Kyle Busch earns dramatic NASCAR win, fifth of season
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 in Joliet, Ill., 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. 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.
Larson, who was trying for a weekend sweep after winning the Xfinity Series race Saturday, had no complaints.
“I roughed him up. He roughed me up. That’s racing,” he said.
It was Busch’s second win at Chicagoland, joining his victory in 2008. He also moved into a tie with Herb Thomas for 14th on the Cup Series’ career wins list with 48.
Forumula One
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen won the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg, Austria, as both Mercedes cars failed to finish. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel came second and third, with the German taking back the lead in the championship from Lewis Hamilton.
On a bleak day for Mercedes, both Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas retired from the race with mechanical issues. It was the first time that no Mercedes reached the finish since the Spanish GP two years ago, when Hamilton and Nico Rosberg crashed into each other.
Hamilton was in front from the start but lost his lead following a tactical mistake by his team, which did not pit him under a virtual safety car while most other teams took the opportunity to switch to soft tires.
Having dropped to fourth, Hamilton then had to park his car on the 64th lap, seven short of the finish.
After nine of 21 races, he trails Vettel by one point heading into the British GP next week.
It was Verstappen’s first win of the season and fourth overall.