Kurt Busch wins the “Battle Of The Busch’s” holds off Kyle at Kentucky (7-20-19)

By: Becca Cottingham

Headline Photo Credit: BG Daily News

We head to Kentucky for a Saturday night race on a mile and a half race track. The drivers will have to deal with a changing track as we go from dealing with the sun to being under the lights. The sun will not set fully on the track until roughly 9 PM. We have a four hundred mile race ahead of us that is going to be a blast. But we had speedy dry put down right before the race started. the race starts with the drivers going three wide until things settle down by the third lap. This is one of the best showings so far that Daniel Suarez has had in the series so far. He was able to pull away prior to hitting traffic. We also had Kyle Busch rub with one of the drivers racing for position. Daniel Suarez has past multiple cars putting them a lap down but this is keeping Aric Almirola time to catch up to him to compete for the lead. We have multiple drivers that are hitting pit road with about thirty eight laps to go in the first stage one. The sun is going to be a huge factor during stage one and stage more than likely stage two. Chase Elliott brought out the first caution due to flat right front. After the restart we watch Corey Lajoie spun out and brought out another caution. With seventeen to go we have our third cation of the race when two cars spin. Pit strategy may play a role since we are coming into the closing laps. Kurt Busch was able to use strategy and got a stage win which gives the one team their first stage win of the season. Now the question is can Kurt keep in front and maybe win the race?

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got out front and led multiple laps until Kyle Busch made a power move to pass him. Green flag pit stop for Daniel Suarez and he got hit with a penalty for being to fast on pit road. Joey Logano came down pit road due to a vibration. They found that the right tire was starting to come apart. Austin Dillion also has an issue with the alternator belt coming off. So he is having to shut off things and possibly going to his second battery if he has one while they make a plan to fix the issue. Daniel Hemric had an issue of pit road and removed the jack from the pit box. Denny Hamlin got hit with and uncontrollable tire again. These issues seem to keep happening with the number eleven group. Kyle Busch was able to pit and keep the lead to win the second stage. He has two wins already at Kentucky Speedway.

Austin Dillon on the restart for stage three has a gear issue. So he drops to the bottom of the track to get to pit road. The Busch brothers are battling hard for the fourth position of the race. They will race each other hard and Kurt is going to give it everything after that call last week at Daytona. Kurt wants that win and he will not give his brother any slack in order to try to get to the front. Clint Bowyer leading the race is going to try to keep everyone behind him due wanting the win himself. Jimmie Johnson made contact with the wall and blew a right rear tire and it brought out the caution. He was running seventh at the time of the spin. Kevin Harvick was also hit with a tire penalty as well during the caution from Jimmie Johnson’s spin. William Byron got hit with a black flag trying to get a jump on the race. Clint Bowyer truly played a game with him holding back on the restart. Kyle Busch says Clint Bowyer even break checked the entire field but data shows something different. Kyle Busch also wants someone to talk to Joey about taking the group three wide when space seems to be limited. With forty to go we have the last set of drivers making what will probably their final stop of the race. Drivers and crews must not make any mistakes during these green flag pit stops or it could be costly for everyone. We trade who leads the race back and forth as multiple drivers are playing the pits. Joey Logano looked like he was ready to take this race to the end. However, Bubba Wallace had a right rear go down and he slowed down enough to keep it out of the fence. With this accident we will go into overtime at Kentucky. Kurt Busch went to the outside making three wide. Kyle and Kurt go at it for first place. They make contact and they fight hard for the battle. Kyle slides and Kurt kept the handling on his car and was able to win the race in a huge battle.

Next Race:

Sunday, July 21 at New Hampshire at 3pm EST for the Foxwoods Resort Casino 301