AVONDALE, Ariz. – Kyle Busch made a big statement Sunday at ISM Raceway: he’s not going away quietly in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship fight.
Busch took control late in the Can-Am 500, powering past Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Erik Jones with 36 laps left and then holding off all challengers across a flurry of restarts in the closing stages to capture his eighth win of the year and cement his spot in the Championship 4 at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.
The 2015 Cup Series champion surged ahead of second-running Aric Almirola for the final time after a restart with 12 laps left before keeping a fast-closing Brad Keselowski at bay en route to the victory.
Sunday’s performance marked Busch’s 51st Cup Series victory and second at the one-mile Arizona oval.
“We just kept tuning on it and just kept working on it,” Busch noted of his race car. “These guys, they never give up, they never quit on me and I never quit on them. We had to keep scrounging and figure out some other things that could help the grip in this race car. It was loose, it was tight and it was all over the place today – it was a handful, that’s for sure.
“There at the end it was just fast enough to hold off that 2 (Keselowski) and he was charging fast.”
With his win, Busch joined Martinsville victor Joey Logano as drivers with automatic bids into the championship race. Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. – who finished fifth and 14th, respectively – made the Championship 4 by virtue of points scored, despite both having various issues during the day.
The playoff picture seemed scrambled from the moment the pits closed before the end of the first stage, when Harvick slowed out of the lead with a flat right-front tire.
Later, it was Kurt Busch getting a one-lap penalty for passing the pace car under caution at lap 136 after leading just moments earlier, and then it was Chase Elliott getting busted for speeding with 80 to go while in contention to challenge for the race win.
However, the turning point in the playoff battle came with 44 laps to go, following a red-flag period for a hard crash by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Erik Jones and Kurt Busch restarted on the front row after staying out on old tires, while many of the other contenders pitted for fresh rubber and were charging from behind.
When the green flag waved, Jones spun his tires and ended up in the middle of a four-wide battle for the race lead, where Hamlin got alongside Kurt Busch on the high side before washing up coming off turn two and pinching the No. 41 Ford into the outside wall.
That contact triggered a chain-reaction crash that sent the elder Busch brother down the track into the side of Chase Elliott’s No. 9 Chevrolet, causing heavy damage to both cars that ended their hopes of advancing to Miami.
The ensuing restart with 37 to go was where Kyle Busch pounced. After lining up on the front row alongside Jones, he slotted into line behind his young teammate before cutting to the inside the next time around and taking the lead for good.
Two more cautions with 26 and 18 laps to go, respectively, put the final result in doubt, but the younger Busch never faltered. Even though Keselowski was charging with 25-lap fresher tires, a slide with four laps left cost Keselowski just enough time that he couldn’t challenge Kyle Busch for the win in the end.
“We definitely made the right call. It just didn’t quite work out,” lamented Keselowski. “Man, it was close. I needed to pass the 10 (Almirola) a lap earlier. We were all racing for all we’ve got. It was close.”
Kyle Larson, who was on the same strategy as Keselowski, charged through traffic to finish third.
Almirola, who restarted alongside Busch when the green flag waved for the final time with 12 to go, faded to fourth at the checkered flag and was eliminated after starting the day in a must-win situation.
Harvick completed the top five and edged out his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate and Elliott, who limped home in 23rd, for the final spot in the championship race at Homestead on Nov. 18.
Kurt Busch and Clint Bowyer, who both ended their days in the garage after crash damage took them out of the race, were also eliminated from the playoffs along with Almirola and Elliott.
