Kyle Busch Wins Monster Energy All-Star Race

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kyle Busch won the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race from Charlotte Motor Speedway on Saturday night.

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Busch won at Charlotte for the first time in a Cup Series car, and it was his first trip to victory lane in 2017.  Busch said the victory helped his team achieve their goal of winning at NASCAR’s home track.

“We won the All-Star Race; we won a million bucks,” Busch said.  “We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car, and we finally achieved that goal tonight.  It’s a reason to celebrate and to celebrate big.”

The All-Star Race is NASCAR’s second non-points event during the season.  The race instead pays $1 million to the winner, and Busch said he knew where some of that money would go.

“My wife’s…a huge advocate for IVF,” Busch said.  “The things that we do and the charitable things that we do with the Kyle Busch Foundation…it certainly goes a long way.”

Kyle Larson led every lap in the first two segments of the race, but he was caught in traffic on the final restart following a slow pit stop.  Larson said if the final run had been longer, he may have been able to run down Busch.

“We had the best car out there for sure, and even in traffic I thought I was really good,” Larson said.  “I would have needed another 20 lap run instead of a 10.”

“Sometimes it works out for you and sometimes it doesn’t.  We had a really fast car today, and go on to the 600…and try to win that one.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kyle Larson

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Kurt Busch

5. Jamie McMurray

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Chase Elliott

8. Joey Logano

9. Brad Keselowski

10. Denny Hamlin

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Martin Truex Jr.

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Kasey Kahne

17. Chris Buescher

18. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

19. Ryan Newman

20. Matt Kenseth

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images