NASCAR: Kyle leads first Busch brothers 1-2

Autosport

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:

PosDriverTeamCar
1Kyle BuschJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
2Kurt BuschStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet
3Clint BowyerMichael Waltrip RacingToyota
4Kevin HarvickStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet
5Joey LoganoTeam PenskeFord
6Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
7Dale Earnhardt Jr.Hendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
8Kasey KahneHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
9Ryan NewmanRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
10Sam Hornish Jr.Richard Petty MotorsportsFord
11Jamie McMurrayChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet
12Tony StewartStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet
13Paul MenardRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
14Aric AlmirolaRichard Petty MotorsportsFord
15Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet
16Jeff GordonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet
17Austin DillonRichard Childress RacingChevrolet
18Denny HamlinJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
19Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord
20Ricky Stenhouse Jr.Roush Fenway RacingFord
21Matt KensethJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
22Cole WhittFront Row MotorsportsFord
23Trevor BayneRoush Fenway RacingFord
24Danica PatrickStewart-Haas RacingChevrolet
25Alex KennedyCircle SportChevrolet
26Boris SaidGo FAS RacingFord
27Greg BiffleRoush Fenway RacingFord
28Josh WisePhil Parsons RacingChevrolet
29Matt DiBenedettoBK RacingToyota
30Justin MarksFront Row MotorsportsFord
31Alex BowmanTommy Baldwin RacingChevrolet
32Jeb BurtonBK RacingToyota
33Michael AnnettHScott MotorsportsChevrolet
34Michael McDowellLeavine Family RacingFord
35Justin AllgaierHScott MotorsportsChevrolet
36Landon CassillHillman Smith MotorsportsChevrolet
37A.J. AllmendingerJTG Daugherty RacingChevrolet
38Casey MearsGermain RacingChevrolet
39David RaganMichael Waltrip RacingToyota
40Carl EdwardsJoe Gibbs RacingToyota
41J.J. YeleyBK RacingToyota
42Martin Truex Jr.Furniture Row RacingChevrolet
43David GillilandFront Row MotorsportsFord

NASCAR: Kyle leads first Busch brothers 1-2

  • Autosport
    About The Author
    -

    five × four =

    You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>