Kurt Busch Edges Younger Brother Kyle For Win In NASCAR Overtime At Kentucky

Kurt Busch Edges Younger Brother Kyle For Win In NASCAR Overtime At Kentucky

by July 14, 2019 0 comments

SPARTA, Ky. — Kurt Busch won Saturday night’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway after holding off his younger brother Kyle Busch in a thrilling battle in NASCAR Overtime.

With seven laps to go in the race, Bubba Wallace went for a spun down the track, bringing out the caution. With the win on the line, Kyle Busch and Joey Logano lined up at the front of the field for the restart following what was already a tight battle for the lead.

Kurt Busch made an incredible pass on the restart with fresher tires, pulled up to the door of his younger brother. As the two fiercely competed for the lead, neither let up as they made contact coming to the checkered flag, with older brother, Kurt, claiming the win.

“You know, racing your little brother every week and watching him win a lot, I’m proud of him, but I’m proud of him he gave me a little bit of room on that outside,” Kurt Busch said. “He could have clobbered us against the wall, and third place probably would have got it.  What an awesome run. We got this Monster Chevy to Victory Lane. Thank you, Kentucky!”

The win marked the 31st of his Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series career and the first as the driver of the No. 1 Monster Energy Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing.

“A lot of good first wins with this group of guys,” Busch said. “I’m really proud of them. You know, the way that we came together early and had speed, we just weren’t completing all the little steps that it took to be a winner in the Monster Energy Cup Series. Now we’re all winners.”

The runner-up finish was Kyle Busch’s 11th top-five effort of the season. Following the thrilling finish, Kyle Busch said, “Glad it was a thriller. It’s just unfortunate we were on the wrong end of the deal for everybody at M&Ms and Toyota, Interstate Batteries, all the folks that get us to where we’re at. Congratulations to Kurt and Chip (Ganassi) and Monster, all the guys over there. It’s obviously cool to put on great races and great finishes and I’ve been a part of a lot of them and not very many, in fact none with my brother like that. That was a first. No hard feelings.”

Erik Jones finished in third position on Saturday night, followed by Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin completing the top-five.

Clint Bowyer earned a sixth-place finish, with Joey Logano in seventh, Daniel Suarez in eighth, Ryan Newman in ninth and Chris Buescher in tenth.

Daniel Suarez won Stage 1, while Kyle Busch won Stage 2 in the race.

Over the course of the 269-lap race, there were seven cautions for a total of 35 laps.

Joey Logano currently leads the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series point standings over Kyle Busch by 11 points.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 on Sunday, July 21 at 3 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be found on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and the Performance Racing Network (PRN).

Photo Credit: Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

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