Kyle Busch nudged race leader Kyle Larson off his line and then kept the #18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in front over the final six laps to win Monday’s rain-delayed Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. It’s now back-to-back Cup Series wins for Busch, who was also victorious nine days ago at Texas Motor Speedway.
The race was scheduled to be run on Sunday, but rain halted the event before the first two stages were completed, forcing teams to return to the Tennessee half-mile yesterday. Larson started the day at the front of the field and for most of the afternoon, it looked as if that’s where he would end the day. He led a race-high two hundred laps and had the #42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet in front for a 21-lap stretch before Busch finally caught and passed him. The margin of victory over Larson was 0.62 of a second. Defending race winner Jimmie Johnson finished third in his bid for a second straight springtime victory in “Thunder Valley.” Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. briefly challenged Larson for the lead in the closing laps before placing 4th and Alex Bowman ran 5th. Darrell (Bubba) Wallace, Jr. was the highest-finishing rookie, in 16th place. The race included 18 lead changes, four more than last year. There were 13 cautions for 114 laps.
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– story by John Singler
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Concord, North Carolina
1. Kyle Busch @ 316 points
2. Joey Logano (-38)
3. Ryan Blaney (-51)
4. Kevin Harvick (-59)
5. Martin Truex, Jr. (-66)
6. Clint Bowyer (-67)
7. Brad Keselowski (-79)
8. Kurt Busch (-94)
9. Denny Hamlin (-94)
10. Kyle Larson (-114)
For the complete driver standings, please visit the official page on nascar.com.
