CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Busch rolled to his second stage win of the 59th annual Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway and leads the event at its halfway point.
Busch cruised to his fourth stage win of the season and second in a row, only giving up the top spot during green-flag pit stops that took place in the second half of the 100-lap segment.
The effort keeps Busch perfect so far on NASCAR’s longest night. He has earned 20 bonus points with the No. 18 M&Ms Toyota and led 180 of the 200 laps completed.
“This isn’t scary at all; this is what we live for,” said crew chief Adam Stevens. “It’s been calm taking off, but this is about time the track starts to change and business starts to pick up. The splitter starts to travel more … those are all things we’ll have to deal with and adjust on, but we’re happy right now.”
“It definitely feels good and we know we’ve got speed,” added Busch. “Adam and the boys have done a great job and I’m proud of the effort by all our guys so far. We just have to keep it going. I don’t think the track will change dramatically, but it will change some. We just have to stay on top of it.”
Busch jumped out over Ryan Blaney when the second stage took the green flag on lap 108 of 400, but his march was stalled after just six circuits when rookie William Byron pounded the outside wall in turn one, bringing out the fourth caution flag of the race.
That incident was followed by a double spin on a lap 120 restart, with Jimmie Johnson going around in turn four and Joey Logano spinning to avoid the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet but neither one making contact.
The green flag waved next on the 124th round, with Busch leading Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr. as Blaney faded back to fourth. Busch opened up more than a second over the field in just five laps, moving that needle even further to more than three seconds before pitting under green at lap 159.
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin assumed the race lead at that point after pitting under the prior caution, staying out and mathematically eliminating Busch’s chances of breaking Martin Truex Jr.’s laps led record from the 2016 edition of the Coca-Cola 600. Prior to Busch’s pit stop, he had paced all but six laps in the event.
Hamlin finally gave up the ghost and hit pit road on lap 166, with Joey Logano staying out even longer, but Busch came calling on fresh tires and retook the race lead on the 174th lap by passing Logano.
Busch drove off to his second stage win of the night after that, reaching the start/finish line at lap 200 2.899 seconds in front of Truex’s No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/5-Hour Energy Toyota.
Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Clint Bowyer finished third through fifth, respectively.
Aric Almirola, Chase Elliott, Johnson, Ryan Newman and Erik Jones completed the top 10 and all earned bonus points at the second stage break of the night.
