FONTANA, Calif. – One day after being denied at Auto Club Speedway due to a late-race penalty on pit road, Kyle Busch came back with a vengeance and made it clear that nothing would stop him on Sunday.
Busch stormed back from a speeding ticket during the second stage break to complete a clean sweep of the Auto Club 400, winning all three stages and scoring his milestone 200th NASCAR national series win.
The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota led seven times for a race-high 134 laps en route to victory lane, the 53rd triumph of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and fourth at Fontana.
Sunday’s race ties Busch with seven-time Cup Series champion Richard Petty for the most combined wins across NASCAR’s three national touring series. All 200 of Petty’s wins came at the Cup Series level.
After climbing atop his car and bowing with a ceremonial 200-win flag, Busch was nearly overcome with emotion when reflecting on the magnitude of his historic accomplishment.
“This feels just like number one. It feels just like yesterday,” said a choked-up Busch. “Man, that was such an awesome race car. I mean, dang. This Interstate Batteries Camry was awesome today. I’m glad we put on a heck of a show for all these fans out here, too.”
“It takes green to get in victory lane today, today being St. Patrick’s Day,” Busch added with a grin. “All these other guys were at a disadvantage. The Interstate Batteries Green Machine was flying today.”
Busch certainly had the luck of the Irish on his side in the closing laps on Sunday. After falling back as far as 18th due to the speeding penalty he incurred at the end of the second stage, Busch stayed out longer than the rest of the leaders during the final round of green-flag pit stops that started with 40 to go.
That move by Busch and crew chief Adam Stevens got them back in the game, as Darrell Wallace Jr. shredded a left-front tire with 37 laps left and spewed debris in turn two and on the backstretch.
The pieces of tire carcass and sheet metal forced NASCAR officials to display the yellow flag, with Busch leading Brad Keselowski and only seven cars on the lead lap at that juncture.
Busch won the race off pit road, but Ryan Blaney stayed out to assume command of the field for the final restart of the day. Blaney’s older tires, however, meant that he was a sitting duck when the green flag waved with 31 to go, with Keselowski shoving Busch out to the top spot through turns one and two.
Just as quickly, Keselowski jumped to Busch’s outside down the backstretch and passed him to take command at the start/finish line, but just four laps later Keselowski’s Penske teammate Joey Logano dove to the inside of the track to make the pass for the lead in his own right.
However, the squabble between the two teammates brought Busch right back into the mix. Barely a lap after Logano’s move, Busch went down low and swept past both Keselowski and Logano in one corner.
After that, it was all over but the shouting, as Busch never looked back.
Busch admitted that there were times as he was coming through the field that he believed his chances at victory might have been over because of the penalty.
“That thought certainly crossed my mind,” said Busch. “I knew we had a great race car. We were fast. I just wasn’t sure how well we were going to be able to come through the field, back in traffic, and get our way worked back up to the lead.
“Brad was really fast that run; he was way out front,” Busch added. “We were catching the 22 (Logano) and the 4 (Kevin Harvick), but if it went green to the end, I wasn’t sure how it was going to play out. Sometimes you just have to a little bit of luck on your side, and we had some today.”
Logano crossed the line second, 2.354 seconds adrift of Busch at the checkered flag, followed by Keselowski, Harvick and Ryan Blaney.
Kurt Busch was the highest finishing Chevrolet driver in sixth and lauded his younger brother’s feat.
“I’m really proud of Kyle,” said Kurt Busch. “Two hundred wins … he’s always been my little brother and he was the lazy one on the couch, not doing much when we were kids, but a number is a number and it’s significant.
“When you’re running Trucks, Xfinity and the Cup Series, you’re wearing your body out every day. Any time I’ve run in the Xfinity Series and then had to back it up with a Cup race, it has put a toll on me,” he added. “But he just keeps going and going and I’m proud of him.”
As he soaked in the moment, Kyle Busch wasn’t focused on comparisons to Petty or anything similar. He just wanted to enjoy 15 years’ worth of winning memories compressed into one afternoon on Sunday.
“To win 200 (races) … whatever it means, it means a lot to me,” the 2015 Cup Series champion noted. “It’s an amazing opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs. I cherish every minute of it and love it always. This is special.”
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.