bigbadbrother
07-24-2016, 11:28 PM
Joe Menzer
On a day when most pre-race eyes were on the legendary duo of Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch stole the show at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Busch not only won the Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but also made NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history in the process.
In dominating Sunday's race by leading 149 of 170 laps from the pole, Busch became the first driver ever to capture both poles and both race victories in NASCAR's top two national touring series on the same weekend at the storied 2.5-mile track.
Busch also started from the pole and won Saturday's XFINITY Series race at the track.
"It's so cool because it's never been done before," Busch said in Victory Lane.
The final laps were no breeze for Busch, however. First a debris caution came out with 11 to go in the originally scheduled 160-lap portion of the race, setting up a series of wild restarts.
The first with seven to go ended up with six cars wrecking behind Busch as he surged to the front once again.
So the cars all lined up for yet another restart on Lap 158, with Busch's JGR teammate, Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota lined up on the outside of Busch on the front row. Once again, Busch soared to the front -- while this time the cars of Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer wrecked behind him to bring out another caution and set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish.
This time, the No. 20 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano lined up on the outside of Busch for the restart. And this time, Jamie McMurray tried to cut off Stewart on the inside and ended up wrecking himself, collecting the car of Ryan Newman as well in the process.
That set up Restart No. 4, and the second overtime attempt, from the point where only seven laps had been remaining in regulation. Much to the chagrin of the rest of the field, Busch again surged to the front and took off, leaving everyone in his exhaust fumes.
And this time, finally, there were no wrecks behind him.
And finally, Busch could then celebrate making history at one of the most historic tracks in all of motorsports.
So what if NASCAR has been running XFINITY Series races at IMS only since 2012?
It so happens that Busch has started from the pole and won the XFINITY Series race at Indy three times since then, but never could pull off the Sprint Cup portion of the feat until he sealed the deal Sunday.
Kenseth finished second, with Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Stewart, racing for the final time at his home track in the Sprint Cup Series, suffered a costly pit-road speeding during a caution with 40 laps to go. The penalty put him one lap down in 30th, but he battled back.
Stewart started third and ultimately finished a respectable 11th after endruing an up-and-down day. The three-time Cup champion, 45, will retire as a driver in NASCAR's top series at the end of this season.
"I put us way behind with that penalty there ... but for us to come back to finish 11th, I'm really proud," Stewart said.
Gordon, who came out of retirement to sub in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to battle concussion-like symptoms, also put together a solid day. He started 21st and finished 13th.
But for the second day in a row, Busch was untouchable. He led all but one lap in the main event to take Saturday's XFINITY race from the pole, then rinsed and repeated for Sunday's Sprint Cup event.
And despite Busch's dominance, for the second day in a row the defending Sprint Cup champion still had to hold off the rest of the field on multiple late restarts after a caution for debris on the track brought out the yellow with 11 laps to go. Busch stayed out on the track to keep the lead, as did five other top contenders, while the rest of the field came to pit road for fresh tires.
On the ensuing restart with seven laps remaining in the race originally scheduled for 160, Busch pulled away and a huge wreck commenced nrhinf him as the No. 19 JGR Toyota of Carl Edwards appeared to get into the left-rear of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Ryan Newman. Six cars in all ended up getting collected in the incident, including those of Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney in addition to Edwards and Newman.
And the track was enough of a mess afterward that it brought out a red flag.
“I had a little trouble there on the starts and I got down there. We were fighting really hard for the bottom and it felt like I got tight with whoever was on the outside of me," Edwards said. "If indeed that is what happened, I apologize. That’s pretty frustrating. I don’t know if he came down or if I came up. It felt like I got in there and just scrubbed that right front.
"I'm sorry for everybody who got caught up in that. That's tough."
After the race, there was a poignant moment when Stewart pulled his car up next to Gordon's and suggested that the two of them take a post-race lap together to acknowedge the Indianapolis fans who were in attendance.
"I can't think of anybody else I would rather have shared that moment with," Stewart said.
"Tony and I have gone through a lot over the years, but we've become friends," Gordon added. "... I'm just so proud that I was able to be here and race with him in his final race here. But hey, you never know. I thought last year was going to be my final race here."
https://nbcnascartalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/brickyard-400-results-2016.jpg?w=660&h=854
On a day when most pre-race eyes were on the legendary duo of Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch stole the show at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.
Busch not only won the Crown Royal 400 at the Brickyard in his No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, but also made NASCAR Sprint Cup Series history in the process.
