Kurt Busch steals spotlight from brother at Bristol

BRISTOL, TENN. — Kurt Busch stole the spotlight from his younger brother Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway to grab an overdue short-track victory.

Busch won for the first time this season but sixth on the 0.533-mile bullring he once dominated. But that was before younger brother Kyle Busch learned his way around the place, and Kyle Busch has been the master of the Tennessee track.

Kyle Busch, winner of seven career Cup races at Bristol, 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.

Kyle Busch triggered a 15-car accident just two laps into the race. He fell two laps off the pace, came back to race Martin Truex Jr. for second, and moved Truex out of the way late in the race. A frustrated Truex kicked his car in anger.

As Kyle Busch 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 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. Kyle Busch wound up 20th.

UP NEXT: The Cup Series is off next weekend and races again Sept. 2 in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina. Denny Hamlin won last year's race. Saturday At Bristol Motor Speedway Bristol, Tenn. Lap length: 0.533 miles (Start position in parentheses) 1. (9) Kurt Busch, Ford, 500 laps, 46 points. 2. (1) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 5048. 3. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 500, 50. 4. (19) Joey Logano, Ford, 500, 45. 5. (14) Erik Jones, Toyota, 500, 39. 6. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 500, 44. 7. (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500, 46. 8. (22) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 500, 30. 9. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, 32. 10. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 500, 36. 11. (23) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 500, 26. 12. (24) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, 25. 13. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, 24. 14. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500, 23. 15. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500, 22. 16. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 499, 21. 17. (15) David Ragan, Ford, 499, 20. 18. (21) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 499, 19. 19. (28) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 499, 18. 20. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 497, 17. 21. (32) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 496, 16. 22. (29) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 496, 15. 23. (5) William Byron, Chevrolet, 496, 14. 24. (12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 495, 13. 25. (39) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 493, 12. 26. (35) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 492, 0. 27. (40) Blake Jones, Toyota, 485, 10. 28. (37) Timmy Hill, Ford, 481, 0. 29. (20) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 435, 8. 30. (17) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, accident, 431, 7. 31. (8) Aric Almirola, Ford, 428, 19. 32. (34) JJ Yeley, Toyota, accident, 423, 0. 33. (36) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, accident, 338, 4. 34. (30) Corey Lajoie, Chevrolet, electrical, 234, 3. 35. (33) Jesse Little, Toyota, accident, 59, 0. 36. (4) Paul Menard, Ford, accident, 28, 1. 37. (31) Michael McDowell, Ford, accident, 10, 1. 38. (27) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, accident, 3, 1. 39. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 1, 1. 40. (38) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, accident, 1, 1. ——— Race Statistics Average Speed of Race Winner: 89.543 mph. Time of Race: 2 hours, 58 minutes, 35 seconds. Margin of Victory: 0.367 seconds. Caution Flags: 9 for 70 laps. Lead Changes: 19 among 9 drivers. Lap Leaders: 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; Ku.Busch 477-500 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): R.Blaney, 3 times for 118 laps; C.Bowyer, 2 times for 118 laps; C.Elliott, 2 times for 110 laps; J.Logano, 2 times for 93 laps; Ku.Busch, 1 time for 23 laps; K.Larson, 5 times for 12 laps; K.Harvick, 2 times for 6 laps; A.Almirola, 2 times for 0 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 0 laps.