BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 14, 2015) — Kurt Busch held on just long enough to win the 2015 Quicken Loans at Michigan International Speedway. Busch overcame Kyle Larson and Mother Nature to pull into Gatorade Victory Lane.
Kurt Busch started 24th but got better as the race progressed in his backup car, after wrecking his primary car in a practice session Friday morning. He took the lead for the first time with just five laps remaining.
“It was a fantastic group effort,” Busch explained. “To be able to pull the backup car out and to have it as prepared as it was and then to have the extra work that went into it, all the crew members that Tony Gibson (crew chief) leads rolled up their sleeves, jumped right on it and we made a race-winning backup car.”
Kasey Kahne started on the pole after posting a speed of 201.992 mph in qualifying on Friday. Carl Edwards took the early lead before Kevin Harvick rose to the top. But a flat tire forced Harvick into an unscheduled pit stop and a 29th-place finish.
Busch took his first and only lead when he passed a pitting Kyle Larson on Lap 133.
Two-time Michigan winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished second in his No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, followed by last week’s winner, Martin Truex Jr., in the No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Chevy. It was the 14th top-10 finish in the first 15 races this season for Truex, the first time that has happened since Richard Petty did it in 1969.
Matt Kenseth and Joey Logano completed the top five.
