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Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

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Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

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Impact 89FM | WDBM-FM

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Kyle Busch Dominates Weekend, Repeats at the Brickyard

Kyle Busch is a pretty good race car driver. He’s done things inside the car that nobody has done before, shattering multiple records, winning championships, and everything in between. However, what he did this past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has never been done before – and may not ever be duplicated in the history of NASCAR.

Not only did Kyle Busch win the Brickyard 400, repeating from his win in 2015, but he did so starting from the pole, surviving double overtime and leading 149 laps, setting a new record at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. But the buck doesn’t stop there, folks.

The day before, Busch also did what he does best – dominate the XFINITY Series race. He led 62 of the 63 laps of the main event, while also leading all 20 laps in his heat race a couple hours before. Not a single driver all weekend was able to pass Busch during a green flag run in either series. Take a moment and think about that utterly mind boggling statistic.

The “weekend sweep” has been done by Busch multiple times in his career. However, nobody had won the pole for both races and grab the victory – until now. Kyle Busch is making history on a weekly basis, and is cementing his place as one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR history. Like him or not, you have to sit back and appreciate Busch’s dominance in the sport.

“It’s so cool because it hasn’t been done before,” Busch told NBCSN in victory lane following his fourth win of the season. “I’ve tried and been successful at being able to do a lot of things that others haven’t been able to do before.

“I guess I give myself more chances than others because I run more of those [XFINITY] races. It helps you, and when it helps you win on Sunday, that’s what makes everything so worthwhile on those Saturday races. The guys on Saturday do a good job, too, helping prepare me and being able to do this stuff on Sunday […] [the No. 18 car was] hooked up and on rails.”

The real race on Sunday at the Brickyard was for second, as nobody could catch Busch. His teammate, Matt Kenseth, ended up winning that race in his No. 20 car after starting in 18th. Jimmie Johnson finished third and Denny Hamlin finished fourth, as both drivers overcame pit road speeding penalties. Fifth place was Eldora winner Kyle Larson, sixth was Kevin Harvick, seventh was Joey Logano. Martin Truex Jr., Austin Dillon, and Paul Menard rounded out the top ten. Tony Stewart finished just outside the top ten in 11th in his final start at IMS.

Jeff Gordon, who was substituting for Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished 13th in his No. 88 Axalta Chevrolet. After the checkered flag flew, Stewart and Gordon did one final ceremonial lap around the 2.5-mile track, saluting the fans in their home state of Indiana. Stewart asked his spotter, Bob Jeffrey, to approach Gordon’s spotter for the weekend, TJ Majors, and ask if he would be down to make one more lap around the hallowed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The two legends did exactly that, as Busch did his celebratory burnouts on the yard of bricks.

“It was pretty cool […] we’re never going to get the chance to do that again,” Stewart told NBCSN post-race. “I’ll cherish that moment. It’s something that doesn’t happen often.”

Some notable finishers included Chase Elliott in 15th, Kurt Busch in 16th, Brad Keselowski in 17th, Danica Patrick 22nd, Ryan Newman 31st, Carl Edwards 35th, Ryan Blaney 36th, and AJ Allmendinger 38th, with the last four drivers being involved in late race accidents.

Next weekend, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Pocono Raceway for the second race of the season at the Tricky Triangle. Kurt Busch was victorious a couple months ago in his No. 41 Chevrolet, stretching his fuel mileage to capture his first and only victory of the season thus far.

NASCAR has a triple-header this upcoming weekend at two different tracks. The Pennsylvania 400 will go green on Sunday, July 31 just past 1:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN at Pocono. Next, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Pocono Mountains 150 will be going green on Saturday, July 30 just past 1:00 p.m. ET on FS1. Finally, the NASCAR XFINITY Series’ U.S. Cellular 250 taking place at Iowa Speedway later that evening around 8:30 p.m. ET.

 

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