Kurt Busch recovered from an early spat with Brad Keselowski to take his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win in two and a half years at Martinsville.
Busch had written off his chances after tangling with Keselowski in pitlane in the opening stages. A furious Keselowski rejoined 30 laps down and made repeated retaliatory contact with Busch when they encountered each other again.
“I saw (Kahne) checking up or starting to check up, and I just barely got in the back of him. Then Kurt just accelerated and drove through us,” Keselowski said. “Absolutely drove through us. I tell you man, I’m about tired of his recklessness. Kurt tore the whole suspension off the car so it won’t turn. It won’t do anything, so thanks, Kurt. Appreciate it, bud.”
For his part, Busch placed blame on Keselowski.
“We just got destroyed by the 2 car,” Busch radioed his crew. “The left rear just got hammered. Probably ruined for the rest of the day.”
But the Stewart-Haas driver was able to regain his compose and then started moving steadily forward in a race that featured a track record 33 lead changes, with the effects of Saturday’s rain and Sunday’s very cold temperatures leaving drivers struggling with set-ups and high tyre wear.
Jimmie Johnson repeatedly fought into the lead and took control of the second half of the event, heading 296 of the 500 laps.
Busch emerged as his main threat after the final restart. They twice swapped positions in an extremely intense, but clean, deciding battle, with Busch managing to take the checkered flag two tenths of a second ahead of the reigning champion’s Hendrick Chevrolet.
The result was Busch’s first Cup victory since Dover in late-2011. Shortly afterward he lost his Penske seat after abusing a journalist, and spent the next two seasons with the underdog Phoenix and Furniture Row teams before earning another top-line chance with Stewart-Haas this year.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Joey Logano could not quite join Busch and Johnson’s lead battle in the end as they finished third and fourth.
Marcos Ambrose stirred the Richard Petty Motorsports squad in the week of team matriarch Lynda Petty’s death by leading for a spell and finishing fifth, with team-mate Aric Almirola eighth behind Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick.
Clint Bowyer led into the final pit stops but a slow tire change dropped him to ninth at the flag. Paul Menard completed the top 10.
A host of drivers seemed to have shots at victory at various junctures only for their cars’ handling to fade as the track conditions changed. Poleman Kyle Busch was among them, ending up only 14th, while Carl Edwards progressed up the order to become one of Johnson’s main rivals in the closing stages before spinning and finishing 13th.
Results - 500 laps:
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Chevrolet 3h38m38.000s
2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet +0.263s
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet +1.424s
4. Joey Logano Penske Ford +1.841s
5. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford +2.131s
6. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Toyota +2.553s
7. Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +3.087s
8. Aric Almirola Petty Ford +3.475s
9. Clint Bowyer Waltrip Toyota +4.563s
10. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet +5.339s
11. AJ Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Chevrolet +6.119s
12. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet +6.536s
13. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford +7.057s
14. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Toyota +7.589s
15. Austin Dillon Childress Chevrolet +9.333s
16. Brian Vickers Waltrip Toyota +10.213s
17. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +11.959s
18. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford +12.222s
19. Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Toyota +12.411s
20. Ryan Newman Childress Chevrolet +13.779s
21. Martin Truex Jr Furniture Row Chevrolet +14.073s
22. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Chevrolet +15.732s
23. Justin Allgaier Hscott Chevrolet +16.713s
24. Casey Mears Germain Chevrolet +18.019s
25. Landon Cassill Hillman Chevrolet +19.221s
26. David Gilliland Front Row Ford +1 lap
27. Kyle Larson Ganassi Chevrolet +2 laps
28. David Ragan Front Row Ford +3 laps
29. Cole Whitt Swan Toyota +3 laps
30. Ryan Truex BK Toyota +4 laps
31. Michael Annett Baldwin Chevrolet +5 laps
32. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Chevrolet +6 laps
33. Travis Kvapil FAS Lane Ford +7 laps
34. Reed Sorenson Baldwin Chevrolet +8 laps
35. Josh Wise Parsons Ford +8 laps
36. Alex Bowman BK Toyota +12 laps
37. Michael McDowell Leavine Ford +26 laps*
38. Brad Keselowski Penske Ford +31 laps
39. David Stremme Circle Sport Chevrolet +60 laps
40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Ford +91 laps
41. Parker Kligerman Swan Toyota +92 laps
42. Jamie McMurray Ganassi Chevrolet +104 laps
* Not running at finish
Retirements:
Joe Nemechek Robinson Toyota 310 laps
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