Kyle Busch Dominates at the Brickyard

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Kyle Busch dominated the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Photo courtesy Adam Niemeyer

Busch led a record 149 laps on Sunday, and showed his dominance throughout the weekend.

“This Toyota was awesome today, it was just so fast,” Busch said.  “We just had it hooked up, this thing was on rails.”

Busch swept the NASCAR weekend for the second-straight year following a win in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race.  He also became the first driver to sweep the weekend by winning both races from the pole.

“I’ve been successful at a lot of things people haven’t been able to do before,” Busch said.  “When it’s helping you win on Sundays, it’s what makes it all worthwhile running those Saturday races.”

Tony Stewart finished 11th in his final race at Indianapolis, and said this was the most relaxing race weekend at Indy he’s ever had.

“For some reason, this weekend…everybody made my schedule as open as they could so I could enjoy it, and we did,” Stewart said.  “We had a lot of fun this weekend from start to finish.”

One of the biggest stories of the weekend centered around Jeff Gordon coming out of retirement to drive for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the 88 car.  Gordon said the car was good all day, but that he was a little rusty on restarts.

Photo courtesy Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

“I got my butt kicked on restarts today,” Gordon said.  “I needed a fill-in on restarts.  Other than that, it went pretty well.”

After the race, Stewart and Gordon ran a final lap together and saluted the fans after what is most likely their final race at their home track.

“I knew when we got the checkered, I didn’t want to come in just yet, and I wanted to run one more lap,” Stewart said.  “Before that last green run, I told my spotter to go tell his spotter that after this thing’s over, we need to go a lap around here together.”

 “What a class act he is,” Gordon said.  “It meant a lot to me that he asked me to make that last lap with him.”

“It is most likely the last time we’ll get to do that, and I couldn’t think of a better guy to spend a moment like that with,” Stewart said.

Unofficial results:

1. Kyle Busch

2. Matt Kenseth

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Denny Hamlin

5. Kyle Larson

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Joey Logano

8. Martin Truex Jr.

9. Austin Dillon

10. Paul Menard

11. Tony Stewart

12. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

13. Jeff Gordon

14. Chris Buescher

15. Chase Elliott

16. Kurt Busch

17. Brad Keselowski

18. Kasey Kahne

19. Jamie McMurray

20. Landon Cassill

21. Clint Bowyer

22. Danica Patrick

23. Michael McDowell

24. Casey Mears

25. Aric Almirola

26. Regan Smith

27. Brian Scott

28. Michael Annett

29. Cole Whitt

30. Trevor Bayne

31. Ryan Newman

32. Ryan Ellis

33. Reed Sorenson

34. Patrick Carpentier

35. Carl Edwards

36. Ryan Blaney

37. David Ragan

38. AJ Allmendinger

39. Greg Biffle

40. Matt DiBenedetto

Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images

 Special thanks to Adam Niemeyer for a photo of Kyle Busch.  For more from Adam, check out his blog here.

Kenseth Wins at New Hampshire

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Matt Kenseth won the New Hampshire 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Sunday afternoon.

Photo courtesy Robert Laberge/Getty Images

Kenseth led 38 laps on Sunday, and had to beat Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. over the final 50 laps.  Busch and Truex led for a combined 256 laps, but Kenseth ultimately had the best car at the end.

Kenseth said the car got better as the race went on, which helped him come back from an 18th-place starting position.

“I didn’t do a very good job qualifying…luckily we had a good car to make up for it,” Kenseth said. 

“It was pretty much money all day, we just had to get there.  It was fun all day.”

Tony Stewart finished second on Sunday, and said his crew chief made all the difference.

“[Mike Bugarewicz] is doing such a great job for a rookie crew chief that’s only got half a season,” Stewart said.  “We had a much better Haas-Automation Chevrolet today than what we had yesterday.”

