Heading into Saturday night’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch was the hottest driver in NASCAR, winning both the Camping World Truck and XFINITY series races earlier in the weekend. This race was no different.
It didn’t take Busch long to race to the front, capturing the lead from Kyle Larson in the waning laps of the opening stage after starting 18th. The No. 18 team led the final lap, after battling side-by-side with with the No. 42 car for the final 10 laps. Busch went on to record his 10th stage victory of the season.
Stage 2 was much of the same, Erik Jones dominating, with Busch capitalizing late in the 125 lap stage. But a caution flew with 18 laps to go in the stage when Austin Dillon cut his left rear tire, tagging along Jeffrey Earnhardt. Busch’s crew chief, Adam Stevens called the No. 18 car to pit road, giving up the playoff point, hoping to put him in the right position for the second half of the event. Matt Kenseth was the victor of the second stage.
The final stage started off with 97 consecutive laps of green flag racing with Jones’ No. 77 car leading the way. The race was his to lose and with less than 60 laps to go, Busch got around Jones and Kenseth in lapped traffic, going on to lead the remaining laps.
Busch’s triumph was his third of the weekend, the second time the 32-year-old has done so in his career. The last time he did it was in 2010.
“That one was a lot harder,” Busch said of his victory. “Man, Erik Jones put up a whale of a fight. That all I had. I was running with my tongue hanging… Car might not have been perfect, but I’m never perfect. I never feel like we’re perfect.
“Adam Stevens and these guys they never quit working on it. Every single pit stop we kept working on it, kept adjusting on it, so I can’t say enough about his Toyota Camry.”
Busch led 156 of 300 laps, gaining six playoff points. With two races remaining before the playoffs begin, the No. 18 team has 20 playoff points, the second most in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series.
Starting from the pole, Jones had a career race. The No. 77 car paced the field for 260 laps, 106 more than his previous career-high in any NASCAR race. It’s the second-consecutive race that the Rookie of the Year contender has finished among the top three positions.
“It is what it is,” Jones said. “We raced hard all night, led a lot of laps. We did almost everything we needed to do and we qualified on the pole and finished second. I wish we would have had a little bit more. It’s a bummer. It’s a great weekend for us.”
Coming into the race, Jones had led just 50 laps this season. The victory would have locked him into the playoffs, but now the No. 77 team must win at either Darlington Raceway or Richmond Raceway to have a chance at the championship.
Denny Hamlin rebounded late in the race to round out the podium. Kenseth fell to fourth after battling for the lead late in the race. Kurt Busch raced up to fifth, while pitting during the final caution of the race with 84 laps to go.
Both Ryan Newman and Trevor Bayne recorded their second-consecutive top-10 finishes, respectively, finishing sixth and seventh. Last year’s winner Kevin Harvick came home eighth, while Larson and Ryan Blaney filled the top 10.
Swept.
Again pic.twitter.com/yt0euHKPN8
— Toyota Racing (@ToyotaRacing) August 20, 2017
Love him or hate him I feel he is the most all around talented driver I will ever witness in my lifetime. Congratulations @KyleBusch ?
— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) August 20, 2017
He did it!!!!!! Three in a row way to sweep the weekend babe!!!!! pic.twitter.com/mTqOBAQtl8
— Samantha Busch (@SamanthaBusch) August 20, 2017
Dustin joined the Frontstretch team at the beginning of the 2016 season. 2020 marks his sixth full-time season covering the sport that he grew up loving. His dream was to one day be a NASCAR journalist, thus why he attended Ithaca College (Class of 2018) to earn a journalism degree. Since the ripe age of four, he knew he wanted to be a storyteller.