Busch checks last box
Kyle Busch led 377 of 400 laps in a dominating Coca-Cola 600 run at Charlotte Motor Speedway to finally break through with a points-race victory at the only NASCAR Cup track that had eluded him.
Busch started on the pole, won every stage in the circuit’s longest race and left everyone else in the field fighting for second on the way to his fourth victory of the season.
The victory gave Busch a points-race win at every NASCAR track on the schedule.
“I don’t know if it has ever been done before but the first one ever to check off all of the tracks and get it all done,” Busch said. “I don’t want to go to any new ones so now we just have to start the whole process over.”
Martin Truex Jr. was second, some four seconds behind. It was two years ago Truex had his own mind-boggling performance, leading 392 of 400 laps for a NASCAR record 588 of 600 miles to win at Charlotte.
Kevin Harvick’s try for a third straight points win this month ended with an early accident.
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, was third, followed by Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson.
Once Busch took the track, he quickly proved he would not be kept out of Charlotte’s victory lane again.
This race figured to be a match race between NASCAR’s two hottest drivers in Busch and Kevin Harvick.
Harvick had won five times, including the past two points events and the All-Star race here last week.
Instead, Harvick’s race ended early after an accident on lap 83. Harvick hit the wall, cut a front tire and trailed sparks on the track toward the garage.
Harvick showed off one of the best cars, rallying from starting 39th due to inspection problems this week to get the fourth before his problems began.
“Happy” Harvick didn’t sound too broken up about his quick night. “I can’t complain about anything that’s happened this year,” said Harvick, who finished last. “We have to take the good with the bad.” FORMULA ONE >> Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo steadied his nerve when victory threatened to escape him again as he overcame a significant midrace power loss to win the Monaco Grand Prix from pole position on Sunday.
Better known for his attacking prowess and razorsharp overtaking, the Australian showed outstanding defensive driving to fend off Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari despite losing an estimated 25 percent of his engine power.
Vettel closed to within one second of Ricciardo with more than half of the 78-lap race left. It seemed certain the German would pass him at some point, but Ricciardo held firm for the seventh win of his career. “So much went on for me in that race, trying to figure out what was going on,” said Ricciardo, who was fastest in all three practice sessions as well as qualifying. “This was probably the best weekend of my career.”
Vettel shaved a few points off championship leader Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who finished third.
“I think we had the pace,” Vettel said after missing out on a 50th career win. “But Daniel had the answers all the time.”
Hamilton made an audacious move by pitting for new tires several laps before his rivals, but was worried they would wear out by the end.
“It would have been nice to have come second but I did all I could,” Hamilton said.
In the end, Ricciardo’s winning margin was seven seconds but only because Vettel lost time after the virtual safety car came out for the last few laps. The incident happened when Charles Leclerc shunted his Sauber into the back of Brendon Hartley’s Toro Rosso. Drivers are not allowed to overtake when the VSC is deployed and must maintain a steady speed. It happened too late to influence the race.
Kimi Raikkonen was fourth for Ferrari, ahead of Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Force India’s Esteban Ocon.
Max Verstappen Ricciardo’s Red Bull teammate finished ninth after starting from last having crashed prior to Saturday’s qualifying.
A strong drive from Verstappen, gaining 11 positions, but the day belonged to Ricciardo.
It was his second win of the season after the Chinese GP last month, pushing him up to third in the title race.
It also felt like payback time. Ricciardo thought he’d won in Monaco two years ago, leading from pole only to be undone by a botched pit stop which left him furious with his team.
He drove like a man on a mission.
“Two years in the making and I finally feel redemption has arrived,” Ricciardo said. His team principal Christian Horner, who rushed over to hug him, was in awe.
“He lost about 25 percent of the power of the engine. That means his rear brake temperatures are going through the roof. He is having to cool the car,” Horner said. “He is the complete article now. You can hear his composure in the car ... there is no panic.”
Vettel reduced Hamilton’s championship lead from 17 points to 14 in an intriguing championship tussle.