Weekend Wrap-up: Busch Brothers Battle in the Bluegrass State

Kurt Busch edges out brother Kyle for the Quaker State 400 win
(Google Images)

NASCAR made their annual pilgrimage to Kentucky Speedway this past weekend. After a duo of dreary Daytona races, fans were anxious to see what the Bluegrass State had in store for all three of the sport's top divisions.

Kurt Bests Kyle in Thrilling 1-2 Finish

There have only been three drivers who have visited victory lane in the Monster Energy Cup Series at Kentucky since Kyle Busch edged out David Reutimann in 2011. Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr are the other two. Going into this weekend, many expected Truex to be the favorite, having won the previous two events at the speedway.

The No. 1 team celebrate their first win of the year
(Google Images)

Ford got off to the fastest start, however, as Daniel Suarez drove to his first Busch Pole Award, flanked by his Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Aric Almirola. However, that didn't last long, as the race looked like it would be a family affair right off the bat. Kurt Busch had won an uneventful Stage 1, while Kyle took Stage 2.

But, as is often the case with races that get off to a calmer start, once the laps wind down and the pay window opens, the intensity picks up in a big way.

It's no secret that seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson has had a rough year. Despite a top-five finish at Daytona, that downward trend continued at Kentucky when he pancaked the wall on lap 180 and spun down the backstrech. On the subsequent restart, leader Clint Bowyer appeared to lay back a bit to try and get second place driver William Byron to jump the start. This is the NASCAR equivalent of a running back trying to draw draw a linebacker offside in the NFL. It worked, and officials black flagged Byron's No. 24, eliminating him from contenting for his first cup win.

As the laps clicked off, both Kyle Busch and Joey Logano got around Bowyer, and it seemed as though it would be a battle between these two for the victory. That is, until Bubba Wallace blew a right rear tire with five laps to go, forcing the rest of the field into overtime.

On the final restart, Kurt took his car to the outside of Logano, making it three-wide into turn one. As the leaders came down the backstrech, both Buschs were side-by-side battling for the win, with Erik Jones to their inside. The brothers were able to break away from Jones to settle the race among themselves. They swapped the lead multiple times on the final lap, Kyle even tried to run Kurt to the outside wall in the final corner. But in the end, we saw one of the most thrilling finishes of the year, with Kurt besting Kyle by .076 seconds.

This is the first time since they began competing together in the Monster Energy Cup Series that Kurt was able to beat his younger brother for the win. This was also the first win for crew chief Matt McCall, as well as many others on the No. 1 team. "Welcome to victory lane!", radioed the 2004 series champion as he took the checkered flag.

Kurt Busch gives his crew a lift to victory lane
(Google Images)

As he climbed from his car, Busch pumped his fists for the crowd and did a stage dive into the waiting arms of his pit crew. Following his interview with NBC, the team went a bit old school, climbing on the outside of their No. 1 Chevy as Busch drove them to victory lane.

"It's awesome. To get back to victory lane for the first time with a new team means the world to me," said Busch. "With all these guys, there's so many that got their first win tonight, and they put me in position. Fast car, we had lap time, and we got a nice lucky break to get a shot at it. It takes teamwork all the way through."

Busch also took a congratulatory call from owner Chip Ganassi on-air. "You're in victory lane, buddy! Thank you so much. I told you we'd make these guys winners," he told his car owner.

One week after a heartbreaking finish, where one pit stop meant the difference between winning and finishing tenth, Busch's Chip Ganassi Racing team seems as motivated as ever to make a deep run into the playoffs.

"When he starts talking, he tells you we're coming in, we're going to win, it's definitely a confidence booster for sure,” said McCall of his driver. “He's almost delivered and he delivered (at Kentucky), so it's been pretty fun this first half of the season.”

Jones came home in third, Busch's CGR teammate Kyle Larson got fourth, and Denny Hamlin finished fifth. Bowyer finished sixth, Logano came home seventh, Suarez got eighth, Ryan Newman crossed the line in ninth, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-ten.

