USA TODAY International Edition
Busch outduels Larson in wild last laps
JOLIET, Ill. – Kyle Larson called it one of the best finishes in NASCAR history.
That’s a long list and a tough one to join, but a case could be made for Sunday’s Overton’s 400 finish appearing somewhere in there. And Larson’s vote counts more — he was the runner-up and could be expected to respond negatively.
The race looked like a runaway for Kyle Busch, who had a lead of about two seconds with 20 laps to go on the 1.5mile oval. But then Larson caught fire.
Larson steadily made up the gap and reached challenging position in the final couple of miles. Then came the drama. Larson went low on the track in an attempt to pass Busch with the checkered flag looming. He couldn’t complete the pass but squeezed Busch into the outside wall. That temporarily gave Larson the lead, but Busch, masterfully controlling his car as it hit the wall and rebounded, caught Larson and bumped him from the rear. That contact sent Larson onto the track apron and out of the lead. He recovered to finish second, 1.8 seconds behind Busch.
The grandstand crowd went bananas as the two Kyles jousted. As Busch stopped to pick up the checkered flag, boos — sprinkled with cheers — rained down. Busch imitated someone crying in front of an NBC camera and said, “If you don’t like that kind of racing, then don’t watch.”
In a season that often has lacked drama, this was high theater. Depending on which Kyle one might support, there could be disappointment in the finish, but it’s impossible to label it normal.
Some obviously were upset at Busch for pushing Larson from the lead in the final run toward the line, but among those who were not upset was Larson.
“I roughed him up; he roughed me up,” said Larson, who gave Busch a “thumbs up” on the cool-down lap after Busch had scored his fifth win and Larson had failed again to get his first of the season. “It was just hard racing.”
The finish underlined again the power of the Big Three. The season has been mostly about three drivers — Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Busch — wrestling for the top of the pyramid. Through 17 races, they have won 13, ridiculous domination in a sport that strives for a certain level of parity.
With the tough summer stretch approaching and then arriving, Harvick won at Dover and Kansas, Busch won at Charlotte and Truex scored at Pocono and Sonoma. It could be argued that, in the context of the Big Three, it was Busch’s turn to win again. He matched Harvick’s total of five victories.
Busch rolled into victory lane with the right side of his Toyota battered by his meeting with the wall and with his right front tire beaten to a pulp. He was grinning from ear to ear, his joy in winning underscored by the way in which victory came and by the sour reactions of those who don’t put themselves in the Busch camp.
Busch’s car wasn’t competitive for much of the afternoon. The first lap he led was the 209th. He led the rest of the way, except for that brief moment when Larson shoved his car out front.
Busch’s team worked on the car in a series of pit stops and made the car a potential winner by the final stage. Busch did the rest.