It was Brother vs. Brother with Kurt Busch Winning at Kentucky

AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley

SPARTA, KY – RIS – In the end, it was brother vs. brothers.  The Busch Brothers were battling, rubbing fenders, and Kurt would up in first with little brother Kyle, a close second.  In what was one of the most entertaining races of 2019, it came down to two superstars who happened to be brothers, fighting it out to the end in the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.

"My little brother gave me just enough room. It was like 'You gonna lift? I ain't gonna lift. You gonna lift? I ain't gonna lift.' And we had a duel," the elder Busch said. "We had a duel going down through (turns) 3 and 4, and I didn't know who was going to come out on top."

The younger Busch congratulated his borther.

"I'm glad it was a thriller, just unfortunately we were on the wrong end of the deal," Kyle Busch said. "It's obviously cool to put on great races and great finishes, and been a part of a lot of them ... none with my brother like that, so that was a first.”

The showdown came a week after Kurt Busch lost at Daytona because he pitted from the lead moments before weather stopped the race. That pit call haunted Busch and his crew chief all week, but a late call for four tires gave the No. 1 team a shot at redemption.

Joey Logano had the victory in hand until a spin by Bubba Wallace with six laps remaining sent the race into overtime.

Logano and Kyle Busch lined up side-by-side on the restart for what was expected to be a race for the victory, but both Erik Jones and Kurt Busch shoved their cars into the mix for an intense final two laps. Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch touched as they raced for the lead, both cars wiggled, and it appeared Kurt Busch was headed into the wall.

But he recovered to squeeze past his brother right before the checkered flag.

"He could have clobbered us against the wall, and third place probably would have got it," Kurt Busch said of the contact with Kyle Busch. "What an awesome run."

The Busch Brothers finished 1-2, but it was the first win of the year for Kurt Busch and his new Ganassi team. Team owner Chip Ganassi called into victory lane from Toronto, where he's with his IndyCar team.

The victory is the third straight of the season for Chevrolet and first in nine races at Kentucky. It ended a two-race Kentucky winning streak for Martin Truex Jr. and Toyota

Jones was third in a Toyota and Ganassi driver Kyle Larson was fourth. Denny Hamlin was fifth as JGR had three cars in the top five.

The finish was fitting considering the first two stages belonged to the Busch brothers. Kurt won the first 80-lap segment while Kyle Busch won the second.

Clint Bowyer, Logano, pole sitter Daniel Suarez and Ryan Newman led four Fords in the second five with Chris Buescher 10th in a Chevy.

Two-time defending race winner Martin Truex Jr. finished 11 spots than he began in 19th place, never really getting traction in the race.

Suarez led 52 laps and finished a rollercoaster night on an up note. A bad pit call for four tires dropped him to 14th and he was later penalized for speeding on pit road.

Unofficial Results, 9th Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart - July 13, 2019 - Kentucky Speedway 
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St 1, St 2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 4, Kurt Busch, No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet, 269, 1, 7, 4, 41, 6, 54, Running
2) 10, Kyle Busch, No. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry Toyota, 269, 3, 1, 2, 72, 1, 53, Running
3) 21, Erik Jones, No. 20 Craftsman Toyota, 269, , 2, 1, 1, , 43, Running
4) 19, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Clover Chevrolet, 269, , 6, , , , 38, Running
5) 18, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Freight Toyota, 269, 4, , 1, 5, , 39, Running
6) 7, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford, 269, , 5, 2, 40, , 37, Running
7) 11, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 269, 2, 4, 1, 19, , 46, Running
8) 1, Daniel Suarez, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 269, , , 2, 52, , 29, Running
9) 35, Ryan Newman, No. 6 Acorns Ford, 269, , , 1, 15, , 28, Running
10) 25, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Planters Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 14, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Quaker State Ford, 269, 10, 9, , , , 29, Running
12) 16, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fifth Third Bank Ford, 269, 7, , 1, 21, , 29, Running
13) 15, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 DEX Imaging Ford, 269, , 8, , , , 27, Running
14) 2, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Valley Tech Learning Ford, 269, 5, 10, , , , 30, Running
15) 20, Chase Elliott, No. 9 DEWnited States Chevrolet, 269, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 23, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 95 Anest Iwata Toyota, 269, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 22, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Nationwide Children's Hospital Chevrolet, 268, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 12, William Byron, No. 24 Axalta Chevrolet, 268, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 8, Martin Truex Jr., No. 19 Auto Owners Insurance Toyota, 268, 8, , , , , 21, Running
20) 3, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Discount Tire Ford, 268, , , 1, 3, , 17, Running
21) 29, Ryan Preece #, No. 47 Kroger Chevrolet, 268, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 5, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford, 268, 6, , , , , 20, Running
23) 27, Bubba Wallace, No. 43 Victory Junction Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 6, Daniel Hemric #, No. 8 Caterpillar Chevrolet, 267, 9, , , , , 15, Running
25) 17, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 267, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 26, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Military Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 30, Matt Tifft #, No. 36 Southwestern Trucking Ford, 267, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 28, Corey LaJoie, No. 32 CorvetteParts.net Ford, 266, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 24, David Ragan, No. 38 Long John Silver's Ford, 266, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 13, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Ally Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 7, Running
31) 32, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Low T Center Chevrolet, 264, , , , , , 0, Running
32) 33, Landon Cassill(i), No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 263, , , , , , 0, Running
33) 31, Bayley Currey(i), No. 51 Jacob Companies Ford, 262, , , , , , 0, Running
34) 36, Quin Houff, No. 77 Go-Parts.com Chevrolet, 260, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 9, Austin Dillon, No. 3 AAA Chevrolet, 238, , 3, , , , 10, Running
36) 34, BJ McLeod(i), No. 52 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 110, , , , , , 0, Electrical
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 51 Mins, 37 Secs.
Total Race Length: 269 Laps, 403.5 Miles
Average Speed: 141.07 MPH
Margin of Victory: .076 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 1, 22, 18, 11, 10, 4, 17, 19, 8, 21
Stage 2 Top 10: 18, 20, 3, 22, 14, 42, 1, 12, 21, 10

Race Comments: Kurt Busch won the 9th Annual Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway, his 31st 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. Nos. 6, 77 (Failing inspection once).

Caution Flags: 7 for 35 laps;
Laps: 48-52 (No.9 Debris Turn 2 [47]);
55-59 (No.32 Spin Turn 4 [9]);
64-67 (No.00, 51 Incident Turn 2 [12]);
82-86 (Stage 1 Conclusion [15]);
162-166 (Stage 2 Conclusion [11]);
180-184 (No.48 Incident Backstretch [41]);
262-267 (No.43 Incident Turn 2 [95]).

Lead Changes: 15 among 10 drivers;
D. Suarez 1-49;
B. Keselowski 50-52;
K. Busch 53-82;
R. Stenhouse Jr. 83-103;
K. Busch 104-162;
E. Jones 163;
C. Bowyer 164-201;
K. Busch 202;
C. Bowyer 203-204;
K. Busch 205-212;
K. Busch 213-225;
D. Hamlin 226-230;
R. Newman 231-245;
D. Suarez 246-248;
J. Logano 249-267;
K. Busch 268-269.

American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kurt Busch, No.1 
Busch Pole Award: Daniel Suarez, No.41 184.59 mph
Fastest Lap: Kevin Harvick, No.4 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Daniel Suarez, No.41 crew chief Billy Scott, 4.33785 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Ryan Preece, No.47