The next race on the docket for the Cup Series is the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 from New Hampshire Motor Speedway at 3:00 p.m. ET. The event will be broadcast on NBCSN, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Custer Bests Bell for Fifth Win

The "big three" of the NASCAR Xfinity Series continued their dominance at Kentucky Speedway. The Alsco 300 was dominated by Stewart-Haas Racing's Cole Custer and Joe Gibbs Racing's Christopher Bell; the duo led 160 of the event's 200 laps between them.

Cole Custer celebrates his fifth win of the year
(Google Images)

Bell started second and won the race's first two stages, but he wasn't able to beat Custer for the race win. This was Custer's fifth victory of the year, breaking a tie with Bell for most wins on the season.

“It’s been unbelievable,” said Custer, who fell off his car in victory lane during his celebration. “This one just goes to my team. That car was just unbelievable, and they knew exactly what to do with it when the track changed, and I was just lucky to drive it there at the end.”

Custer's SHR teammate Chase Briscoe was also strong, leading 14 circuits, but he didn't have anything for the No. 00 Mustang either, losing the lead to Custer on lap 111.

Bell charged from fifth to second after a restart on Lap 97 but had nothing for Custer at the end.

“We just kind of got worse there,” Bell said of his runner-up finish. “My car was driving really good. Probably just got a little too comfortable there, needed to free it up a little bit... We were able to win two stages, so we got a couple more playoff points. We’ve just got to work on a couple more things, and we’ll be good.”'

The other member of the big three, Tyler Reddick, ran third, Michael Annett took fourth, and Briscoe came home fifth. Jr Motorsports' other drivers joined Annett in the top-ten, with Noah Gragson, Justin Allgaier, and Ryan Truex finishing sixth, seventh, and eighth respectively. Ryan Seig finished ninth, and Daytona Cup Series winner Justin Hayley finished tenth.

The Xfinity Series tour heads up to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the ROXOR 200, which kicks off at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday July 20. Coverage will be on NBCSN, PRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Ankrum Scores First Truck Series Win

History was made in the Buckle up in Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Not only did Tyler Ankrum win his first Gander Outdoor Truck Series race, he also became the first driver born in the new millennium to into victory lane.

Tyler Ankrum collects his first career checkered flag
(Google Images)

Sheldon Creed won an uneventful first stage, while Matt Crafton won a decidedly more exciting Stage 2 that also saw his teammate Grant Enfinger have major trouble.

Enfinger won the pole and showed early on that he had a truck capable of winning. But on lap 66, as he drove underneath leader Brandon Jones in turn four, Enfinger got loose, sending both trucks into the outside wall. Both trucks came to rest in the infield grass, ending their nights early.

It seemed as though Brett Moffitt was set to go back-to-back after his win in Chicago, leading 35 laps late in the race. However, the finish came down to fuel mileage and who could save the most gasoline. Moffitt, who admitted after the race he'd never been in the position of having to save fuel before, was about two laps shy of making it to the end. Ankrum, who led a race-high 40 laps and took one more can of fuel than the leader on his final stop, was able to bide his time and pass the GMS Racing No. 24 when Moffitt ran out of fuel coming to the white flag.

“I was driving my butt off—holy cow,” said Ankrum, who led a race-high 40 laps. “I think I was holding my breath for the last three laps there. Holy cow, that was awesome… I just don’t know what to say. I cannot believe I just did this…

“Honestly, one of my biggest faults is I’ve always doubted myself, and I kind of saw all of that wash away.”

Stewart Friessen, who had his primary truck confiscated by NASCAR for a rear firewall issue, finished second on the night, Harrison Burton got third, Ross Chastain came home fourth, and Dylan Lupton finished fifth. Austin Wayne Self got sixth, Moffitt dropped to seventh after running out of gas, Spencer Davis got eighth, Jeb Burton finished ninth, and Johnny Sauter came home in tenth.

The tailgate brigade will take this week off to regroup, but the series will return to action at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, July 27 for the Gander RV 150. The race will go green at 1:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on FS1, as well as heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.