Kyle Busch Outduels Kyle Larson for Chicagoland Win

Nam Y Huh/AP Photo

JOLIET, IL – RIS – Kyle Busch took a damaged car to victory lane on Sunday in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Overton’s 400 race on Sunday.  Busch held an almost two-second lead over Larson, but got behind slower traffic, allowing Larson to catch and pass him.  Larson first tried to pass on the inside and tried to slide up in front, but Busch was there.  On the final lap. Busch returned the favor with a little nudge which sent Larson spinning, and sent Busch to the checkered flag.

“I got really boxed in behind some lapped cars and got really slow and was just trying to get all I could there the last couple of laps,” Busch said. “Larson tried to pull his slider, didn’t quite complete it, slid up into me, used me. I kind of used him as a little bit of a brake getting into (Turn) 3. Was able to come back for the victory.”

Larson, who made a tremendous save after the last lap contact kept his car heading straight to the second-place finish.

“I’m not upset,” Larson said. “I had an opportunity there to slide in front of (Busch). I figured I wouldn’t clear him or I would allow him to drive back underneath me. I tried to get to his door, I opened the door for him to retaliate in (Turn) 3.

“I thought it was free game. I ran into him first. He got me after that, maybe a little worse than I got him. That’s all right. I love racing Kyle. We put on a hell of show for you guys. That was a blast. That’s has to be one of the best NASCAR finishes of all time.”

Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Clint Bowyer rounded out the top five.  Erik Jones, Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman completed the first 10 finishers.

Some didn’t have great luck.  Aric Almirola led a race-high 70 laps but a loose wheel took him out of contention for a win and he wound up 25th.  Chase Elliott’s Chicago success ended with an ill-handling car in the second half of the race and he finished 19th.

Almirola won the first stage and Harvick won the second.  It was lauded as a Ford weekend, but in the end, Busch and Larson were the show when it mattered.  Almirola led the most laps on the afternoon.

Busch now ties Harvick for the most wins on the season (5) with Truex at three and Bowyer with two wins.  Many may talk about the “big three” of Harvick, Busch, and Truex, but the other multiple winner is Bowyer, who finished fifth today.  The champion might be decided by those four in the end.

Next race for the Cup drivers is the high banks and restrictor plates of Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, June 12th under the lights.

Unofficial Race Results for the 18th Annual Overton's 400 - Sunday, July 1, 2018 - Chicagoland Speedway - Joliet, IL

