Kurt Busch Gets First Win of the Year at Bristol and Qualifies for the Playoffs

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BRISTOL, TN – RIS – A Busch was favored to win the Bass Pro Shops NRA 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, but the Busch favored was Kurt Busch’s brother Kyle.  On this evening the older sibling was the one smiling in victory lane.

Busch won for the first time this season but sixth on the 0.533-mile bullring he once dominated. Busch once won three consecutive times on the Tennessee track and was considered the best in the business on the concrete oval. Then his younger brother learned his way around the place, and Kyle Busch became the master of the track.

Kyle Busch has seven Cup wins at Bristol, 21 total, across NASCAR's national series. He's so good that he chose the song "All I Do Is Win" by D.J. Khaled to play as he was introduced before the race. The crowd responded with a thunderous boo, and Kyle Busch's eventful evening was off to a roaring start. He triggered a 15-car accident just two laps into the race, fell two laps off the pace, came back to race Martin Truex Jr. for second, and moved Truex out the way late in the race.

as Kyle Busch’s crew was tending to his wounded race car, older brother Kurt battled Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Clint Bowyer for the lead. Kurt Busch was relentless on the restart and got his Ford to the front, then brother Kyle Busch spun to bring out a ninth caution.

  Kurt Busch had a good restart but Kyle Larson, on fresher tires, was desperately trying to catch him for the win. Kurt Busch held him off and Larson, winner of the Xfinity Series race on Friday night, finished second in his bid for the Bristol sweep.

 The victory was the 30th of Kurt Busch's career, first since the Daytona 500 in 2017. It was his first Bristol victory since 2006.

 "I love this place," Kurt Busch said.

The ninth driver to win this season, he earned a spot in the 16-driver playoff field.

 "It's all about winning," he said. "I wasn't worried about not making the playoffs, so we could kind of treat these races coming up as free-for-alls, and we're just going to keep going after it."

 The victory was the 13th for Stewart-Haas Racing since it joined Ford last season, and the 100th Cup victory for the Fusion that Ford has used for several years.  Next season, the Fords SHR will race will be the new Cup version of the Mustang.

Kyle Busch wound up 20th. He led the first 70 laps of the Xfinity Series race but wrecked with a flat tire, so his Bristol weekend wasn’t what he was looking for on this night.

"We probably finished where we should have anyways, as torn up as our race car is," Kyle Busch said.

Unofficial Race Results for the 58th Annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race - August 18, 2018
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - .533 Mile Concrete

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 9, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford, 500, 7, 9, 1, 24, 5, 46, Running
2) 1, Kyle Larson, No. 42 DC Solar Chevrolet, 500, 6, 3, 5, 17, , 48, Running
3) 2, Chase Elliott, No. 9 Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet, 500, 4, 2, 2, 112, , 50, Running
4) 19, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 500, 9, 1, 2, 95, 1, 45, Running
5) 14, Erik Jones, No. 20 Sport Clips Toyota, 500, 8, 7, , , , 39, Running
6) 16, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Cummins Ford, 500, 3, 6, 2, 120, , 44, Running
7) 10, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 REV Ford, 500, 1, 5, 3, 121, 1, 46, Running
8) 22, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Valvoline Chevrolet, 500, , 10, , , , 30, Running
9) 13, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 500, 10, 8, , , , 32, Running
10) 6, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 500, 2, , 2, 8, , 36, Running
11) 23, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 500, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 24, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Bass Pro Shops/Cabela's Chevrolet, 500, , , 1, 1, , 25, Running
13) 18, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow NORKOOL Chevrolet, 500, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 7, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 500, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 26, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Thorne Wellness Chevrolet, 500, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 11, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Miller Lite Ford, 499, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 15, David Ragan, No. 38 Shriners Hospital For Children Ford, 499, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 21, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 STANLEY Toyota, 499, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 28, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Bush's Beans Chevrolet, 499, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 3, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's White Chocolate Toyota, 497, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 32, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 496, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 29, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Zynga Poker Ford, 496, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 5, William Byron #, No. 24 Liberty University Chevrolet, 496, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 495, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 39, Landon Cassill, No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 493, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 35, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 LowT Center Chevrolet, 492, , , , , , 0, Running
27) 40, Blake Jones, No. 23 KBM Commercial Properties/Planet Fitness Toyota, 485, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 37, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 Beef Jerky Outlet Toyota, 481, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 20, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 Cessna/McDonald's Chevrolet, 435, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 17, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/Ducks Unlimited Toyota, 431, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 8, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Anytime Favorites Ford, 428, 5, 4, 2, 2, , 19, Running
32) 34, * JJ Yeley(i), No. 7 Steakhouse Elite Chevrolet, 423, , , , , , 0, Accident
33) 36, Reed Sorenson, No. 51 Trading View Chevrolet, 338, , , , , , 4, Accident
34) 30, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 ARK io Blockchain Solutions Chevrolet, 234, , , , , , 3, Electrical
35) 33, * Jesse Little(i), No. 96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota, 59, , , , , , 0, Accident
36) 4, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Knauf Ford, 28, , , , , , 1, Accident
37) 31, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 10, , , , , , 1, Accident
38) 27, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 Medallion Bank/Petty's Garage Chevrolet, 3, , , , , , 1, Accident
39) 25, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 1, , , , , , 1, Accident
40) 38, * Gray Gaulding, No. 99 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 1, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) non-charter team Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 58 Mins, 35 Secs.

Total Race Length - 500 Laps - 266.5 Miles
Average Speed: 89.538 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.367 Seconds
Race Comments: Kurt Busch won the 58th annual Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his 30th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 3 (failed pre-race inspection).
Caution Flags: 9 for 70 laps: Laps: 4-13 (No. 19, 43, 96, 95, 7, 32, 34, 47, 00, 18, 66, 78, 13, 11, 12 Incident Frontstretch [None]);
62-66 (Competition [31]);
127-136 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]);
199-203 (No. 38 Spin Backstretch [None]);
252-261 (Stage 2 Conclusion [18]);
353-359 (No. 51 Incident Turn 4 [2]);
433-445 (No. 78, 7 Incident Frontstretch [2]);
473-477 (No. 2 Spin Backstretch [88]);
483-487 (No. 37, 18 Incident Turn 4 [95]).
Lead Changes: 19 among 9 drivers: K. Larson 1-13;
K. Harvick 14-15;
K. Larson 16;
R. Blaney 17-62;
K. Larson 63;
R. Blaney 64-130;
A. Almirola 131;
K. Harvick 132-137;
C. Elliott 138-191;
R. Blaney 192-199;
A. Almirola 200;
J. Logano 201-254;
K. Larson 255;
J. Logano 256-296;
C. Elliott 297-354;
K. Larson 355;
C. Bowyer 356-441;
R. Newman 442;
C. Bowyer 443-476;
Kurt Busch 477-500.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kyle Larson, No. 42 
Busch Pole Award: Kyle Larson, No. 42 127.792 mph
Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, No. 18 
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Hendrick Engines, No. 42 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kurt Busch, No. 41 crew chief Billy Scott, 0.054 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24