Truex wins on fight undercard
LAS VEGAS — Martin Truex Jr. passed Brad Keselowski with two laps to go, avoiding a last-lap wreck that led to a pit-road brawl which left Kyle Busch bloodied, in a wild finish to NASCAR’s Kobalt 400 yesterday.
An aggressive Joey Logano got into Busch, sending him spinning down pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Moments later, Busch and Logano tangled, with crew members pulling Busch away as blood ran down his forehead.
“There wasn’t much talking, just a lot of swinging,” Logano said. “I was racing hard there at end.”
Asked if any blows were landed, Logano replied, “None to me.”
Busch was pulled up off the ground by crew members and taken to the infield care center to get his forehead looked at. He was quickly treated and released.
“I got dumped. He flat out just drove straight in the corner and wrecked me,” Busch said. “That’s how Joey races, so he’s going to get it.”
The fight overshadowed a tough-luck finish for Keselowski, who appeared to be pulling away after a restart and on his way to his second win in as many weeks when he ran into mechanical problems.
“I just know it was something major,” he said. “It wouldn’t turn and I lost brakes.”
Truex passed him and held on to become the first driver to win all three segments in NASCAR Cup’s new stage racing.
Kyle Larson was second, followed by Chase Elliott, Logano and Keselowski.
Truex won the first two race stages and re-took the lead with 39 laps to go after a lengthy cycle of greenflag pit stops. After a hardcharging Keselowski went in front, Danica Patrick blew an engine, bringing out a caution.
Keselowski, who started from the pole, just beat Truex out of pit road after their four-tire stops. He chose the outside lane on the restart and shot ahead until his car slowed.
Denny Hamlin was sixth, followed by Ryan Blaney, Jamie McMurray, Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer to round out the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson was 11th, marking the first time since he became a full-time driver in 2002 that he has failed to have a top-10 finish in the first three races.
Kevin Harvick’s hope of bouncing back from a disappointing finish at Atlanta lasted only 68 laps. He crashed hard into the wall when his right front tire exploded.
“It started vibrating four or five laps before it blew out,” Harvick said. “I was trying to ride it to the end of the stage.”
Harvick, who entered as the series points leader, was credited with a 38th-place finish a week after leading 292 laps only to be caught speeding on pit road.
Harvick was annoyed at how long it took the medical crew to get to his car and transport him to the infield care center. NASCAR, for the first time this season, is using a traveling set of doctors and paramedics in hopes of better consistency.
“I thought we made that better, but obviously we haven’t,” Harvick said.
The 1.5-mile track was slick with the temperature in the 80s in the desert. And it was a rough homecoming for Daytona 500 champion Kurt Busch. Shortly after venting his frustration over the radio, he had to come in for a new battery with 66 laps to go and finished 30th.
Kyle Busch was one of three drivers to get caught speeding on pit road, with the pass-through penalty leaving him a lap down. Busch recovered to get back into contention before the last-lap wreck. Speeding has been a hot issue this season as NASCAR has gone to more precise timing lines.