Kyle Busch advances with win in playoffs
LOUDON, N.H. - Kyle Busch saw little but billowing white smoke that engulfed the track and blinded enough drivers that it caused a tremendous wreck that notably altered the race running order.
In his No. 18 Toyota, the driver nicknamed “Rowdy” knew there was only one way to handle the sudden pollution: Drive through it!
Busch slinked through the smoke clouds formed in the multi-car crash on the backstretch and dominated the rest of the way to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motorspeedway.
“That was pretty intense,” Busch said. “That was some ‘Days of Thunder’ stuff over there. You couldn’t see anything.”
He held on and saw a victory lane celebration for the third time this season. Busch earned a berth in the second round of NASCAR’s playoffs and took his customary bow on the track. He even stuck a bag of M&M’s on the claws of Loudon the Lobster, the 18-pound crustacean given to the race winner.
Busch, who won from the pole, put together a complete effort once the wreck derailed race leader Martin Truex Jr. Truex, who won the playoff opener at Chicagoland, and Busch both earned automatic spots in the second round. Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski advanced on points.
Truex led 112 laps until his run ended in the accident, though he rallied to finish fifth.
The playoff standings were shaken up in the wake of massive multi-car wreck that sent playoff drivers Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick to the garage. Harvick’s car was hit by Austin Dillon on the last lap of the second stage. Harvick spun and smoke billowed over the track, leaving drivers almost blinded to the traffic ahead. Busch, Harvick’s teammate at Stewart-Haas Racing, slammed into Harvick. Truex backed up to straighten himself out and instead suffered leftrear damage when he smacked another car.
Kurt Busch, the Daytona 500 champion, will likely have to win next week at Dover to advance to the second round.
“It’s all-in. We’ll go there with everything we’ve got like we have been,” he said.
Harvick, the 2014 series champion, had accumulated enough playoff points that one DNF shouldn’t cost him a spot in the top 12.
“I couldn’t really tell where I was with all the smoke and everything that was happening, but just got hit from behind and spun out,” Harvick said.
Playoff drivers filled the top five spots: Larson was second, followed by Matt Kenseth, Keselowski and Truex.
“We had damage and had to fight from the back of the pack the rest of the day,” Truex said.
Kyle Busch, who had his shot at victory at Chicagoland end because of pit road miscues, survived the wreckage to lead 187 laps and showed that Joe Gibbs Racing will be a player in the postseason. He found the opening between the wall and Harvick and won his 41st Cup race.
Maybe next time, Busch will have a clear path to the checkered flag.
“That was a close call,” Busch said. “The cloud of smoke was so large that you literally couldn’t see anything.”
Other items of note at New Hampshire:
PLAYOFF RESULTS: Larson and Brad Keselowski also advanced on points to the second round. Austin Dillon, Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne are the bottom four drivers in the playoff standings.
Larson was second in both New Hampshire races this season.
ISM CONNECT 300 RESULTS
Sunday
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway Loudon, N.H.
Lap length: 1.058 miles
(Start position in parentheses) 1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 300 laps, 58 points.
2. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 300, 50.
3. (10) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 300, 48.
4. (13) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 300, 45.
5. (5) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 300, 47.
6. (8) Erik Jones, Toyota, 300, 45.
7. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 300, 30.
8. (25) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 300, 29.
9. (4) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 300, 36.
10. (39) Joey Logano, Ford, 300, 27.
11. (14) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 300, 26.
12. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 300, 30.
13. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 300, 24.
14. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 300, 30.
15. (24) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 300, 22.
16. (11) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 300, 22.
17. (20) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 300, 20.
18. (27) Danica Patrick, Ford, 300, 19.
19. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 300, 18.
20. (19) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 300, 17.
21. (22) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 299, 16.
22. (30) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 298, 15.
23. (31) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 298, 14.
24. (23) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 298, 13.
25. (28) Landon Cassill, Ford, 298, 12.
26. (29) Aric Almirola, Ford, 297, 11.
27. (33) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 297, 10.
28. (35) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 297, 9.
29. (21) David Ragan, Ford, 296, 8.
30. (32) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 296, 7.
31. (26) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 295, 6.
32. (36) Brett Moffitt, Toyota, 294, 0.
33. (34) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, 293, 4.
34. (15) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 289, 3.
35. (9) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 289, 2.
36. (6) Kevin Harvick, Ford, accident, 148, 2.
37. (7) Kurt Busch, Ford, accident, 148, 1.
38. (37) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, accident, 143, 1.
39. (38) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, reargear, 74, 1.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 108.957 mph.
Time of Race: 2 hours, 54 minutes, 47 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 2.641 seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 32 laps.
Lead Changes: 6 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Ky.Busch 1-39; M.Truex 40-77; K.Larson 78; M.Truex 79149; Ky.Busch 150-264; M.Truex 265-267; Ky.Busch 268-300 Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): Ky.Busch, 3 times for 184 laps; M.Truex, 3 times for 109 laps; K.Larson, 1 time for 0 laps. Wins: M.Truex, 5; K.Larson, 4; Ky.Busch, 3; J.Johnson, 3; D.Hamlin, 2; B.Keselowski, 2; R.Stenhouse, 2; R.Blaney, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; A.Dillon, 1; K.Harvick, 1; K.Kahne, 1; J.Logano, 1; R.Newman, 1.
Top 16 in Points: 1. M.Truex, 2149; 2. K.Larson, 2125; 3. Ky.Busch, 2119; 4. B.Keselowski, 2106; 5. D.Hamlin, 2088; 6. M.Kenseth, 2087; 7. J.Johnson, 2076; 8. R.Blaney, 2070; 9. C.Elliott, 2070; 10. K.Harvick, 2069; 11. J.McMurray, 2053; 12. A.Dillon, 2044; 13. R.Stenhouse, 2044; 14. R.Newman, 2043; 15. Ku.Busch, 2027; 16. K.Kahne, 2023.