Busch wins rain-delayed Cup Series race at Bristol

BRISTOL, Tennessee, April 17, (AP): Kyle Busch was all smiles and Kyle Larson was all scowls.

Busch passed Larson with five laps remaining at Bristol Motor Speedway on Monday to win his second straight Cup Series race, culminating a rain-delayed weekend when temperatures dipped into the high 30s.

Busch celebrated by thrusting his arms in the air and with a traditional bow to the crowd on top of his No. 18 Toyota while the snow began falling — a fitting end to a long weather-stalled weekend.

Busch said after the race that he didn’t have the best car, but “we had the best car right at the end.”

The loss left Larson, who led a race-high 200 laps, extremely frustrated.

It was Busch’s 45th career Cup Series win, moving him ahead of Bill Elliott into sole possession of 16th place.

It also was his seventh win at Bristol, while Larson has yet to win at the half-mile track.

Coincidentally, Busch won with the aid of longtime nemesis Brad Keselowski, who wrecked with 30 laps left, bringing out the caution flag.

Larson appeared to have the car to beat on Monday, running well ahead of the pack on long green flag runs. But after Busch took on tires during the yellow flag stop, he knew he was back

in that something broke in his suspension. Keselowski hit the wall with 30 laps left, bringing out the final caution.

Darrell “Bubba” Wallace now knows that it is like to run up front in a Cup Series race. Wallace passed Busch with 126 laps remaining to lead a Cup race for the first time in his young career. It didn’t last long, though, as Busch blew by him a short time later.

Daniel Suarez raced with a fractured thumb he suffered last week at Texas and finished in 11th place. Now that deserves a thumbs-up.

Food City President and CEO, Steve Smith (left), holds the trophy with race winner Kyle Busch after a NASCAR Cup Series auto

race on April 16, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP)