Kurt Busch Wins at Kansas for First Victory with Michael Jordan

Kurt Busch won the AdventHealth 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his first win with 23XI Racing.

Busch led a race-high 116 laps and won the second stage of the race. Busch has struggled early in the season, but was finally able to put a strong race together in his Jumpman-sponsored Toyota Camry.

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Busch said his team has been working to improve from the early-season struggles.

“It’s all about teamwork,” Busch said.  “This is 23XI, this is our first win for the 45 car and with Jordan brand on the hood. I felt like I had to play like the goat, race like the goat, and I had to beat the Kyles.”

Busch was part of a trio that fought for the lead over the final run, with Kyle Larson and brother Kyle Busch fighting for the lead.

Busch said once he got past his brother, he knew he’d be able to chase down Larson.

“If I could get one Kyle, I could get both. It’s like the Kyle and Kyle Show.”

“I’ve been with a lot of teams and a lot of manufacturers. It’s the most gratifying to work from the ground up with a new car number.”

Larson had a strong car throughout the day, but said he knew he’d be able to hold off anyone other than Kurt Busch.

“It was hard to hold off Kyle, and I knew when Kurt got by him it was going to be hard to hold him off. I did my best, but came up one spot short. That was fun racing.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kurt Busch

2. Kyle Larson

3. Kyle Busch

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Christopher Bell

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Ross Chastain

8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

9. Alex Bowman

10. Bubba Wallace

11. Austin Cindric

12. Ryan Blaney

13. Austin Dillon

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Kevin Harvick

16. William Byron

17. Joey Logano

18. Noah Gragson

19. Corey LaJoie

20. Ty Dillon

21. Harrison Burton

22. Cole Custer

23. Michael McDowell

24. Chase Briscoe

25. Todd Gilliland

26. Aric Almirola

27. Chris Buescher

28. Josh Bilicki

29. Chase Elliott

30. Tyler Reddick

31. JJ Yeley

32. Erik Jones

33. Daniel Suarez

34. Cody Ware

35. Justin Haley

36. BJ McLeod

 

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Larson Continues Dominance with Kansas Victory

Kyle Larson won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon to pick up his ninth victory of the season and his third in a row.

Larson continued his dominance on the Cup Series field on Sunday, and led a race-high 130 laps after starting from the pole.

Larson had to hold off his teammates over the final stage, with Chase Elliott and William Byron threatening for the lead throughout the last half of the race.

Larson said he thought Byron and Elliott had faster cars, but that he was able to take advantage of close racing on the final restart to get to a lead no one was able to overcome.

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“Had a couple good restarts there and it kind of worked out for me,” Larson said.  “[Kevin Harvick] got to [Elliott’s] inside at the flag stand and kind of choked that lane up and got me clear to the lead.”

The victory comes on the 17th anniversary of a plane crash that took the lives of 10 Hendrick Motorsports team members and family members, including Rick Hendrick’s son.

Larson said it’s special to get a victory on the anniversary of the accident in a paint scheme reminiscent of Ricky Hendrick.

“I want to dedicate this win to Rick and Linda [Hendrick],” Larson said.  “I didn’t ever get to meet Ricky or any of the other men and women who lost their lives that day, but I felt the importance of this race.”

Elliott had a fast car in the closing laps, and began to cut into Larson’s lead until he made contact with the wall.

Elliott had to settle for second, and said the damage to his car slowed him down.

“I didn’t really have a choice; once I hit it, it hurt it pretty bad,” Elliott said.  “Feel like we had something for Kyle there, just got the wall there off of two.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Larson

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kevin Harvick

4. Kurt Busch

5. Denny Hamlin

6. William Byron

7. Martin Truex Jr.

8. Christopher Bell

9. Joey Logano

10. Austin Dillon

11. Alex Bowman

12. Chris Buescher

13. Ross Chastain

14. Bubba Wallace

15. Daniel Suarez

16. Michael McDowell

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Cole Custer

19. Chase Briscoe

20. Parker Kligerman

21. Ryan Preece

22. Tyler Reddick

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

25. Corey LaJoie

26. Aric Almirola

27. Ryan Newman

28. Kyle Busch

29. Erik Jones

30. BJ McLeod

31. Cody Ware

32. Joey Gase

33. Josh Bilicki

34. David Starr

35. Quin Houff

36. Ryan Ellis

37. Ryan Blaney

38. Anthony Alfredo

39. Justin Haley

40. Chad Finchum

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Kyle Busch Caps Off Emotional Week with Kansas Victory

Kyle Busch won the Busch Light Buschy McBusch Race 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Busch ran up front for most of the day, and he and Kyle Larson were the class of the field as the laps wound down.

Busch was the leader when a late caution came out, and he held off the field on the final restart to pick up his first victory of 2021.

