Oh, brother! It's another Cup series victory for Kyle Busch and JGR
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
BRISTOL, Tenn — Kyle Busch defended the Food City 500 convincingly in a brotherly civil war on Sunday.
The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team opted for track position after the 11th and final caution at Bristol Motor Speedway. He took the lead on Lap 482 and held off his brother Kurt Busch at the finish by .722-seconds for his third win in 2019.
“Cry me a river,” Kyle Busch said to his detractors on his celebratory lap, after crossing the finish line on older tires after crew chief Adam Stevens kept him on the track for the final restart after other front-runners opted for fresh rubber.
The Team Penske duo of Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney finished third and fourth, respectively. Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, Clint Bowyer, Daniel Suarez, Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top 10.
Busch’s 54th victory of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup career ties Lee Petty for 10th on the all-time win list.
“It's pretty cool to have the opportunity to go out there and win these races,” Busch said. “When you win these races, the numbers will just continue to add up. The addition of that, getting to Lee Petty, I mean, you're starting to get into some really heavy company that's at the top 10 of the all-time wins list of our series and our sport.
“I feel as though I've just done my fair share and have been with some amazing people over the years that have gotten me to this number thus far. We'll just keep going.”
The field didn’t make it around the first lap before William Byron got loose under Aric Almirola. The No. 10 slid up into the wall going into Turn 2. A chain reaction occurred behind the melee with Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., plowing into the rear of Kyle Busch’s car and collecting Ryan Preece. But the damage was not significant to effect the No. 18 Skittles Toyota.
After entering the weekend fifth in the Cup standings, Almirola, however, retired from the race on Lap 3. He was scored 37th, his first DNF since the Daytona 500.
Elliott maintained the lead until Lap 38 when he spun after Preece’s car went sideways off of Turn 4. Elliott kept the nose clean but reported he had either a tire going down or power steering issues. Hamlin stayed on the track and assumed the lead on Lap 42. Erik Jones passed his teammate on Lap 49, but Blaney took the point on Lap 59.
Bowyer moved by Blaney just as Ross Chastain made contact with Daniel Hemric to ignite the third caution on Lap 117. He remained on the track while most of the lead lap cars pitted. Bowyer made contact with Ty Dillon on the restart and was unable to hold off the No. 13 Germain Racing Chevrolet for the Stage 1 win on Lap 125.
“That was huge for our team, to go head-to-head with the top teams is huge for GEICO and Germain Racing,” said Dillon after his first career stage win. “That was a really cool moment, something we are really proud of. We are proud of the direction we are going with our race team. We are going to keep getting better.”
The Penske Fords of Brad Keselowski and Logano restarted at the front of the line followed by Johnson and Kyle Busch. Busch quickly moved up to third and Logano passed his teammate on Lap 145. Logano’s progress was slowed by pole sitter Chase Elliott tagging Matt Tifft on the front stretch after he fell off the lead lap. Elliott got the lucky dog for his handy work and restarted 17th on Lap 220.
Logano extended his lead as Martin Truex Jr., passed Keselowski for second. However, a loose wheel on the No. 19 Toyota forced Truex to the pits just prior to the end of the segment. He was penalized for pitting while pit road was closed and would finish 17th.
Logano held the point for 111 laps on that run to secure the Stage 2 win, his third segment victory of the season. Blaney, Newman, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Chris Buescher, Bowyer, Austin Dillon and Suarez completed the top 10.
Blaney, who led a race-high 158 laps, started the second half of the race out front. He battled Logano for the next 98 laps—and held the lead through Truex tangling with Bubba Wallace for the seventh caution on Lap 270. Logano eventually passed the No. 12 PPG Ford on Lap 354, but Bowyer moved to the point on Lap 375 just prior to NASCAR calling the eighth caution for debris.
Kyle Busch took the lead for the first time after the restart but found himself battling the Fords of Bowyer and Logano. Bowyer took the lead with 90 laps remaining and Logano moved to second on the next lap. Kyle Larson spun in Turn 2 and collected Byron on Lap 415. Busch took the lead on the restart followed by Bowyer, Logano, Keselowski and Blaney. Hamlin received a speeding penalty and dropped to 17th.
The 10th caution was called for Bowyer hitting the Turn 2 wall with a right front tire down while running fourth on Lap 432. Keselowski passed Busch 12 laps later. Larson, who regained his lap on the previous caution, hit the Turn 3 wall to bring out the 11th and final caution. He’d finish 19th.
Keselowski pitted from the lead along with Logano and Bowyer. Crew chief Adam Stevens called for Busch to stay out—which turned out to be the winning move. Kurt Busch, Suarez and Paul Menard followed suit.
The race restarted with 14 laps remaining. Logano, the first car on four tires, restarted eighth. Keselowski exited the pits fifth but was told to line up seventh. Since he ignored NASCAR’s directive, Keselowski was forced to serve a drive-thru penalty.
"Nobody could figure out the lineup," said Keselowski, who finished 18th. "There wasn't enough communication and it was just a tough deal."
Kyle Busch took command of the race. As his brother Kurt attempted to track him down, he slapped the wall with three laps remaining but held onto second-place, his best result of the year.
He congratulated his brother in Victory Lane, had the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet come close to the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota’s bumper, it would have been game on.
“It was tough battling our No. 1 Chevy. The Monster Energy team is doing a good job. But that one was tough. I really wanted to beat him. I was going to wreck him (laughter). I was wanting to stay close enough so that when we took the white, I was just going to drive straight into (Turns) 3 and 4; I mean he’s already won.
“I figured he could give a little love to his brother, but no. I wanted that one bad. I feel like him right now. I’m like ugh, I’m mad because I didn’t win.”
The Busch brothers have won the last four Cup races at Thunder Valley. After the race, Kyle was surprised that Kurt gave away his strategy.
“I told him, 'You can't tell people you're going to wreck them before you do it, because when roles are reversed, that person is going to wreck you because you already told them you were going to wreck them,” Kyle Busch said. “So I guess if I'm ever running second to Kurt, I'm going to wreck him.
“I don't know. I'm glad it didn't turn out that way, and he couldn't get to me because I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in that situation. I'm glad I could finally hit my marks halfway decent and drive away a few more inches towards the end of the race.
“I think he was trying really hard. I saw him get crossed up in my mirror a couple of times off of two. I think he got in the fence. It gave me that extra gap to bring it home.”
Busch extended his series lead to 27 points over Hamlin.
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