Kyle Busch has prevailed in a stunning conclusion to the NASCAR Cup Series race at Chicagoland having lost the lead on the final lap and been pushed into the wall.
He and Kyle Larson twice made contact on the 267th lap of the Overton’s 400 after the latter had closed the gap.
Larson tried to get underneath Busch at Turn 1/Turn 2 but tagged the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on exit, which saw it slap the wall.
It allowed Larson to get a run down the back straight, only for Busch to give the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet a tap through Turn 3/Turn 4.
The contact sent Busch into the wall a second time but Larson half spun down onto the apron and grass infield.
The series leader won the race in the wounded Camry while Larson gathered up his slide to take second, 0.444s ahead of Kevin Harvick (#4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford).
Harvick won Stage 2 with a move past team-mate Kurt Busch (#41 Ford) on the last lap before the green/white chequered flag.
He led at the start of the final stage and twice again before the end, but Busch grabbed top spot in pit lane when Corey LaJoie (#72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet) hit the wall and drew what would be the final Caution with just under 50 laps remaining.
Officially, Busch would lead the rest of the way even though Larson nosed in front during that dramatic final lap.
Martin Truex Jnr finished fourth despite being one of four drivers sent to the back of the grid after the #78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota fell afoul of post-qualifying inspection.
Rounding out the top 10 were Clint Bowyer (#14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford), Erik Jones (#20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), Denny Hamlin (#11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota), Joey Logano (#22 Team Penske Ford), Brad Keselowski (#2 Team Penske Ford), and Alex Bowman (#88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet).
Pole-sitter Paul Menard ended up 13th in the #21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford.
Aric Almirola was a stage winner for the first time in Stage 1 but finished all the way back in 25th after subsequently having to twice pit for a loose wheel on the #10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford.
Round 18 is the Coze Zero Sugar 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 5-7 (local time).
Replay: Final laps
Kyle Busch post-race interview
Results: Overton’s 400, Chicagoland Speedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Make | Laps | Led | Status |
| 1 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 267 | 59 | Running |
| 2 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Chevrolet | 267 | 7 | Running |
| 3 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 267 | 39 | Running |
| 4 | 78 | Martin Truex Jnr | Toyota | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 5 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Ford | 267 | 21 | Running |
| 6 | 20 | Erik Jones | Toyota | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 22 | Joey Logano | Ford | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 267 | 16 | Running |
| 10 | 88 | Alex Bowman | Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 11 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | Toyota | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 21 | Paul Menard | Ford | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | 267 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | 267 | 3 | Running |
| 16 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | Ford | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Ford | 266 | 20 | Running |
| 18 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 266 | 19 | Running |
| 19 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 24 | William Byron | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Ford | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 43 | Bubba Wallace | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 266 | 0 | Running |
| 25 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Ford | 266 | 70 | Running |
| 26 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | 265 | 0 | Running |
| 27 | 95 | Kasey Kahne | Chevrolet | 264 | 0 | Running |
| 28 | 13 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 264 | 0 | Running |
| 29 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Ford | 262 | 0 | Running |
| 30 | 15 | Ross Chastain | Chevrolet | 261 | 0 | Running |
| 31 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Toyota | 260 | 0 | Running |
| 32 | 7 | Reed Sorenson | Chevrolet | 259 | 0 | Running |
| 33 | 99 | Kyle Weatherman | Chevrolet | 255 | 0 | Running |
| 34 | 72 | Corey LaJoie | Chevrolet | 233 | 0 | Running |
| 35 | 51 | BJ McLeod | Chevrolet | 227 | 0 | Running |
| 36 | 00 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 224 | 0 | Running |
| 37 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 189 | 13 | Wheel hub |
| 38 | 38 | David Ragan | Ford | 189 | 0 | Running |
| 39 | 66 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 185 | 0 | Oil cooler |
Standings
| Pos | Driver | Pts | Gap | Starts | Wins | Playoff pts |
| 1 | Kyle Busch | 736 | 17 | 5 | 30 | |
| 2 | Kevin Harvick | 674 | -62 | 17 | 5 | 27 |
| 3 | Joey Logano | 617 | -119 | 17 | 1 | 7 |
| 4 | Martin Truex Jnr | 594 | -142 | 17 | 3 | 18 |
| 5 | Brad Keselowski | 592 | -144 | 17 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | Clint Bowyer | 579 | -157 | 17 | 2 | 10 |
| 7 | Kurt Busch | 560 | -176 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Denny Hamlin | 537 | -199 | 17 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | Kyle Larson | 524 | -212 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Ryan Blaney | 495 | -241 | 17 | 0 | 4 |
| 11 | Aric Almirola | 493 | -243 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 12 | Jimmie Johnson | 442 | -294 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Chase Elliott | 435 | -301 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Erik Jones | 408 | -328 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Alex Bowman | 390 | -346 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Ricky Stenhouse Jnr | 367 | -369 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Paul Menard | 362 | -374 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Daniel Suarez | 316 | -420 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Austin Dillon | 314 | -422 | 17 | 1 | 5 |
| 20 | Jamie McMurray | 309 | -427 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | William Byron | 306 | -430 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | Ryan Newman | 298 | -438 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 | AJ Allmendinger | 273 | -463 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| 24 | Bubba Wallace | 269 | -467 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | Chris Buescher | 261 | -475 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | David Ragan | 241 | -495 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Michael McDowell | 240 | -496 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Kasey Kahne | 229 | -507 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | Ty Dillon | 207 | -529 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Matt DiBenedetto | 184 | -552 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Trevor Bayne | 166 | -570 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Gray Gaulding | 113 | -623 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 | Cole Whitt | 87 | -649 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | Landon Cassill | 76 | -660 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DJ Kennington | 58 | -678 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Corey LaJoie | 52 | -684 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Matt Kenseth | 49 | -687 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Reed Sorenson | 36 | -700 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | 35 | -701 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 40 | Brendan Gaughan | 24 | -712 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | Harrison Rhodes | 23 | -713 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Mark Thompson | 15 | -721 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Chris Cook | 6 | -730 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | Tomy Drissi | 5 | -731 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 | Kyle Weatherman | 4 | -732 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 | Derrike Cope | 4 | -732 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 | Danica Patrick | 2 | -734 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 48 | Cody Ware | 1 | -735 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 | Justin Marks | 0 | -736 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 50 | David Gilliland | 0 | -736 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 | Ross Chastain | 0 | -736 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 | Parker Kligerman | 0 | -736 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 | Timothy Peters | 0 | -736 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 54 | Cole Custer | 0 | -736 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 | Joey Gase | 0 | -736 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 | JJ Yeley | 0 | -736 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | Timmy Hill | 0 | -736 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | Daniel Hemric | 0 | -736 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 59 | BJ Mcleod | 0 | -736 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats, and US racing coverage at Speedcafe US
Discussion about this post