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Busch didn’t win until late in 2020, and he said he’s glad his team could get to victory lane early this season.

“It’s cool to get everybody in victory lane again this early in the season,” Busch said.  “It’s hard sometimes…there’s a sense of doubt there for sure.  You’ve got to keep persevering and keep digging.”

The victory came on Busch’s 36^th birthday, and came at the end of an emotional week.  On Friday, Busch and his wife Samantha announced that they had suffered another miscarriage, another setback in their infertility journey.

Busch said it was a tough week for his family.

“You talk about the ups and downs of racing…it’s been a lot of downs of life for us,” Busch said.  “I’ve got a great opportunity and a great job…but struggling with infertility and stuff like that with Samantha.  Just a great day to put this M&M’s Mix Camry up front.”

Larson led a race-high 132 laps, but he lost the lead following a few late cautions.

With the field taking the green flag with two laps remaining, Larson committed to pushing Ryan Blaney to give both drivers a chance at the win.  Larson and Blaney got loose and into the wall, and Larson ended up 19^th.

Larson said he was trying to do all he could to give himself a shot at the win.

“Just planned on pushing Blaney as hard as I could, obviously I was just pushing too hard.” Larson said.  “Got him loose and chased ourselves both up into the wall.”

“That’s really the first time I was behind anybody on a restart, so I thought I could push around the corner.  I learned for next time.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Brad Keselowski

4. Matt DiBenedetto

5. Chase Elliott

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Tyler Reddick

8. Chris Buescher

9. William Byron

10. Austin Dillon

11. Daniel Suarez

12. Denny Hamlin

13. Michael McDowell

14. Ross Chastain

15. Kurt Busch

16. Ryan Newman

17. Joey Logano

18. Alex Bowman

19. Kyle Larson

20. Chase Briscoe

21. Ryan Blaney

22. Austin Cindric

23. Anthony Alfredo

24. Cole Custer

25. Erik Jones

26. Bubba Wallace

27. Corey LaJoie

28. Christopher Bell

29. Aric Almirola

30. Justin Haley

31. BJ McLeod

32. Ryan Preece

33. Garrett Smithley

34. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

35. Joey Gase

36. Cody Ware

37. Quin Houff

38. Matt Mills

39. Josh Bilicki

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Logano Holds off Harvick to Win at Kansas

 Originally written for CLNS Media.

Joey Logano won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon to lock himself into the Championship Round of the NASCAR Playoffs.

Logano took the lead on the final restart, and he held off Kevin Harvick over the final 30-lap run.

Harvick had a faster car throughout the race, but Logano was able to block him over the final run to pick up his first victory since NASCAR returned from their COVID shutdown.

Logano said he was focused on his mirror throughout the final run to block any runs from Harvick.

“I thought if I could hold him off those first 15 laps, I’d have a chance,” Logano said.  “Dirty air was best for us.  When we caught lapped traffic, we were able to gap ourselves as he got more dirty air.”

Logano said the victory reminds him of 2018, when he locked himself in to the final round of the Playoffs early.

“It was on my mind every lap,” Logano said.  “You come into this race knowing if you can win this thing you’ve got an amazing advantage.  We’re going to Phoenix; we’re racing for a championship again.”

Harvick said he needed to beat Logano off pit road if he was going to win.

“It came down to controlling that restart there and we lost the lead,” Harvick said.  “We weren’t the best behind somebody.  Good run for us; wish we could have won but one short.”

Unofficial results:

1. Joey Logano

2. Kevin Harvick

3. Alex Bowman

4. Brad Keselowski

5. Kyle Busch

6. Chase Elliott

7. Ryan Blaney

8. William Byron

9. Martin Truex Jr.

10. Christopher Bell

11. Austin Dillon

12. Matt DiBenedetto

13. Aric Almirola

14. Cole Custer

15. Denny Hamlin

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. John Hunter Nemechek

18. Bubba Wallace

19. Michael McDowell

20. Erik Jones

21. Chris Buescher

22. Ryan Newman

23. Corey LaJoie

24. Ty Dillon

25. Tyler Reddick

26. Clint Bowyer

27. Daniel Suarez

28. Brennan Poole

29. Ryan Preece

30. JJ Yeley

31. Jimmie Johnson

32. James Davison

33. Quin Houff

34. Timmy Hill

35. Josh Bilicki

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Joey Gase

38. Kurt Busch

39. Chad Finchum

40. Matt Kenseth

Photo courtesy Chris Graythen (Getty Images)

Hamlin Wins at Kansas

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Super Start Batteries 400 from Kansas Speedway on Thursday night for his fifth win of the season.

Hamlin had a fast car throughout the night, but had to chase down Kevin Harvick following the final restart.  After pulling away, Brad Keselowski slowly reeled Hamlin back in.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Hamlin was able to hold off Keselowski over the final 12 laps to pick up his second-consecutive Kansas victory.

