Battle of the Busch’s ends with Kyle on top at Bristol (4-7-19)

By: Becca Cottingham

Headline Photo Credit: Seattle Times

Bristol where tempers flare and mistakes can be costly. We opened Bristol with Darrell Waltrip waving the green flag and providing us his favorite line to get the race started. Bristol started off with some flare. In the opening, laps we had not just one issue but two. Aric Almirola and William Byron had an issue that put Aric in the wall. Then Kyle Busch and three other drivers went three wide and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. hit Kyle Busch which sent Kyle spinning. There was some major damage on Ricky Stenhouse Jr’s car as well as Aric Almirola. It appears that the safety flaps placed on the cars will be a huge factor in today’s race. Pit road penalties have happened as well. Between uncontrolled tires, too fast entering, and commitment cone violations.

Stage one ended with a three lap shoot out. Most drivers went ahead and came down pit road for tires and gas. However, roughly the first two rows of cars stayed out for stage points. Clint Bowyer and Ty Dillion went head to head trying to end the stage with championship points and stage wins. Ty Dillion won his first stage to date for the Monster Energy Cup.

We entered stage two with several additional issues on pit road. Along with several more bumpers with dents. Kyle Busch after his first several lap incident was able to come back from the issues, and stay in the top ten. Chase Elliot who was someone most thought could win the race ran into power steering issues. They have truly worked to put rubber down on the top of the track and by stage two the drivers were able to drive anywhere on the track that worked best for their cars.

By the middle of stage three, we had nineteen lead changes with more set to take place. Also had a great battle between teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski. That ended with Joey Logano going three wide to make the pass. With twenty-two laps left to go, Kyle Larson hit the wall and brought out a caution. This made teams make a quick decision on what to do. Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch stayed out to battle for the win. On the restart, the two took off while the rest of the field battled it out in the fifteen lap shoot out. Kyle Busch brought the checkered flag home with Kurt finishing second.

Next Race:

Toyota Owners 400 on Saturday, April 13 at 7:30 pm at Richmond International Speedway.

LegacyMaker Sports Network’s “Monster Minutes” will be there with their Coverage.