The biggest news of the week came on Thursday, when Hendrick Motorsports announced that Alex Bowman would replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. at New Hampshire after Earnhardt began to suffer from concussion-like symptoms.  Bowman finished 26th on Sunday following a late accident.  

If Earnhardt is unable to race next weekend at Indianapolis, Jeff Gordon will drive the No. 88 car for Hendrick Motorsports.

Unofficial results:

1. Matt Kenseth

2. Tony Stewart

3. Joey Logano

4. Kevin Harvick

5. Greg Biffle

6. Jamie McMurray

7. Ryan Newman

8. Kyle Busch

9. Denny Hamlin

10. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

11. Ryan Blaney

12. Jimmie Johnson

13. Austin Dillon

14. Danica Patrick

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Martin Truex Jr.

17. Kyle Larson

18. Paul Menard

19. Aric Almirola

20. Carl Edwards

21. AJ Allmendinger

22. Kurt Busch

23. Trevor Bayne

24. Clint Bowyer

25. Kasey Kahne

26. Alex Bowman

27. Casey Mears

28. Landon Cassill

29. Chris Buescher

30. David Ragan

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. Regan Smith

33. Michael Annett

34. Chase Elliott

35. Reed Sorenson

36. Eddie Macdonald

37. Ryan Ellis

38. Brian Scott

39. Michael McDowell

40. Josh Wise

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images

Tony Stewart Finds Victory in Sonoma

Originally written for CLNS Radio.

Tony Stewart won the Toyota-Save Mart 350 from Sonoma Raceway on Sunday afternoon for his first win in three years, breaking an 83-race winless streak.

Photo courtesy Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Stewart, who is retiring at the end of the year, had to move Denny Hamlin out of the way in the final turn to pick up the victory.  Stewart said he made mistakes the last two laps, and it almost cost him the victory.

“I had just a little too much rear-brake for turn 7 and wheel-hopped it two laps in a row,” Stewart said.  “[Hamlin] told me he knew it was coming.”

On the final lap, Stewart went high in turn 7, and Hamlin moved him out of the way.  Hamlin went high in turn 11, and he and Stewart made contact, which sent Hamlin into the wall.  

Hamlin said he and Stewart did what they had to do to try and win the race.

“I was looking in the rearview more than I was looking out front,” Hamlin said.  “I just slid up…and allowed him to get a good run on me.  Once he had the inside position, we weren’t going to drag race at that point.  I knew he was going to put me in the wall.”

Stewart said the victory was special because it came in his final race at Sonoma.

“Especially at a place you’re going to for the last time, that means a bunch,” Stewart said.  “They’re all good, it don’t matter where you get them.  Just an awesome job.”

Stewart’s win was very important in helping to get into the Chase.  After missing the first eight races of the season following an off-season back injury, Stewart needed to get a win and finish the regular season in the top 30 in points.  Following Sunday’s victory, Stewart sits 32nd in points, just 9 points out of 30th.

Unofficial results:

1. Tony Stewart

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Joey Logano

4. Carl Edwards

5. Martin Truex Jr.

6. Kevin Harvick

7. Kyle Busch

8. Ryan Newman

9. Kasey Kahne

10. Kurt Busch

11. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

12. Kyle Larson

13. Jimmie Johnson

14. AJ Allmendinger

15. Brad Keselowski

16. Paul Menard

17. Jamie McMurray

18. Greg Biffle

19. Danica Patrick

20. Matt Kenseth

21. Chase Elliott

22. Austin Dillon

23. Ryan Blaney

24. Casey Mears

25. Trevor Bayne

26. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

27. Aric Almirola

28. Regan Smith

29. Landon Cassill

30. Chris Buescher

31. Matt DiBenedetto

32. David Ragan

33. Brian Scott

34. Cole Whitt

35. Dylan Lupton

36. Michael Annett

37. Patrick Carpentier

38. Josh Wise

39. Michael McDowell

40. Clint Bowyer

Photo courtesy Chris Trotman/Getty Images