Hamlin said he was able to make his car work where Harvick’s couldn’t to get the win.

“I saw [Harvick] getting loose,” Hamlin said.  “Usually when you’re loose, you aren’t able to run up high, and that was the benefit for us to be able to get that momentum going.”

Hamlin said he feels he has a perfect team that can help him win any weekend.

“We can win any given week and that’s something that’s really hard to come by,” Hamlin said.  “I don’t know if we had the best car; we definitely had a Top 3 car all day, but just went and got it there at the end.”

Keselowski took four tires during the final caution while Hamlin only took two, but Keselowski ran out of laps to chase Hamlin down.

Keselowski said the Joe Gibbs Racing cars were too good on restarts, which ended up being the difference.

“We were pretty equal; [Hamlin] had two tires, I had four tires, but he was just really strong on restarts,” Keselowski said.  “He and the Gibbs cars could pull everybody by about a car length on the restarts, and they did a great job taking advantage of it.”

“Thought [we were] even on the racetrack, just a little bit behind on the restarts.”

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Martin Truex Jr.

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Erik Jones

6. Aric Almirola

7. Cole Custer

8. Alex Bowman

9. Kurt Busch

10. William Byron

11. Kyle Busch

12. Chase Elliott

13. Tyler Reddick

14. Clint Bowyer

15. Ty Dillon

16. Michael McDowell

17. Matt Kenseth

18. Daniel Suarez

19. John Hunter Nemechek

20. Ryan Blaney

21. Corey LaJoie

22. JJ Yeley

23. Christopher Bell

24. Quin Houff

25. Josh Bilicki

26. Garrett Smithley

27. Austin Dillon

28. Ryan Newman

29. Joey Gase

30. Brennan Poole

31. Reed Sorenson

32. Jimmie Johnson

33. Chris Buescher

34. Ryan Preece

35. Joey Logano

36. Matt DiBenedetto

37. Bubba Wallace

38. Timmy Hill

39. BJ McLeod

40. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Hamlin Wins at Kansas, Elliott Transfers to Round of 8

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Denny Hamlin won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon in the finale for the Round of 12 of the Playoffs.

Hamlin had a dominant car during the second half of Sunday’s race, and led a race-high 153 laps.  Hamlin held off challenges from Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch in the closing laps after multiple cautions sent the race into overtime.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Hamlin was already locked into the next round of the Playoffs on points, but he said he was glad to pick up another win on the year.

“That car was awesome…to dominate that whole second half was great,” Hamlin said.  “We’ve been running really good, just cannot wait to get to Martinsville.”

Hamlin now heads to Martinsville Speedway next weekend, where he has had strong runs in the past.  A win next weekend would send Hamlin to the Championship Four at Homestead to battle for his first career Cup Series Championship.

Hamlin said he is taking everything one week at a time.

“It’s step-by-step, week-by-week,” Hamlin said.  “I’m not getting too far ahead of ourselves.  We concentrate every week as if it’s the most important one, and this win kind of shows that.”

Elliott came into the race in a must-win scenario to keep his Playoff hopes alive, and he was able to finish second and make it into the next round. 

Elliott said the strong finish was a testament to his team’s attitude as they struggled early in the race.

“We were really struggling there at one point in the race, and you have to stay fighting in these things,” Elliott said.  “Excited that we’ll get to fight another race.”

Brad Keselowski was on the losing end of the Playoff race, and missed the next round of the Playoffs by three points after struggling on the final restart.

Keselowski said he wasn’t able to make the moves he needed to in the closing laps.

“Couldn’t get nothing to go for me on the restart,” Keselowski said.  “I got sandwiched and somebody went three-wide…just all bad and I didn’t do a good enough job.”

Keselowski was joined by William Byron, Alex Bowman and Clint Bowyer as the four drivers eliminated from the Playoffs.

Unofficial results:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Chase Elliott

3. Kyle Busch

4. Kurt Busch

5. William Byron

6. Martin Truex Jr.

7. Erik Jones

8. Clint Bowyer

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Jimmie Johnson

11. Alex Bowman

12. Ryan Preece

13. Chris Buescher

14. Kyle Larson

15. Matt DiBenedetto

16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

17. Joey Logano

18. Paul Menard

19. Brad Keselowski

20. Austin Dillon

21. Ryan Blaney

22. Ty Dillon

23. Aric Almirola

24. Michael McDowell

25. Matt Tifft

26. David Ragan

27. Ross Chastain

28. Corey LaJoie

29. Parker Kligerman

30. JJ Yeley

31. Daniel Hemric

32. Daniel Suarez

33. Reed Sorenson

34. Garrett Smithley

35. Bubba Wallace

36. Josh Bilicki

37. Landon Cassill

38. Joey Gase

39. Timmy Hill

40. Ryan Newman

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images

Elliott Wins at Kansas to Close Out Round of 12

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Chase Elliott won the Hollywood Casino 400 from Kansas Speedway on Sunday afternoon for his third victory of the season.

