Kyle Busch has become the first driver to secure a place in NASCAR’s 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup by winning at Michigan.
In addition to taking the points lead from Carl Edwards, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver now has four victories for the season – ensuring he will at least score a ‘Wildcard’ Chase entry.
Busch defeated five-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson by just 0.57s in a green-white-chequered finish at Michigan.
The over-time finish was required after Penske Racing’s Kurt Busch touched the wall on Lap 197 of 200, bringing out the fifth caution of the race.
Kurt Busch’s team-mate Brad Keselowski continued his impressive run over recent races with third, while Mark Martin and Ryan Newman rounded out the top five.
A title contender in 2010, Denny Hamlin slipped from 12th to 14th in points after a mid-race crash resulted in a 35th place finish.
It was a tough day too for Australian Marcos Ambrose. Having won the Nationwide race at Montreal on Saturday, Ambrose could manage just 27th at Michigan after damaging his car in a pitlane altercation with Kevin Harvick.
See below for the full race result
|
FIN |
ST |
DRIVER |
MAKE |
SPONSOR |
PTS/BNS |
LAPS |
STATUS |
| 1 | 17 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Interstate Batteries | 47/1 | 203 | Running |
| 2 | 19 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s | 43/1 | 203 | Running |
| 3 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Miller Lite | 41/0 | 203 | Running |
| 4 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Carquest / Go Daddy.com | 41/1 | 203 | Running |
| 5 | 3 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | Wix Filters | 39/0 | 203 | Running |
| 6 | 9 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | DuPont | 39/1 | 203 | Running |
| 7 | 14 | Kasey Kahne | Toyota | Red Bull | 38/1 | 203 | Running |
| 8 | 35 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | Cheerios / Hamburger Helper | 36/0 | 203 | Running |
| 9 | 18 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Mobil 1 / Office Depot | 35/0 | 203 | Running |
| 10 | 2 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Kroger | 35/1 | 203 | Running |
| 11 | 29 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Best Buy | 33/0 | 203 | Running |
| 12 | 7 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS “We Love Logistics” | 32/0 | 203 | Running |
| 13 | 30 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row / Farm American | 31/0 | 203 | Running |
| 14 | 8 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 30/0 | 203 | Running |
| 15 | 28 | Bobby Labonte | Toyota | Kingsford / Bush’s Beans | 29/0 | 203 | Running |
| 16 | 26 | Brian Vickers | Toyota | Red Bull | 28/0 | 203 | Running |
| 17 | 32 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar / Cat Financial | 27/0 | 203 | Running |
| 18 | 12 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Dream Machine | 26/0 | 203 | Running |
| 19 | 15 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 25/0 | 203 | Running |
| 20 | 1 | Greg Biffle | Ford | Pure Michigan | 26/2 | 203 | Running |
| 21 | 23 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 23/0 | 203 | Running |
| 22 | 24 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches | 22/0 | 203 | Running |
| 23 | 10 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops / Tracker | 21/0 | 203 | Running |
| 24 | 20 | Trevor Bayne | Ford | JDRF / Motorcraft / Quick Lane | 0 | 203 | Running |
| 25 | 25 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Target | 19/0 | 203 | Running |
| 26 | 11 | Paul Menard | Chevrolet | Duracell / Menards | 18/0 | 203 | Running |
| 27 | 16 | Marcos Ambrose | Ford | Stanley | 17/0 | 203 | Running |
| 28 | 27 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 0 | 202 | Running |
| 29 | 38 | Andy Lally * | Ford | Interstate Moving Services | 16/1 | 202 | Running |
| 30 | 42 | Ken Schrader | Ford | Koma Unwind | 14/0 | 202 | Running |
| 31 | 33 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | Phoenix Construction | 0 | 201 | Running |
| 32 | 39 | David Gilliland | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 12/0 | 201 | Running |
| 33 | 34 | Dave Blaney | Chevrolet | Accell Construction | 11/0 | 198 | Running |
| 34 | 13 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Shell / Pennzoil | 10/0 | 197 | Accident |
| 35 | 4 | Denny Hamlin | Toyota | FedEx Freight | 9/0 | 188 | Running |
| 36 | 22 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 8/0 | 174 | Running |
| 37 | 21 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 8/1 | 32 | Vibration |
| 38 | 41 | Tony Raines | Ford | Max Q Motorsports | 6/0 | 26 | Rear Gear |
| 39 | 40 | Todd Bodine | Toyota | HP Racing LLC | 0 | 21 | Electrical |
| 40 | 36 | David Stremme | Chevrolet | Inception Motorsports | 4/0 | 20 | Clutch |
| 41 | 37 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | NEMCO Motorsports | 0 | 18 | Ignition |
| 42 | 43 | Mike Skinner | Toyota | Big Red | 0 | 14 | Electrical |
| 43 | 31 | J.J. Yeley | Ford | Front Row Motorsports | 1/0 | 11 | Electrical |
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