NASCAR
Kurt Busch Breaks Through for 30th Career Win, 6th at Bristol in Night Race
Coming into the 40th annual Bristol Night Race, many eyes were on one of the Busch brothers, younger Kyle. Kyle had a record of 7 Bristol wins, including the last 2 races. However, it was Kurt, the older Busch brother, who scored the win after 500 laps. This marks Kurt’s 1st victory of 2018, 6th at Bristol, and his 30th career win.
A Tale of 2 Kyles
Heading into the Saturday night race, the 2 favorites for the win were Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson. Larson was the polesitter, as well as the winner of Friday’s Xfinity Series race. Kyle Busch meanwhile started 3rd and was looking for his 3rd-straight Bristol win.
Kyle Busch’s night was far from expectations at the start. On lap 2, Busch got sideways underneath Ryan Blaney while exiting turn 4. The 18 car slid to the inside of the track, and got ran into by several others. This first wreck would involve 15 cars, ending the day for Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger. Repairs for Busch would put him 2 laps behind the leaders. While that would put some drivers out of contention, Busch was far from defeated. When racing resumed, Blaney had caught Busch, and tried to put him a 3rd lap off of the pace. However, he was unable to, as the damaged 18 car still had plenty of speed.
Stage 1 was dominated by Ryan Blaney in the Penske 12 car. After leading much of the 1st Stage at Bristol in April, Blaney was looking to redeem himself after his early retirement in the spring. Of the 125 laps in Stage 1, Blaney led 108 of them, taking his 5th Stage win of the season.
Stage 2 was run nearly entirely under green flag conditions, with only 1 caution break in the action. Amazingly, 5 different drivers led during this span of 125 laps. Blaney, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Chase Elliott, and Joey Logano all took turns at the top spot. After some hard racing for the lead against Elliott and others, it was Logano who won Stage 2. This marked only the 3rd Stage Win of 2018 for the 2-time Bristol Night Race winner.
Toyota Teammates Tangle
In the closing stages of the 500 lap classic, it was Chase Elliott and Clint Bowyer who were leading laps. However, the fastest car on track at this point was miraculously Kyle Busch. Kyle had methodically gotten both laps back, and with lap times faster than the leaders was quickly chasing down the top spot. On lap 433, Kyle got into Martin Truex Jr while racing for 2nd place, spinning the 78 out. Martin was less than pleased at being taken out, as he was also catching then-leader Clint Bowyer. Martin would have potentially won his 1st ever short track race.
Due to damage from the lap 2 incident, Kyle Busch’s pit crew had troubles fueling his car. As a result, he had to pit under this caution, where he went from 2nd to 11th.
Another brief caution came out on lap 473, when the 2 of Brad Keselowski spun on the backstretch. The night was far from a pleasant one for the 2 crew, as they have 2 previous Bristol wins. On the restart after this caution, Clint Bowyer spun his tires, losing the lead to teammate Kurt Busch.
Not long afterwards, Kyle was the cause of another yellow flag on lap 483. Kyle Busch cut down a tire when racing 3-wide with Jimmie Johnson and Chris Buescher. The 37 was also taken out in this crash. Lining up in 4th place on this restart, right behind Kurt Busch, was Kyle Larson. The 42 had 4 fresh tires, as the 41’s tires were 30 laps older. The last restart would come with just 13 laps remaining, and Kurt was able to hold off the charge from Larson.
Significance of Bristol Win for Kurt Busch
Although this is Kurt Busch’s 6th win at Bristol, it is his 1st since 2006. Also, this is his 1st win since the 2017 Daytona 500, as well as the 1st win for Crew Chief Billy Scott. Lastly, this marks Busch’s 30th career win in the Cup Series, a stat only 25 other drivers have achieved.
When asked about where his 30th career win ranks for him, Kurt said “I always wanted to get to 30. This is a big win for me. I grew up at Roush Racing watching a guy named Mark Martin help me. He was a great mentor. I looked up to him as a racer. He had 33, 34 wins. I think he might have ended his career with 40. Early on, before I won my first ever race, If I can get to 30, that’s a pretty special career. Made it tonight. I’m choked up about it. I really love this win tonight. To have six Bristol trophies is special.”
By scoring his 30th career win on Saturday night, Kurt Busch and the Stewart-Haas Racing 41 car have won at least once in each of the last 5 seasons.
The remainder of the top 10 finishers from Bristol were Larson, Elliott, Logano, Erik Jones, Bowyer, Blaney, Alex Bowman, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick.
How to Watch the Next Race
After a well-deserved off weekend, the next race for the Cup Series will be the Darlington Southern 500. The Throwback Weekend classic will be Sunday, September 2nd. Coverage will be on NBCSN, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90 at 6 PM EST. After Bristol, only 2 races remain in the regular season. The Playoffs are coming and only 3 spots remain for a new winner. The intensity is sure to ramp up with so little left in the chase to the Playoffs!
