CONCORD, N.C. – All it took for Kyle Busch to finally check Charlotte Motor Speedway off his winless tracks list was a single, dominant performance during Sunday night’s 59th annual Coca-Cola 600.
Busch drove circles around the field and left no question that his No. 18 M&Ms Patriotic Toyota was the fastest car on the property, leading 377 of 400 laps from the pole en route to his fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season and his first points-paying victory at Charlotte.
He won all four 100-lap stages to pocket the maximum of 70 points available on NASCAR’s longest night, and though he lost the lead to outside polesitter Joey Logano on the initial start, once he took the lead back from Logano on lap five he never trailed again outside of green-flag pit stops.
Busch took the lead for the final time on lap 355, after teammate Denny Hamlin made his final visit to pit road, and paced the final 46 circuits without any pressure from behind.
Sunday’s win completed a two-week sweep of Cup Series action at Charlotte for Busch, who was also victorious in the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at the 1.5-mile quad-oval on May 19.
His victory lane celebration on NASCAR’s longest night was doubly emotional, as winning at Charlotte made Busch the first driver in NASCAR’s modern era to win at every active track on the Cup schedule.
“This one’s very special. I don’t think there’s anything that can top Homestead, just with the meaning of what the championship is, but the Coca-Cola 600 … I’ve dreamt of this race since I was a kid and being able to win this race,” said Busch. “Always watching the All-Star race and then the 600 the following weekend and now being able to come out here and win the Coca-Cola 600 is just phenomenal. It’s a little boy’s dreams come true.
“I thank NASCAR, for one, for giving me a chance to come out here and have this opportunity to race for my dreams and to accomplish those things. This Toyota Camry was awesome tonight. Adam Stevens (crew chief) and all my guys are just phenomenal to work with and it’s so much fun to drive these cars right now.”
Busch circled the first pit stall on pit road and his entire No. 18 crew as reasons he was able to dominate, and for good reason. They only had one pit stop all night that was slower than 14.9 seconds.
“My guys were on it tonight. They were really, really good on pit road,” praised Busch. “I can’t say enough about my crew. They’ve been that way all year long. A lot of wins are due to a lot of circumstances going right and our pit crew is going right with us right now. Fast race cars as well too. There were a few other fast cars out there … but it just seemed like they could never really get into our territory. This was just a phenomenal night.”
