Kyle Busch wins at Kansas

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kyle Busch claimed his third NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win of 2016 on Saturday night when he took the checkered flag in the GoBowling.com 400 at Kansas Speedway.

“This is pretty big. Man, there’s been a lot of rough days here at Kansas; that’s for sure,” Busch said. “A lot of good ones, too, but I just can’t say enough about this team and everyone on this M&Ms Camry. This thing was awesome tonight. At the beginning and middle part of the race, we weren’t great, but (crew chief) Adam Stevens and the guys, they just kept working on it.”

It was Busch’s first career win at Kansas, leaving only two tracks on the Sprint Cup schedule — Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway — at which he is still winless.

Kevin Harvick finished second, Kurt Busch third, Matt Kenseth fourth and rookie Ryan Blaney finished fifth, respectively.

“It’s our best finish of the year, so that’s the bright side,” Kenseth said. “I’m sort of happy for Kyle and Adam, but seriously happy for everyone at JGR.”

Kenseth started second to Kyle Busch on a restart just inside 20 laps to go, but quickly lost positions to Harvick and Busch. Harvick battled Busch closely for the lead for several laps after taking over the second spot but faded in the final five laps.

Martin Truex Jr. dominated the 267-lap race until a cycle of green-flag pit stops that started on lap 211. After leading 172 laps, he had to pit twice during the cycle, the second stop coming because of a bolt that lodged between a wheel hub and brake caliper. Truex went from race leader to a lap down.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Truex said. “Went around (turns) one and two and was like, ‘Wheel’s loose.’ I kept telling myself that maybe it’s not me; maybe it’s just shaking because it has tape on it or something stupid. It was loose, and I knew it right away. Frustrating, but that’s how it goes.”

Busch and Kenseth ran second and third to Truex before the green-flag cycle. After Tony Stewart stayed out later to lead laps before heading for pit road, Busch and Kenseth benefitted from Truex’s trouble to take over the top two spots in the running order.

“The 78 (Truex) was, probably, the fastest car, but we kept ourselves in the game,” Busch said. “It was pretty impressive.”

Busch and Kenseth stayed out during a lap 233 debris caution, while everyone behind them pitted. Busch was able to remain up front, despite being on older tires, but Kenseth lost several positions when the race returned to green.

“I’m just proud of Adam Stevens on my pit box,” Busch said. “I knew our car was really good. I knew our car was best out front. I had trouble in traffic all night long. I wasn’t the best at being able to pick my way through that stuff, but when we had green-flag pit stops, I got some good holes and was able to make some good time, but the call to stay out was a no-brainer and it certainly worked out for us.”

Kenseth’s drop wound up being a blessing in disguise, as drivers who passed him for position — Kyle Larson, Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski — got tangled in a wreck fighting for positions just behind leader Busch. The wreck handed second back over to Kenseth.

Truex dominated the first half of the race and was the leader at the halfway point. He led 99 of the first 134 laps.

After starting on the pole, Truex pulled away from the field and had a lead of more than four seconds by the time the first yellow flag of the race waved for debris on lap 23. He temporarily lost the lead to another Toyota driver, Kyle Busch, on pit road.

Truex, along with most of the other drivers in the race took four tires, while Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Carl Edwards, elected to take two. As a result, Busch and Edwards restarted first and second.

Edwards lost spots on the restart, while Truex got back up to second to challenge Busch. When the yellow waved again on lap 56, Truex got off pit road first to reassume the lead. He continued to lead throughout the remainder of the race’s opening half.

Toyota led the entire first half of the race. Aside from Truex and Busch, BK Racing Toyota drivers Matt DiBenedetto and David Ragan also were each credited with a lap led during caution as drivers worked their ways on and off pit road.

Larson, meanwhile, made the most of the second and third restarts of the race, running at the top of the track and picking off multiple positions when the race returned to green. On the restart following the lap 56 caution, he moved into the top five.

On a restart just past lap 100, he moved up to second. The driver he passed for second was Kenseth. A few laps later, Kenseth retook the spot.