Kyle Busch Gets the Auto Club 400 Win and a New Record

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FONTANA, CA – RIS – Kyle Busch thought he had blown his chance to win the Auto Club 500 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup race at Auto Club Speedway on Sunday when he was too fast exiting the pits.  Busch had won the first two stages and was dominating  while doing it.  Ironically, a blown tire by the Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet driven by Bubba Wallace allowed him to catch up and he went on to win.

At the same venue that gave Busch his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory in 2005, the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota beat runner-up Joey Logano to the finish line by a comfortable 2.354 seconds to earn his 53rd win in the series and his second straight this season.Unofficial Results: 23rd Annual Auto Club 400.   overcame the pit road speeding penalty incurred during the break after Stage 2 and powered back to the lead with 26 laps left. Now Busch will leave it to others to debate where his 200 victories stack up against the record 200 Cup wins accumulated by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty.  

“Feels just like number one,” Busch said after taking the checkered flag. “Feels just like yesterday. Man, that was such an awesome race car. I mean, dang! This Interstate Batteries Camry was awesome today. I’m glad we put on a heck of a show for all these fans out here in California at Auto Club Speedway.

“It takes green to get in Victory Lane today. Today is St. Patty’s day. All these other guys were at a disadvantage. The Interstate Batteries Green Machine was flying today. Just awesome. Just awesome. To win 200, I mean, whatever it means, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to all my guys, everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing. You guys are all the best.

“It’s an amazing opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs. I cherish every minute of it, love it always. Just wish that we could keep it going, keep it going like this, running strong, running well, and winning these races.”

Joey Logano was second. Brad Keselowski came home third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Ryan Blaney, as Ford drivers grabbed the next four positions behind Busch’s Toyota. Sixth-place Kurt Busch, brother of the race winner, drove the highest-finishing Chevrolet.

As he had done a day earlier in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race, Kyle Busch swept the first and second stages of the Auto Club 400. But if Busch sailed to the stage wins with relative ease — finishing more than five seconds ahead of second-place Brad Keselowski in Stage 2 — other potential contenders had issues in the early going that cost them dearly.  One by one they fell off the pace.  Martin Truex, Jr., Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and others had trouble with their cars.  Bowyer fell far behind while Truex and Hamlin finished well.

No one had anything for Kyle Busch, though.  Even if his detractors say that that 147 of those came in lesser series races against less than stellar competition.  Kyle said it best himself:

"If the mark is 200 victories and I have 53 and race for the next 10 years while winning five a year, that would leave me at 103 wins", Busch said.  "I guess that's something to shoot for.  No one will win 200 at this level."

   March 17, 2019 - Auto Club Speedway Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, 200, 1, 1, 7, 134, 7, 60, Running
2) 5,Joey Logano, No. 22 AAA Southern California Ford, 200, 2, 4, 2, 3, , 51, Running 3) 13, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Wurth Ford, 200, , 2, 2, 42, , 43, Running
4) 2, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Ford, 200, 4, 6, , , , 45, Running
5) 10, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 PPG Ford, 200, 9, 3, 1, 2, , 42, Running
6) 21, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 200, , 8, , , , 34, Running
7) 6, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Express Toyota, 200, 3, 9, 3, 8, , 40, Running
8) 27, Martin Truex Jr, No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 200, , , , , , 29, Running
9) 3, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Farmer John Ford, 200, 5, 5, 1, 7, , 40, Running
10) 1, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Coatings Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 8, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet, 200, , 10, , , , 27, Running
12) 15, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 20, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 200, 7, , , , , 28, Running
14) 12, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 200, , , 1, 1, , 23, Running
15) 22, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 200, , , 1, 3, , 22, Running
16) 14, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kroger Flavor Fill Up Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 11, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 200, 8, , , , , 23, Running
18) 24, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Procore Toyota, 200, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 18, Erik Jones, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota, 200, 6, 7, , , , 27, Running
20) 25, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/MOEN Ford, 200, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 23, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Pet Insurance Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 7, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford, 199, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 26, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger Flavor Fill Up Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 29, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Loves's Travel Stops Ford, 198, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 19, David Ragan, No. 38 MDS Trucking Ford, 198, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 32, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Surface Sunscreen/Tunity Ford, 197, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 16, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 197, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Southern California Chevy Dealers Chev., 195, , , , , , 0, Running
29) 33, Landon Cassill, No. 00 Manscaped Chevrolet, 195, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 28, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 PlanBSales.com Chevrolet, 194, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 30, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 Hartford Gold Group Ford, 193, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 34, Cody Ware #, No. 51 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 17, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Liberty National Chevrolet, 192, 10, , , , , 5, Running
34) 35, * Reed Sorenson, No. 27 RimRyderz Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 3, Running 35) 38, * Joey Gase(i), No. 66 Nevada Donor Network Toyota, 188, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 37, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 77 Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 0, Running
37) 36, BJ McLeod(i), No. 52 Mtel-One Ford, 172, , , , , , 0, Running
38) 9, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford, 130, , , , , , 1, Overheating
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 47 Mins, 42 Secs.
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 400. Miles
Average Speed: 143.113 MPH
Margin of Victory: 2.354 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 18, 22, 11, 4, 10, 20, 41, 48, 12, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 2, 12, 22, 10, 4, 20, 1, 11, 9
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the 23rd Annual Auto Club 400, his 53rd victory in 504 Monster Energy Cup Series races. Prior to the start of the race, the following car(s)
dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: #36 (engine change) and #34 (twice failed inspection).
Caution Flags: 4 for 22 laps; Laps: 57-59 (#3 Debris Turn 1 [37]); 61-68 (#17, #19, #20, #42 Incident Turn 2 (Stage 1 Conclusion) [47]); 122-127 (Stage 2 Conclusion [17]); 165-
169 (#43 Debris Turn 1 [1]).
Lead Changes: 18 among 9 drivers; A. Dillon 0; D. Hamlin 1-2; A. Almirola 3-9; D. Hamlin 10-12; K. Busch 13-30; W. Byron 31-33; K. Busch 34-56; D. Hamlin 57-59; K. Busch
60-69; J. Logano 70-71; K. Busch 72-122; B. Keselowski 123-160; K. Busch 161-165; R. Stenhouse Jr 166; R. Blaney 167-168; K. Busch 169; B. Keselowski 170-173; J. Logano
174; K. Busch 175-200.

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2019, Issue 3, Posted 10:26 PM, 03.17.2019