numerous tries to eke by Whorff, the 22-year-old eventual winner, Busch went for broke on the outside. Instead of taking the lead, Busch was headed home.

“He’s a hell of a driver,” said Hill. “He put on a great show for the fans.”