Kyle Busch wins at Chicagoland

Joe Gibbs driver outduels Larson on final lap for 5th Cup win of ’18

JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson raced all over the track during an electric final lap. As Busch began to celebrate his dramatic victory, Larson gave him a thumb’s up.

It was quite a finish, and they knew it. Busch outdueled Larson down the stretch Sunday in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, earning his fifth victory of the season. “It was a good day, a great finish, an exciting one for that, especially at a mile and a half,” Busch said. “People don’t necessarily see those very much anymore. Man, you just got to be pumped for that. It’s cool.”

Busch moved into the lead on a restart with 58 laps to go, replacing Kevin Harvick at the front of the field. Busch, Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – NASCAR’s top three teams so far this season – were up front with about 40 laps left before a hard-charging Larson crashed the party.

He powered by Harvick to get into second. He appeared to be in trouble after brushing the wall with seven laps left, but he kept going and Busch was slowed by a couple lapped cars at the back of the field.

Busch and Larson then were neck-and-neck on the final lap. Larson bumped into the back of Busch’s car and moved into the lead. Busch then raced into the back of Larson’s car and sped ahead for the victory.

“When I was going down the backstretch, I was like, ‘Hell, no, you’re not taking this one away right now,’” Busch said. “This was kind of where I was at. I was just going to do anything that it took for us to be able to get back to the start/finish line first.”

Busch was booed by the crowd when he got out of his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. He playfully rubbed his left eye in a crying motion and waved off the jeering fans.