May 15, 2022 | By Lee Spencer

Kurt Busch wins with a flawless performance at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan.—Kurt Busch never gave up at Kansas Speedway.

Despite coming in behind the race favorites—Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch—it was the veteran that persevered in the AdventHealth 400 on Sunday.

For the ninth-straight year—Busch returned to Victory Lane—a first at the 1.5-mile track.

“It's the most gratifying to work from the ground up with a brand new car number,” Busch said. “Yes, I have been with a lot of teams, a lot of manufacturers. Now, this is the check off the Toyota box, but it's about family. 

“I love my family at home. I love my KBI employees and everybody at 23XI. This is for us. This is what the hard work is all about no matter if you lose a couple of spots on pit road, no matter if our car was a basket of whatever to start. I'm going to go find Toto. I'm in Kansas. I'm loving it.”

With his fellow competitors fighting adversity around him, Busch drove the perfect race. He came from third with 36 laps remaining. He knocked off his brother with 21 laps to go, then set his sights on Larson. With eight laps remaining, Busch caught Larson at the line and eventually cleared him out of Turn 2.

Larson finished second, 1.413-seconds behind the No. 45 Toyota—the first time since 1964 that the number was victorious.

“I wasn’t upset with him or anything,” Larson said of Busch. “It was just hard racing there for the win. I knew when he got to my inside, I was struggling in traffic a little bit and he was able to get by and from there, I just had to hold on to second. I just fought really hard today and overdrove it at moments. Just had to work hard for it.

“Had it been anybody besides Kurt behind me, I think I could have held them off. But he had by far the best car today.

Kyle Busch finished third followed by 23XI team owner Denny Hamlin, who was overjoyed with his organization’s first win of the season. He reached inside of the No. 45 Toyota and gave his driver a hug.

Christopher Bell, Martin Truex Jr., Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Alex Bowman and Bubba Wallace rounded out the top 10.

“It’s huge. I’m so proud of Kurt—and Bubba as well,” said Hamlin, who had a front-row seat for his company’s win. “Bubba deserved a shot at the win as well. They were so much better than that. There were just mistakes and we’re working on that. I feel like I’ve let these guys down with pit road—and it’s just part of it.

“It’s growing pains, but, man, this is what this team is capable of and I’m so happy for Kurt. Way more joy than if I was winning.”

The race was slowed eight cautions--five resulting from tire issues that first appeared during practice and qualifying on Saturday. Chase Briscoe was the first victim. He spun out of Turn 4 while running tenth, six laps into the race.

Polesitter Bell and Tyler Reddick traded the lead early. Hamlin’s pit problems began during stops on the second caution after his tire rolled into another pit. Bell cycled back to the lead. Daniel Suarez blew a left rear tire and spun in Turn 4 on Lap 62 while running fourth. He finished 33rd.

Kyle Busch won the first stage on Lap 81. Chase Elliott exited from the pits first but was penalized for equipment interference. William Byron restarted third behind Chastain and Martin Truex Jr., but quickly shot to the lead on Lap 89. After leading 25 laps, Byron was the next driver to succumb to tire issues after a left rear went flat. He dropped to  24th, two laps down. Reddick hit the wall during the same circuit while running fourth and never recovered. He finished 30th.

The lead turned over the Kurt Busch on Lap 113. Green-flag pit stops started seven laps later, but Kevin Harvick triggered the fifth caution after he spun in Turn 1 after exiting pit road on Lap 126. The most bizarre deal that occurred during that yellow was the 10-minute pit stop needed by the No. 43 Petty GMS team to remove the right rear tire from Erik Jones’ car. The team eventually sawed off the wheel so Jones could continue following a 15-minute, 10-lap caution period. Unfortunately, Jones dropped to 34th, seven laps down.

The race restarted on Lap 137 with Kurt Busch in the lead. He held the point for the Stage 2 win on Lap 166—his first since winning at Atlanta Motor Speedway last summer. Before he collected the green-white-checkered flag, Martin Truex Jr. cut a tire. Truex was running fourth prior to the issue. He dropped to 27th.

Despite coming onto pit road second, Kyle Busch was busted for speeding on pit road. He dropped to 24th but would quickly recover after the Lap 174 restart. Kurt Busch continued with the lead with Ryan Blaney alongside. In two laps, Larson shot to the front. He slid in front of Kurt Busch in Turn 2—went sideways and bounced off the wall in front of the No. 45 Toyota. Busch made a masterful move down to the apron to avoid the No.5 Chevy and regained the lead.

Once again, Busch checked out. Five laps later, he increased his lead over two seconds on Larson. Hamlin moved up to second on lap 189. Seven laps later, Elliott spun off of Turn 3 while running sixth. Wallace, who was running fifth entering the pits, had a tire get loose in the pits.  Busch retained the lead but gratification would be delayed once more after Harvick spun off of Turn 4 while running 14th.

Kyle Busch gained the lead out of the pits with Larson in second and Kurt in third. Larson grabbed the lead entering Turn 3 but the Busch brothers remained in his rearview mirror. Kurt passed Kyle on Lap 246 and the No. 18 Toyota faded.

“Had a good race car to be able to capitalize and get back into position and to be able to race for a win right there,” Kyle Busch said. “We restarted the last restart as the leader and gave it away. So that’s frustrating. But all-in-all, the 45 was really good today so congrats to Kurt and those guys. They’re very deserving of getting a win. I would have liked it to be us with baby Lennix being born this week but there’s another Busch in Victory Lane, so all good.”

Kurt Busch ran down Larson with eight laps remaining. He matched him at the line and then pulled away for the lead in Turn 2. Busch carried the No. 45 to its first victory for 23XI, the second for the organization, and the 34th of the Champion’s career. Sunday’s win in a Toyota gave Busch wins for Toyota, Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet.

“It's all about teamwork,” Busch said. “I don't do this alone, and the way that Toyota has helped us, JGR. My little brother has been so important just on the family side of, hey, you've got to get through these steps. 

Bubba is a tremendous teammate, but this is 23XI. This is our first win for the 45 car and with Jordan Brand on the hood. I felt like I had to play like the GOAT, race like the GOAT, and I had to beat the Kyles. I had to beat both. This was like the Kyle and Kyle show. 

“I remember Ned Jarrett said, this is the Dale and Dale show. If I can get one Kyle, I can get both. I had to have the confidence to know that our setup would do things on short run and long run. 

Thanks to Jordan Brand, Toyota, Monster Energy, McDonald's, MoneyLion. Just all the team partners of 23XI. This 45 car is the winner now.”