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 16, Kyle Busch, No. 18 Skittles Red White & Blue Toyota, 267, , , 1, 59, 5, 40, Running
2) 18, Kyle Larson, No. 42 Credit One Bank Chevrolet, 267, 2, 3, 2, 7, , 52, Running
3) 11, Kevin Harvick, No. 4 Jimmy John's Kickin' Ranch Ford, 267, 5, 1, 6, 39, 1, 50, Running
4) 36, Martin Truex Jr., No. 78 5-hour ENERGY/Bass Pro Shops Toyota, 267, 3, 4, , , , 48, Running
5) 5, Clint Bowyer, No. 14 WIX Filters Ford, 267, , 8, 2, 21, , 35, Running
6) 9, Erik Jones, No. 20 DeWalt Toyota, 267, 10, , , , , 32, Running
7) 37, Denny Hamlin, No. 11 FedEx Ground Toyota, 267, , 9, , , , 32, Running
8) 12, Joey Logano, No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford, 267, 8, 10, , , , 33, Running
9) 7, Brad Keselowski, No. 2 Stars Stripes and Lites Ford, 267, 6, 6, 2, 16, , 38, Running
10) 15, Alex Bowman, No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 10, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 PEAK Toyota, 267, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 13, Jamie McMurray, No. 1 McDonald's/Cessna Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 1, Paul Menard, No. 21 Menards/Sylvania Ford, 267, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 38, Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe's for Pros Chevrolet, 267, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 17, Ryan Newman, No. 31 Okuma Chevrolet, 267, , , 1, 3, , 22, Running
16) 20, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., No. 17 Fastenal Ford, 266, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 4, Kurt Busch, No. 41 Haas Automation Ford, 266, 4, 2, 2, 20, , 36, Running
18) 2, Ryan Blaney, No. 12 PPG Ford, 266, 7, 5, 3, 19, , 29, Running
19) 3, Chase Elliott, No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet, 266, 9, 7, , , , 24, Running
20) 8, William Byron #, No. 24 Unifirst Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 26, Michael McDowell, No. 34 Love's Travel Stops Ford, 266, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 39, Chris Buescher, No. 37 Kleenex Wet Wipes Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 22, Bubba Wallace #, No. 43 Jewel-Osco Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 19, AJ Allmendinger, No. 47 Kroger ClickList Chevrolet, 266, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 6, Aric Almirola, No. 10 Smithfield Ford, 266, 1, , 4, 70, 1, 22, Running
26) 21, Trevor Bayne, No. 6 AdvoCare Rehydrate Ford, 265, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 24, Kasey Kahne, No. 95 Thorne Wellness Chevrolet, 264, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 25, Ty Dillon, No. 13 GEICO Chevrolet, 264, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 28, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 32 Anest Iwata Ford, 262, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 27, Ross Chastain(i), No. 15 Low T Centers Chevrolet, 261, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 29, Gray Gaulding, No. 23 BK Racing Toyota, 260, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 34, * Reed Sorenson, No. 7 Chevrolet, 259, , , , , , 5, Running
33) 30, * Kyle Weatherman, No. 99 St. Charles Glass & Glazing Chevrolet, 255, , , , , , 4, Running
34) 32, Corey LaJoie, No. 72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet, 233, , , , , , 3, Running
35) 33, BJ McLeod(i), No. 51 Prefund Capital Chevrolet, 227, , , , , , 0, Running
36) 31, Landon Cassill, No. 00 StarCom Fiber Chevrolet, 224, , , , , , 1, Running
37) 14, Austin Dillon, No. 3 Dow Intellifresh Chevrolet, 189, , , 1, 13, , 1, Wheel Hub
38) 23, David Ragan, No. 38 Connor Co. Ford, 189, , , , , , 1, Running
39) 35, * Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 185, , , , , , 0, Oil Cooler
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie, (*) Non charter team

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 50 Mins, 52 Secs.
Total Race Length - 267 Laps - 400.5 Miles
Average Speed: 140.636 MPH
1.5 Mile Paved
Margin of Victory: 1.875 Seconds
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Overton's 400 at Chicagoland Speedway, his 48th victory in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series. 
Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: Nos. 7, 17, 66, 19 (unapproved adjustments). 
Caution Flags: 5 for 23 laps: Laps: 82-86 (Stage 1 Conclusion [48]); 129-132 (Debris in Turn 2 [14]); 162-167 (Stage 2 Conclusion [10]); 178-181 (No. 11 Spin Turn 2 [47]); 209-212 (No. 72 Incident Turn 2 [12]).
Lead Changes: 24 among 10 drivers: 0; R. Blaney 1-16; C. Bowyer 17; R. Blaney 18; C. Bowyer 19-38; B. Keselowski 39-46; A. Dillon 47-59; A. Almirola 60-86; K. Harvick 87; A. Almirola 88-122; K. Harvick 123-128; A. Almirola 129; R. Newman 130-132; R. Blaney 133-134; A. Almirola 135-141; Kurt Busch 142-159; K. Harvick 160-162; K. Larson 163; K. Harvick 164-167; Kurt Busch 168-169; K. Larson 170-175; K. Harvick 176-177; B. Keselowski 178-185; K. Harvick 186-208; Kyle Busch 209-267.
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award: Kevin Harvick, No. 4 
Busch Pole Award: Paul Menard, No. 21 180.012 mph
Fastest Lap: Kyle Busch, No. 18 Lap 214, 176.016 MPH
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Toyota Racing Development (TRD), No. 18 
Moog Go the Extra Mile: Kyle Busch, No. 18 0.595 seconds
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: William Byron, No. 24

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2018, Issue 6, Posted 10:47 PM, 07.01.2018