In dominating Sunday's race by leading 149 of 170 laps from the pole, Busch became the first driver ever to capture both poles and both race victories in NASCAR's top two national touring series on the same weekend at the storied 2.5-mile track.
Busch also started from the pole and won Saturday's XFINITY Series race at the track.
"It's so cool because it's never been done before," Busch said in Victory Lane.
The final laps were no breeze for Busch, however. First a debris caution came out with 11 to go in the originally scheduled 160-lap portion of the race, setting up a series of wild restarts.
The first with seven to go ended up with six cars wrecking behind Busch as he surged to the front once again.
So the cars all lined up for yet another restart on Lap 158, with Busch's JGR teammate, Matt Kenseth in the No. 20 Toyota lined up on the outside of Busch on the front row. Once again, Busch soared to the front -- while this time the cars of Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer wrecked behind him to bring out another caution and set up a green-white-checkered overtime finish.
This time, the No. 20 Team Penske Ford of Joey Logano lined up on the outside of Busch for the restart. And this time, Jamie McMurray tried to cut off Stewart on the inside and ended up wrecking himself, collecting the car of Ryan Newman as well in the process.
That set up Restart No. 4, and the second overtime attempt, from the point where only seven laps had been remaining in regulation. Much to the chagrin of the rest of the field, Busch again surged to the front and took off, leaving everyone in his exhaust fumes.
And this time, finally, there were no wrecks behind him.
And finally, Busch could then celebrate making history at one of the most historic tracks in all of motorsports.
So what if NASCAR has been running XFINITY Series races at IMS only since 2012?
It so happens that Busch has started from the pole and won the XFINITY Series race at Indy three times since then, but never could pull off the Sprint Cup portion of the feat until he sealed the deal Sunday.
Kenseth finished second, with Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson rounding out the top five.
Stewart, racing for the final time at his home track in the Sprint Cup Series, suffered a costly pit-road speeding during a caution with 40 laps to go. The penalty put him one lap down in 30th, but he battled back.
Stewart started third and ultimately finished a respectable 11th after endruing an up-and-down day. The three-time Cup champion, 45, will retire as a driver in NASCAR's top series at the end of this season.
"I put us way behind with that penalty there ... but for us to come back to finish 11th, I'm really proud," Stewart said.
Gordon, who came out of retirement to sub in the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet as Dale Earnhardt Jr. continues to battle concussion-like symptoms, also put together a solid day. He started 21st and finished 13th.
But for the second day in a row, Busch was untouchable. He led all but one lap in the main event to take Saturday's XFINITY race from the pole, then rinsed and repeated for Sunday's Sprint Cup event.
And despite Busch's dominance, for the second day in a row the defending Sprint Cup champion still had to hold off the rest of the field on multiple late restarts after a caution for debris on the track brought out the yellow with 11 laps to go. Busch stayed out on the track to keep the lead, as did five other top contenders, while the rest of the field came to pit road for fresh tires.
On the ensuing restart with seven laps remaining in the race originally scheduled for 160, Busch pulled away and a huge wreck commenced nrhinf him as the No. 19 JGR Toyota of Carl Edwards appeared to get into the left-rear of the No. 31 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet driven by Ryan Newman. Six cars in all ended up getting collected in the incident, including those of Brad Keselowski, Danica Patrick, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Ryan Blaney in addition to Edwards and Newman.
And the track was enough of a mess afterward that it brought out a red flag.
“I had a little trouble there on the starts and I got down there. We were fighting really hard for the bottom and it felt like I got tight with whoever was on the outside of me," Edwards said. "If indeed that is what happened, I apologize. That’s pretty frustrating. I don’t know if he came down or if I came up. It felt like I got in there and just scrubbed that right front.
"I'm sorry for everybody who got caught up in that. That's tough."
After the race, there was a poignant moment when Stewart pulled his car up next to Gordon's and suggested that the two of them take a post-race lap together to acknowedge the Indianapolis fans who were in attendance.
"I can't think of anybody else I would rather have shared that moment with," Stewart said.
"Tony and I have gone through a lot over the years, but we've become friends," Gordon added. "... I'm just so proud that I was able to be here and race with him in his final race here. But hey, you never know. I thought last year was going to be my final race here."
https://nbcnascartalk.files.wordpress.com/2016/07/brickyard-400-results-2016.jpg?w=660&h=854