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Kyle Busch's championship drive went into high gear as he held off Joey Logano for the victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday evening.
The 28-year old, who is one of NASCAR's most prolific winners (with 121 victories across NASCAR's three top divisions), ironically, has never been close to winning a championship in Sprint Cup.
That may about to change when NASCAR's playoff's “The Chase” starts after next week's race in Richmond. With four wins this year it ties him with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the second seed behind Matt Kenseth.
“I think if you can pin a championship night on one race or a championship on one night in a race, I think tonight was the night,” Busch said.
And he did it in a car he labeled "a joke" early in the race.
"It was at first," Busch admitted. "That's why we race 500 miles, I guess. Man, I don't know where it came from but these guys--(crew chief) Dave Rogers--the guys never gave up. They made some really good calls, and I commend them. It was their race today."
Speaking of the Chase six drivers are now locked in based on ending up in the top ten, Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Kenseth. A seventh driver, Kasey Kahne, is locked in on a wild card because he has two wins this year.
The eventual victor took the lead by beating his opponents out of the pits for the restart on lap 293 of the 325-lap race. From that point it was a matter of holding off former teammate, Joey Logano which he did with ease for a margin of victory of .740 seconds.
Logano, who led the most laps, just needed longer runs to close on Busch. ““I felt like I had the race-winning Ford here; (it) was so fast. It just took it seven-eight laps to get going,” Logano said. “I just wish there was five or six more laps. You know, you're catching them so quick and you're passing all these guys. It made it a lot of fun, but ahhh ... it's just frustrating.”
Martin Truex Jr., who drove with a cast on broken wrist finished third. In fact the cast melted due to the extreme heat in his car. "It hurts like hell,” said Truex. “My cast is pretty much like goo -- I don't know. It's like just -- see how soft it got. It got to the point where it didn't feel like it was doing anything. My wrist was moving around a lot more than I wanted it to. It hurts. It got a real sharp pain in it -- it's broke. It hurts."
Truex may be in pain, but he has a five point lead over Ryan Newman his closest rival for the second wild card slot in the Chase.
Kurt Busch who finished fourth is tenth in the points six points ahead of four-time champion Jeff Gordon.
An engine failure claimed Brad Keselowski all-but eliminating him from the Chase. Not even a win at Richmond might change it and he could become the first reigning Cup Champion to miss the Chase since Tony Stewart in 2006.
The 28-year old, who is one of NASCAR's most prolific winners (with 121 victories across NASCAR's three top divisions), ironically, has never been close to winning a championship in Sprint Cup.
That may about to change when NASCAR's playoff's “The Chase” starts after next week's race in Richmond. With four wins this year it ties him with five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the second seed behind Matt Kenseth.
“I think if you can pin a championship night on one race or a championship on one night in a race, I think tonight was the night,” Busch said.
And he did it in a car he labeled "a joke" early in the race.
"It was at first," Busch admitted. "That's why we race 500 miles, I guess. Man, I don't know where it came from but these guys--(crew chief) Dave Rogers--the guys never gave up. They made some really good calls, and I commend them. It was their race today."
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| Photo: NASCAR |
Speaking of the Chase six drivers are now locked in based on ending up in the top ten, Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Kenseth. A seventh driver, Kasey Kahne, is locked in on a wild card because he has two wins this year.
The eventual victor took the lead by beating his opponents out of the pits for the restart on lap 293 of the 325-lap race. From that point it was a matter of holding off former teammate, Joey Logano which he did with ease for a margin of victory of .740 seconds.
Logano, who led the most laps, just needed longer runs to close on Busch. ““I felt like I had the race-winning Ford here; (it) was so fast. It just took it seven-eight laps to get going,” Logano said. “I just wish there was five or six more laps. You know, you're catching them so quick and you're passing all these guys. It made it a lot of fun, but ahhh ... it's just frustrating.”
Martin Truex Jr., who drove with a cast on broken wrist finished third. In fact the cast melted due to the extreme heat in his car. "It hurts like hell,” said Truex. “My cast is pretty much like goo -- I don't know. It's like just -- see how soft it got. It got to the point where it didn't feel like it was doing anything. My wrist was moving around a lot more than I wanted it to. It hurts. It got a real sharp pain in it -- it's broke. It hurts."
 |
| Photo: NASCAR |
Truex may be in pain, but he has a five point lead over Ryan Newman his closest rival for the second wild card slot in the Chase.
Kurt Busch who finished fourth is tenth in the points six points ahead of four-time champion Jeff Gordon.
An engine failure claimed Brad Keselowski all-but eliminating him from the Chase. Not even a win at Richmond might change it and he could become the first reigning Cup Champion to miss the Chase since Tony Stewart in 2006.