Kyle Busch held off brother Kurt to take the siblings’ first NASCAR Sprint Cup one-two at Sonoma.
The result came just five races after Joe Gibbs Toyota driver Kyle returned to action following his leg-breaking Daytona crash.
Elder brother Kurt looked the more likely victor for much of the Cup series’ first road course round of 2015, leading 43 of the 110 laps and initially inching clear of poleman AJ Allmendinger after getting the better start.
But in a race of myriad strategy variables, Stewart-Haas driver Busch kept finding himself mired in traffic after pitting under yellow as others stayed out.
Despite charging first from 12th to fourth, then ninth to second after stops in the final quarter of the race, Kurt ran out of time to make it all the way back to the front, as his brother held him off by just half a second.
Michael Waltrip Racing’s Clint Bowyer was in the thick of the late fight with the Busch brothers and wound up third ahead of champion Kevin Harvick.
Jimmie Johnson could easily have taken victory as he and Hendrick stuck doggedly to a two-stop strategy.
With most others pitting three times, Johnson led by nearly half a minute at one stage and ended up leading the most laps.
He was controlling the race until the final yellow, when the rest of the frontrunners all pitted to get fresh tyres and Johnson stayed out.
Although another four cars followed that tactic, they were all rapidly dismissed by the group on new rubber – led by the Buschs and Bowyer – over the final seven-lap shootout and Johnson fell to sixth behind Joey Logano.
Allmendinger was firmly in victory contention until an engine problem forced a trip back to the JTG Daugherty garage.
The race was briefly red-flagged after Martin Truex Jr damaged the concrete wall in a heavy crash triggered by contact with David Ragan.
Ragan was in further trouble later on when he came together with Carl Edwards on a restart while running on the cusp of the top five.
RESULTS – 110 LAPS:
Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Kyle Busch | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
2 | Kurt Busch | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
3 | Clint Bowyer | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
4 | Kevin Harvick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
5 | Joey Logano | Team Penske | Ford |
6 | Jimmie Johnson | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
7 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
8 | Kasey Kahne | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
9 | Ryan Newman | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
10 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
11 | Jamie McMurray | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
12 | Tony Stewart | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
13 | Paul Menard | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
14 | Aric Almirola | Richard Petty Motorsports | Ford |
15 | Kyle Larson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Chevrolet |
16 | Jeff Gordon | Hendrick Motorsports | Chevrolet |
17 | Austin Dillon | Richard Childress Racing | Chevrolet |
18 | Denny Hamlin | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
19 | Brad Keselowski | Team Penske | Ford |
20 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
21 | Matt Kenseth | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
22 | Cole Whitt | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
23 | Trevor Bayne | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
24 | Danica Patrick | Stewart-Haas Racing | Chevrolet |
25 | Alex Kennedy | Circle Sport | Chevrolet |
26 | Boris Said | Go FAS Racing | Ford |
27 | Greg Biffle | Roush Fenway Racing | Ford |
28 | Josh Wise | Phil Parsons Racing | Chevrolet |
29 | Matt DiBenedetto | BK Racing | Toyota |
30 | Justin Marks | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |
31 | Alex Bowman | Tommy Baldwin Racing | Chevrolet |
32 | Jeb Burton | BK Racing | Toyota |
33 | Michael Annett | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet |
34 | Michael McDowell | Leavine Family Racing | Ford |
35 | Justin Allgaier | HScott Motorsports | Chevrolet |
36 | Landon Cassill | Hillman Smith Motorsports | Chevrolet |
37 | A.J. Allmendinger | JTG Daugherty Racing | Chevrolet |
38 | Casey Mears | Germain Racing | Chevrolet |
39 | David Ragan | Michael Waltrip Racing | Toyota |
40 | Carl Edwards | Joe Gibbs Racing | Toyota |
41 | J.J. Yeley | BK Racing | Toyota |
42 | Martin Truex Jr. | Furniture Row Racing | Chevrolet |
43 | David Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford |