Kyle Busch scored his first win at the famed Martinsville Speedway with a measured drive at the track known as the “Paperclip.”
Even a late race caution couldn’t stop Busch, who did not pit while others took a mixture of two and four tyres.
He led a total of 352 of the 500 laps run on NASCAR’s shortest track. It was an impressive weekend for the younger of the Busch brothers, as he also won the Truck Series. Prior to the weekend he had not won at Martinsville in Cup, XFinity or Trucks.
“It certainly helps when you get to run other divisions, and that’s why I do it – to pay off on Sundays. It doesn’t work every single weekend, but it works more times than it doesn’t,” said Kyle Busch.
“To win here in Martinsville is pretty cool, you know. Finally get to take a clock home. A lot of people said I didn’t deserve one yesterday, and maybe I don’t. But I certainly got one today.”
Busch also had plenty of praise for his team, which gained positions during stops and made mid race adjustments to the car.
“That was huge, the race off pit road. My guys were flawless today,” said Busch.
“We made a few adjustments to the car throughout the day, and they kept getting me out and not even losing a spot on pit road. That was the key to the race, being able to restart on the bottom (lane) like that.”
Good results for a number of drivers with AJ Allmendinger in second, followed by Kyle Larson, Austin Dillon and Brian Vickers.
Of the notables not to score highly was points leader Kevin Harvick in 17th, while a cut tyre in the opening laps meant Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to fight his way back to 15th.
One of the pre-race favourites was Denny Hamlin, but he lost control of his on Lap 220 and hit the outside wall hard. He finished 39th.
From short track racing, it’s onto one of the fastest tracks at Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday night race next weekend.
VIDEO: Kyle Busch takes the win at Martsinville
VIDEO: Victory Lane
RESULTS: STP 500 – Martinsville
| POS. | CAR # | DRIVER | MAKE | START | LAPS | LAPS LED | STATUS | POINTS | BONUS PTS |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 7 | 500 | 352 | Running | 45 | 5 |
| 2 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 6 | 500 | 0 | Running | 39 | 0 |
| 3 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 17 | 500 | 0 | Running | 38 | 0 |
| 4 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 29 | 500 | 0 | Running | 37 | 0 |
| 5 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 11 | 500 | 0 | Running | 36 | 0 |
| 6 | 19 | Carl Edwards | Toyota | 25 | 500 | 0 | Running | 35 | 0 |
| 7 | 14 | Brian Vickers | Chevrolet | 3 | 500 | 0 | Running | 34 | 0 |
| 8 | 27 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | 4 | 500 | 10 | Running | 34 | 1 |
| 9 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 24 | 500 | 0 | Running | 32 | 0 |
| 10 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 5 | 500 | 0 | Running | 31 | 0 |
| 11 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 1 | 500 | 21 | Running | 31 | 1 |
| 12 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 14 | 500 | 0 | Running | 29 | 0 |
| 13 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Chevrolet | 23 | 500 | 0 | Running | 28 | 0 |
| 14 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | Chevrolet | 21 | 500 | 0 | Running | 27 | 0 |
| 15 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | Toyota | 9 | 500 | 45 | Running | 27 | 1 |
| 16 | 10 | Danica Patrick | Chevrolet | 28 | 500 | 0 | Running | 25 | 0 |
| 17 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | 19 | 500 | 72 | Running | 25 | 1 |
| 18 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr | Toyota | 16 | 500 | 0 | Running | 23 | 0 |
| 19 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 12 | 500 | 0 | Running | 22 | 0 |
| 20 | 24 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 10 | 499 | 0 | Running | 21 | 0 |
| 21 | 23 | David Ragan | Toyota | 22 | 499 | 0 | Running | 20 | 0 |
| 22 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 2 | 499 | 0 | Running | 19 | 0 |
| 23 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 15 | 499 | 0 | Running | 18 | 0 |
| 24 | 95 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | 27 | 498 | 0 | Running | 17 | 0 |
| 25 | 15 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | 30 | 497 | 0 | Running | 16 | 0 |
| 26 | 44 | Brian Scott | Ford | 26 | 496 | 0 | Running | 15 | 0 |
| 27 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 32 | 496 | 0 | Running | 14 | 0 |
| 28 | 38 | Landon Cassill | Ford | 33 | 495 | 0 | Running | 13 | 0 |
| 29 | 83 | Matt DiBenedetto | Toyota | 35 | 495 | 0 | Running | 12 | 0 |
| 30 | 98 | Cole Whitt | Chevrolet | 31 | 495 | 0 | Running | 11 | 0 |
| 31 | 13 | Casey Mears | Chevrolet | 18 | 494 | 0 | Running | 10 | 0 |
| 32 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Ford | 13 | 494 | 0 | Running | 9 | 0 |
| 33 | 34 | Chris Buescher | Ford | 36 | 491 | 0 | Running | 8 | 0 |
| 34 | 7 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | 34 | 491 | 0 | Running | 7 | 0 |
| 35 | 46 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 38 | 490 | 0 | Running | 6 | 0 |
| 36 | 32 | Joey Gase | Ford | 37 | 490 | 0 | Running | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | 55 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 40 | 490 | 0 | Running | 4 | 0 |
| 38 | 30 | Josh Wise | Chevrolet | 39 | 326 | 0 | Engine | 3 | 0 |
| 39 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 8 | 221 | 0 | Accident | 2 | 0 |
| 40 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 20 | 206 | 0 | Engine | 1 | 0 |
STANDINGS
| POS | DRIVER | POINTS | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5 | TOP 10 | DNF |
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 220 | Leader | 6 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 216 | -4 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | 215 | -5 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| 4 | Carl Edwards | 206 | -14 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 196 | -24 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 178 | -42 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 7 | Austin Dillon | 176 | -44 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | Kurt Busch | 176 | -44 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 172 | -48 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | Dale Earnhardt Jr | 172 | -48 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 11 | Martin Truex Jr | 150 | -70 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 12 | AJ Allmendinger | 147 | -73 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | Jamie McMurray | 143 | -77 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 14 | Matt Kenseth | 140 | -80 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | 132 | -88 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 16 | Chase Elliott | 131 | -89 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | 128 | -92 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | Kasey Kahne | 128 | -92 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Ryan Newman | 126 | -94 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 20 | Kyle Larson | 125 | -95 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 21 | Paul Menard | 125 | -95 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 22 | Aric Almirola | 121 | -99 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 23 | Greg Biffle | 109 | -111 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Trevor Bayne | 109 | -111 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Brian Scott | 100 | -120 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Danica Patrick | 97 | -123 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 27 | Regan Smith | 95 | -125 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 28 | Casey Mears | 94 | -126 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Landon Cassill | 90 | -130 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | David Ragan | 87 | -133 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Brian Vickers | 82 | -138 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Clint Bowyer | 82 | -138 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Michael McDowell | 78 | -142 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Matt DiBenedetto | 70 | -150 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 35 | Michael Annett | 63 | -157 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Chris Buescher | 57 | -163 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 | Cole Whitt | 38 | -182 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 38 | Josh Wise | 23 | -197 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 18 | -202 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Michael Waltrip | 12 | -208 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Bobby Labonte | 11 | -209 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Reed Sorenson | 4 | -216 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Robert Richardson | 3 | -217 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 44 | Ty Dillon | 0 | -220 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Joey Gase | 0 | -220 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | David Gilliland | 0 | -220 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post