From the opening laps of the Crown Royal Present the Heath Calhoun 400 at Richmond International Raceway, it looked as if NASCAR driver Kyle Busch and his No. 18 M&M’s Toyota was going to run away from the field.

From the pole position, Busch led the first 230 laps of the race, most in dominating fashion, pulling out to as much as a nine second lead over the nearest competitors.

But on the eve of his 25th birthday, Busch got the opportunity to show that he really has matured. 

Following a caution on lap 171 from debris on the track, Busch’s lead began to dwindle.

By lap 230, South Boston’s Jeff Burton and his No. 31 Caterpillar Chevrolet overtook Busch as the M&M’s Toyota started fading.

By lap 250, Jeff Gordon had passed Burton to take the lead and Busch had fallen back to fourth but to him it felt much further.

“It was a character building night for sure,” Busch said. “We just kept our head down and kept digging. We did let it bother us too bad.”

From that moment on it looked as if Gordon was going to break his long losing streak as Busch could get no closer than fifth.

“Everybody’s so tight here and the lap times are so tight that it’s hard to gain ground on anybody,” Busch said. “I was behind my brother (Kurt) there late in the going, lap 300, lap 350 and he was driving away from me. I was like, ‘I can’t even run down a car that’s a lap down.’”

And the more mature Busch admits that in previous years he probably would have never recovered from such a setback. “For the old Kyle Busch, he would have folded,” Busch said half-jokingly. “The new one, he stuck in there. He dug hard. He kept going.”

With 50 laps to go, it was Gordon who had pulled out to a five second lead over the field but as has been the pattern this season, the final laps were filled with cautions.

Half of the race’s six cautions came over the final 30 laps and changed the completion of the race.

On the third restart from caution with six laps to go, Busch had worked his way up to second and a fresh set of tires gave him all the jump he needed to get the jump on Gordon then hold on for the win.

“I just ran my own race. Ran my own pace and it paid dividends tonight,” Busch said.

For Gordon, it was more of the same luck that has followed him this season. “Just an unfortunate sequence of cautions for us that wasn’t to our favor and we finished second. That’s it. Bottom line,” Gordon said.

Busch is not the only one to notice the benefits of the more mature racer this season.

“I think one thing that’s helped Kyle is winning that Nationwide championship last year,” said team owner Joe Gibbs. “He had real patience there.

“I think this year, had this been last year with three or four of the things that happened to us in races this year, particularly this one, I think you would have seen a different reaction,” Gibbs added. “I appreciate the new Kyle. Now the question is what’s coming in the future.”

Busch said that multiple factors have contributed to his change in attitude this year. “I think it’s a lot of everything,” he said. “Shoot man, I turn 25 tomorrow. I’m getting old. I feel that way anyway.”

Gordon finished second followed by Kevin Harvick, Burton and Carl Edwards. Chesterfield’s Denny Hamlin came in elevnth after starting the race in 30th.

With the third place finish, Harick became the series points leader, 10 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Busch moved to third. Hamlin is currently seventh in points.