BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kyle Busch made a late pass on Erik Jones in the waning laps of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race and held off his late charge to complete the weekend sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Jones led the field to the green on the final restart of the night with 79 laps to go. Busch, who a few laps prior had passed Matt Kenseth for second, went underneath Jones exiting Turn 4 to retake the lead with 56 to go. Lapped traffic prevented Busch from completely pulling away, but the same lapped traffic also stopped Jones from getting too close to him to threaten his lead.
In the end, Busch drove on to his 40th career victory in 450 career starts.
“Erik Jones put up a whale of a fight. That was all I had. I was running with my arm hanging out. My arms are jello and my throat hurts, but man that’s awesome. Can’t say enough about everybody on my Joe Gibbs Racing team. Adam Stevens and the guys are phenomenal. Car might not’ve been perfect. I’m never perfect. I never feel like we’re perfect, but this Caramel Camry was fast. So proud of these guys. So proud of my team. So proud of “Rowdy Nation.” This one’s for you!”
Jones finished second and Denny Hamlin rounded out the podium.
Kenseth and Kurt Busch rounded out the top-five.
Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.
RACE SUMMARY
Jones led the field to the green flag at 7:47 p.m. It only took 60 seconds into the race for Chase Elliott to pass him exiting Turn 4 and take the lead on Lap 4. Jones retook the lead two laps later. He left the bottom open in Turn 2, allowing Busch to pass him entering Turn 3 on Lap 51.
When the first caution flew on Lap 61 and the leaders opted to pit, Larson exited the pits with the lead. He led for awhile, until he was held up by a lapped Brad Keselowski in Turn 1, which allowed Busch to go high and take the lead on Lap 114.
Busch and Larson battled back and forth in the closing laps of the first stage, ending with Busch giving the chrome bumper to Larson going into Turn 1 on the final lap of the stage in order to win it.
Under the stage break, Jones exited the pits with the race lead. He held it until Busch swung to the high side of Jones in Turn 3 to retake the lead on Lap 166. Jones responded on Lap 180 by using Keselowski as a pick to pass Busch for the lead. Not long after, Jones himself was held up by Paul Menard, which allowed Busch to retake the lead on Lap 198.
After a two-car wreck in Turn 3, Busch and the leaders elected to pit. Kenseth was the first of those who didn’t, assumed the race lead and drove on to win the second stage.
Jones took back the race lead under the stage break. Busch powered by Jones up high in Turn 4 to take the lead on Lap 361. Jones regained the lead on pit road under the event’s seventh caution.
Landon Cassill’s shunt, hit on the inside wall and hard hit on the outside wall in Turn 1 with 84 to go set up the run to the finish.
CAUTION SUMMARY
Caution flew for the first time on Lap 61 when Aric Almirola made contact with the wall and fell dramatically off the pace, on the racing surface. The second flew on Lap 125 for the end of the first stage. The third came out when Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 200. The fourth flew on Lap 227 for a two-car wreck in Turn 3 involving Austin Dillon and Jeffrey Earnhardt. The fifth was for the end of the second stage on Lap 250. The sixth was for Trevor Bayne slamming the wall in Turn 1 on Lap 354. The seventh flew on Lap 396 when Elliott hit the inside wall on the backstretch. The seventh flew for Cassill’s hard lick with the outside wall in Turn 1 with 84 to go.
NUTS & BOLTS
The race lasted two hours, 46 minutes and 37 seconds, at an average speed of 95.969 mph. There were 21 lead changes among six different drivers and eight cautions for 53 laps.
Truex leaves with a 101-point lead over Kyle Busch.
Elliott, Kenseth and Jamie McMurray maintain the final playoff spots with two races remaining in the regular season.
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