Elliott inherited the lead after Kevin Harvick was hit with a late pit penalty, and Elliott had to hold off Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson in the closing laps. 

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Elliott said his car was good enough that he could have raced Harvick for the victory if he hadn’t been penalized.

“Obviously got lucky with Kevin having his penalty,” Elliott said.  “I thought we were really equally matched.  Wish we could have raced him straight up.”

After winning his second race in this round of the Playoffs, Elliott said he believes his team is set up to go to Homestead and fight for a championship.

“Great round for us for sure,” Elliott said.  “We just can’t get complacent.  We’ve got a lot of work to do and a long way to go.  This is a huge time of year.”

Busch chased Elliott down in the closing laps, but Busch couldn’t get to Elliott’s bumper while the pair worked their way through lapped traffic.  Busch said Elliott ran a smart race as the race came to a close.

“He ran a really good line…and kept pace,” Busch said.  “Proud of the effort.”

Coming into the weekend, Larson needed a victory to move on to the next round of the Playoffs.  After having a fast car, Larson couldn’t get to the lead and was eliminated. 

Larson said it would have been hard to beat Elliott and Busch.

“Hate that I allowed Kyle to get by me at the beginning of that cycle,” Larson said.  “Wish I could have done something there…hard to beat those guys.”

As the Round of 12 came to a close, Larson, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Alex Bowman were eliminated from Playoff contention.

Unofficial results:

1. Chase Elliott

2. Kyle Busch

3. Kyle Larson

4. Erik Jones

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Brad Keselowski

7. Ryan Blaney

8. Joey Logano

9. Alex Bowman

10. Aric Almirola

11. Austin Dillon

12. Kevin Harvick

13. Clint Bowyer

14. Denny Hamlin

15. Ryan Newman

16. Chris Buescher

17. Jamie McMurray

18. Kurt Busch

19. David Ragan

20. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Jimmie Johnson

23. Matt DiBenedetto

24. Daniel Suarez

25. Ty Dillon

26. Darrell Wallace Jr.

27. Michael McDowell

28. Regan Smith

29. Landon Cassill

30. Trevor Bayne

31. JJ Yeley

32. Paul Menard

33. BJ McLoed

34. Corey LaJoie

35. Kyle Weatherman

36. Reed Sorenson

37. Jeffrey Earnhardt

38. William Byron

39. Ross Chastain

40. Timmy Hill

Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Harvick's Dominance Continues with Kansas Victory

Originally written for CLNS Media.

Kevin Harvick won the KC Masterpiece 400 from Kansas Speedway on Saturday night.

Harvick led 79 laps on his way to victory lane on Sunday to continue his dominant season.  The victory was Harvick’s fifth in just 12 races this season.

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

Even after running up front for most of the race, Harvick said his car struggled with handling.

“Wasn’t really happy with it,” Harvick said.  “I think we can make it a lot better when we come back.”

Harvick restarted sixth on the final restart with 10 laps to go, but he was able to run down Martin Truex Jr. to take the lead with two laps to go.  Harvick said he knew he would have to change his racing line if he wanted a shot at Truex.

“I was tight on the bottom, so I just started driving it up top,” Harvick said.  “I was either going to drive it into the wall or win this race.”

Truex didn’t run up front throughout the day, but a strategy call by crew chief Cole Pearn got him to the lead late.  Truex said his team overachieved on a night when the car’s handling wasn’t very good.

“Good strategy call by Cole, just…a hell of an effort by our team,” Truex said.  “We definitely had to fight hard, we were awful to start the race.  We definitely over-achieved, so that’s always good.”

Unofficial results:

1. Kevin Harvick

2. Martin Truex Jr.

3. Joey Logano

4. Kyle Larson

5. Denny Hamlin

6. Paul Menard

7. Erik Jones

8. Kurt Busch

9. Aric Almirola

10. Kyle Busch

11. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

12. Chase Elliott

13. David Ragan

14. Brad Keselowski

15. Clint Bowyer

16. AJ Allmendinger

17. Austin Dillon

18. Alex Bowman

19. Jimmie Johnson

20. Michael McDowell

21. Kasey Kahne

22. Matt DiBenedetto

23. Darrell Wallace Jr.

24. Corey LaJoie

25. Landon Cassill

26. Ross Chastain

27. Reed Sorenson

28. Daniel Suarez

29. Gray Gaulding

30. Ryan Newman

31. Jamie McMurray

32. Timmy Hill

33. William Byron

34. Chris Buescher

35. BJ McLeod

36. Matt Kenseth

37. Ryan Blaney

38. Ty Dillon

Sarah Crabill/Getty Images