CONCORD, N.C. - Kyle Busch was in his own zip code on Sunday night.
Busch completely dominated the 59th annual Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, leading the most laps and sweeping each segment en route to the victory.
For Busch, it finally gives him a Monster Energy Cup Series win at Charlotte, a trophy that has eluded him for years. It also gives him a win on every track the series currently visits, the first time that has occurred in the series’ “modern era.”
Busch led 377 of the race’s 400 laps, with only three other drivers leading over the course of the 600 miles. It’s his fourth win of the 2018 season, and his 47th career series victory overall.
“This one’s very special,” Busch said. “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. Always watching the All-Star race and then the 600 the following weekend and being able to come out here and now win the Coca-Cola 600 is just phenomenal.
“It’s a little boy’s dreams come true and man, I just want to say that 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. I don’t know if it’s ever been done before, but the first one to check off all the tracks and get it all done. I don’t want to go to any new ones.”
The only time Busch saw any real challenges were on restarts, but they were only temporary, with Busch’s No. 18 consistently roaring back to the lead each time.
While Busch has scored eight Xfinity Series wins and seven Camping World Truck Series wins at Charlotte, his only trip to victory lane in a Cup Series race was in a non- points event, the All-Star race in 2017 – which doesn’t count in the official tally.
In fact, in the Coca-Cola 600, Kyle Busch had been absolutely snake bit.
He led a race high 173 laps in 2009, only to see race shortened by rain at lap 227 as he sat in sixth position, with David Reutimann making the trip to victory lane. In 2011, Busch led two times for a total of 55 laps before a crash ended his night 56 laps short of the finish.
The most frustrating – and bizarre – moment may have come in 2013, when he ran over a broken cable from a FOX overhead camera, leaving the right front fender of his car damaged. He would eventually drop out of the race with engine problems, resulting in a 38th place finish.
But on Sunday night, nothing could slow him down, it seemed.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “Man, there’s no greater feeling than winning this race. I’ve dreamt of this race since I was a kid and being able to come and get to victory lane with the Coca-Cola 600 is just awesome. I can’t say enough about M&M’s Red White and Blue. Everybody on this car. Adam Stevens (crew chief). All my team. Everybody that’s done such a phenomenal job of preparing such a fast race car. It was glued to the race track anywhere I wanted to go, she wanted to go, so that was really awesome. You don’t have cars like that very often.”
While Busch bombed away in the lead, the racing behind him saw some three and four wide action. Martin Truex, Jr. came back from a pair of pit road penalties to finish in second.
Over the closing laps, Truex, Jr. was steadily closing, but didn’t have enough time to get to the leader. In the end, he had to settle for second.
Truex, Jr. said that he might have been able to catch Busch if a caution had come out.
“I mean we definitely gained some ground that last run, but I think he might have just been taking care of it,” Truex, Jr. said. “Just definitely just a battle-back night for us. The speeding penalty and then the pit road penalty right after that in just two stops. It really hurt us and it’s hard to pass – hard to come from behind with these cars right now with the flat splitters and everything they’ve done to them the past month and a half or so. It was good to be able to get back up to second. I thought we had the second-best car all night. I don’t think anybody had anything for that 18 (Kyle Busch). He was stout. We gained a little on him that last run under green, but like I said, I think he was just taking care of it a little bit.”
Denny Hamlin challenged Busch on a few occasions on restarts, but in the end, he finished in third.
“I wish we would’ve won,” he said. “I wish we had a little bit more speed. We were just a little bit off the 18 (Kyle Busch). It seemed like a half a tenth a lap or so. Every now and then on the long run we could bust off a lap as good or better, but in the short run, they were just exception and we couldn’t run with them there.”
Brad Keselowski finished fourth, with Jimmie Johnson in fifth.
The scariest moment of the night came when Ryan Blaney’s car erupted into flames with a blown engine in turns one and two. Despite his car being filled with smoke and flames, Blaney was able to get his car stopped on the inside of turn two. He escaped uninjured, but his night was over.
It was also a rough night for the season’s most dominating driver, Kevin Harvick. After starting at the back of the field after failing to pass tech on Thursday, Harvick had charged his way into the top ten when a cut tire sent him into the wall on lap 83. The impact was enough to end his night, leaving him in 40th at the end of the race.
Jamie McMurray, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch, Alex Bowman and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. rounded out the top ten.
Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
Coca-Cola 600 – May 27, 2018
1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 400.
2. (15) Martin Truex, Jr., Toyota, 400.
3. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 400.
4. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 400.
5. (23) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400.
6. (7) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 400.
7. (11) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 400.
8. (16) Kurt Busch, Ford, 400.
9. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 400.
10. (13) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Ford, 399.
11. (22) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 399.
12. (28) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 399.
13. (9) Aric Almirola, Ford, 399.
14. (14) Paul Menard, Ford, 399.
15. (10) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 399.
16. (24) Darrell Wallace, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 399.
17. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 399.
18. (29) Michael McDowell, Ford, 399.
19. (4) Erik Jones, Toyota, 399.
20. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 399.
21. (20) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 399.
22. (2) Joey Logano, Ford, 399.
23. (30) A.J. Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 399.
24. (25) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 398.
25. (19) David Ragan, Ford, 396.
26. (33) Corey LaJoie, Chevrolet, 396.
27. (32) * Parker Kligerman(i), Toyota, 394.
28. (35) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 394.
29. (18) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 394.
30. (37) * Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 389.
31. (34) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 388.
32. (36) * Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 383.
33. (38) B.J. McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 373.
34. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 348.
35. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 344.
36. (8) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Engine, 278.
37. (31) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, Oil Leak, 257.
38. (40) * J.J. Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 191.
39. (21) William Byron #, Chevrolet, Accident, 139.
40. (39) Kevin Harvick, Ford, Accident, 83.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 136.692 mph.
Time of Race: 4 Hrs, 23 Mins, 22 Secs. Margin of Victory: 3.823 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 11 for 54 laps.
Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: Kyle Busch 0; J. Logano 1-4; Kyle Busch 5-85; B. Keselowski 86-87; Kyle Busch 88-158; D. Hamlin 159-165; J. Logano 166-173; Kyle Busch 174-352; D. Hamlin 353-354; Kyle Busch 355-400.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Kyle Busch 4 times for 377 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 12 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 9 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 2 laps.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 18,12,42,78,48,10,14,11,17,20
Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,78,42,11,14,10,9,48,31,20
Stage #3 Top Ten: 18,20,2,41,1,11,95,78,17,31
Top 10 in Points: 1. Kyle Busch – 573 (4 Wins); 2. Joey Logano – 506 (1 Win); 3. Kevin Harvick – 485 (5 Wins); 4. Brad Keselowski – 437; 5. Martin Truex, Jr. – 430 (1 Win); 6. Kurt Busch – 429; 7. Denny Hamlin – 429; 8. Clint Bowyer – 421 (1 Win); 9. Kyle Larson – 382; 10. Aric Almirola – 376.
