Busch Closes in on History with Phoenix Win

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Ticket Guardian 500 from ISM Raceway on Sunday afternoon.

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Busch had one of the most dominant cars throughout the race on Sunday, and led a race-high 177 laps.  Busch chased down pole-sitter Ryan Blaney over the final green-flag run while the two drivers tried to save enough fuel to reach the end of the race.

Busch said he knew fuel might play a factor before drivers took the green flag for the final restart.

“I knew…before we went green with however many to go that we were going to be right on the verge,” Busch said.  “You’ve got to race hard first and worry about fuel afterwards.”

After giving up the lead, Blaney fell to third while he saved fuel.  Blaney said his car drove better over the final run than he expected after his team only changed two tires on the final pit stop.

“Honestly, we hung on better there on two tires than I thought we would,” Blaney said.  “When we got passed for the lead it was just full fuel-save mode.”

The victory was Busch’s 199th career victory across all three of NASCAR’s national touring series.  Busch, now on the verge of history, is just one win away from tying Richard Petty for the most wins in NASCAR history with 200.

Busch said it’s not for him to decide what the number means.

“It not for me to worry about; it’s for everybody else to talk about and discuss and argue over,” Busch said.  “To work with my guys and take them to victory lane is what it’s all about.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Ryan Blaney

4. Aric Almirola

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Kyle Larson

7. Kurt Busch

8. Jimmie Johnson

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Joey Logano

11. Clint Bowyer

12. Ryan Newman

13. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

14. Chase Elliott

15. Ty Dillon

16. Chris Buescher

17. Paul Menard

18. Daniel Hemric

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Matt Tifft

21. Austin Dillon

22. Bubba Wallace

23. Daniel Suarez

24. William Byron

25. David Ragan

26. Corey LaJoie

27. Ross Chastain

28. Matt DiBenedetto

29. Erik Jones

30. Quin Houff

31. Bayley Currey

32. Cody Ware

33. Landon Cassill

34. Ryan Preece

35. Alex Bowman

36. Michael McDowell

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