{"id":16640,"date":"2018-04-21T22:30:01","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T03:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=16640"},"modified":"2018-04-22T14:26:02","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T19:26:02","slug":"kyle-busch-wins-third-straight-race-with-late-charge-at-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2018\/04\/21\/kyle-busch-wins-third-straight-race-with-late-charge-at-richmond\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyle Busch wins third straight race with late charge at Richmond"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on April 21, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service<\/em><\/p>\n

RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Take a bow, Kyle Busch<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The driver of the No. 18 Toyota got what he needed late in Saturday night\u2019s Toyota Owners 400<\/strong> at Richmond Raceway\u2014cautions and short runs in the final 40 laps\u2014to win his third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series<\/a> race, matching Kevin Harvick\u2019s feat from earlier in the season.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on April 21, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

Busch streaked away from the rest of the field on a series of late restarts, ultimately beating Chase Elliott to the checkered flag in overtime to record his fifth victory at the .75-mile short track and the 46th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Buck Baker for 15th on the all-time list.<\/p>\n

Pit stops were a crucial aspect of Busch\u2019s victory. Under caution on Lap 370 for a chain-reaction accident involving Jamie McMurray and Ryan Newman, Busch\u2019s crew got the No. 18 Toyota Camry off pit road first and repeated the feat on Lap 391 after David Ragan\u2019s spin in Turn 3 slowed the action for the fifth-time.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, celebrates by doing a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on April 21, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI think the difference for us tonight was just the adjustments (to the car),\u201d Busch said. \u201cTrying to stay with the race track all night long. (Crew chief) Adam Stevens and my guys did a phenomenal job. I think one of the other keys to the night was just my guys \u2013 my pit crew. They got us out front when it mattered the most those last two pit stops. They were awesome tonight on pit road.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busch started 32nd after a conservative qualifying strategy backfired. That was the deepest in the field a winner had ever started at Richmond. Clint Bowyer held the previous mark, winning from 31st in 2008.<\/p>\n

But can Busch win four straight, when the series moves to Talladega next weekend? That\u2019s a tall order, given the vagaries of restrictor-plate racing.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on April 21, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely cool we\u2019ve won three in a row,\u201d Busch said. \u201cWe did it a couple years ago, and now I don\u2019t know if you can shoot for four in a row. It\u2019s hard to go to Talladega with that much of a winning streak and think that you can go to Victory Lane, but we\u2019re going to go there anyway and give it a shot.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll see what we can do\u2026 I think it\u2019s easier to win the Power Ball than to win at Talladega.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last driver to win four straight Monster Energy Series races was Jimmie Johnson, who secured his second series title in 2007 with consecutive Playoff victories at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas and Phoenix.<\/p>\n

Elliott finished second for the eighth-time in his career, improving from seventh to second over a succession of restarts, passing Denny Hamlin for the runner-up spot after a Lap 401 restart in the NASCAR Overtime.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, just very fortunate circumstances there at the end for us, with the way the restarts went,\u201d Elliott said. \u201cHaving a short run there at the end was definitely in our favor. So it was nice to be on the good end of things for the first time in a while.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Flavor Vote Toyota, celabrates with the fans on the front stretch after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway on April 21, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Robert Laberge\/Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cLooking forward, we have to be realistic about how we ran tonight. I think the result shouldn’t weigh into how hard we worked this week because we have some work to do. I think that we have to keep that in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hamlin held third, followed by Joey Logano, who won both the first and second stages before the handle on his No. 22 Team Penske Ford Fusion deteriorated slightly after the sun set. Kevin Harvick ran fifth, overcoming a penalty when one of his crewmen threw pit equipment across his No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Fusion during a stop under caution at the end of Stage 1.<\/p>\n

Johnson came from oblivion to run sixth after brushing the outside wall early in the race, losing a lap on the track and suffering through a lengthy pit stop that sent him to the back of the field. Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/strong> Winning three straight Cup races isn\u2019t a novel experience for Kyle Busch, who scored back-to-back-to-back victories at Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis after missing the first 11 races of the 2015 season because of injury. Busch went on to win the series championship that year\u2026 Fords dominated the action early, taking the first three positions in Stage 1 and the top four in Stage 2\u2026 Pole winner Martin Truex Jr. battled Busch for the lead late in the race, but a problem with the jack on the left side of his car on the final pit stop cost him nine positions. He finished 14th.<\/p>\n

Media Center Interviews:<\/h3>\n

Kyle Busch, car owner Joe Gibbs and crew chief Adam Stevens – <\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RR_MENCS_Busch_042118.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott –<\/p>\nhttp:\/\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RR_MENCS_Hamlin_Elliot_042118.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

 <\/p>\n

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Race – Toyota Owners 400<\/b><\/p>\n

Richmond Raceway<\/b><\/p>\n

Richmond, Virginia<\/b><\/p>\n

Saturday, April 21, 2018<\/b><\/p>\n

               1. (32) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 402.<\/p>\n

               2. (2) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               3. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 402.<\/p>\n

               4. (3) Joey Logano, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               5. (10) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               6. (17) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               7. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               8. (28) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               9. (16) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               10. (26) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 402.<\/p>\n

               11. (6) Kurt Busch, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               12. (9) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               13. (7) Erik Jones, Toyota, 402.<\/p>\n

               14. (1) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 402.<\/p>\n

               15. (23) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               16. (27) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               17. (25) Aric Almirola, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               18. (11) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               19. (8) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

              20. (31) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 402.<\/p>\n

               21. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               22. (13) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               23. (12) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 402.<\/p>\n

               24. (20) Paul Menard, Ford, 401.<\/p>\n

               25. (18) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Chevrolet, 401.<\/p>\n

               26. (19) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 401.<\/p>\n

               27. (33) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 401.<\/p>\n

               28. (30) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 401.<\/p>\n

               29. (29) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 400.<\/p>\n

               30. (35) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 400.<\/p>\n

               31. (24) Michael McDowell, Ford, 400.<\/p>\n

              32. (22) * Daniel Hemric(i), Chevrolet, 399.<\/p>\n

               33. (15) David Ragan, Ford, 399.<\/p>\n

               34. (36) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 397.<\/p>\n

               35. (34) Gray Gaulding, Toyota, 393.<\/p>\n

               36. (38) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 386.<\/p>\n

               37. (14) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 368.<\/p>\n

               38. (37) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Electrical, 188.<\/p>\n

Average Speed of Race Winner:  96.215 mph.<\/p>\n

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 08 Mins, 01 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.511 Seconds.<\/p>\n

Caution Flags:  6 for 46 laps.<\/p>\n

Lead Changes:  16 among 7 drivers.<\/p>\n

Lap Leaders:   M. Truex Jr. 1-38; J. Logano 39-111; Kurt Busch 112-169; C. Bowyer 170-192; J. Logano 193-211; Kurt Busch 212-251; C. Bowyer 252-272; Kyle Busch 273; D. Hamlin 274-276; M. Truex Jr. 277-323; K. Harvick 324-331; C. Bowyer 332; D. Hamlin 333-335; M. Truex Jr. 336-370; Kyle Busch 371-390; M. Truex Jr. 391; Kyle Busch 392-402.<\/p>\n

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  M. Truex Jr. 4 times for 121 laps; Kurt Busch 2 times for 98 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 92 laps; C. Bowyer 3 times for 45 laps; Kyle Busch 3 times for 32 laps; K. Harvick 1 time for 8 laps; D. Hamlin 2 times for 6 laps.<\/p>\n

Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,10,41,24,14,18,9,3,78,4<\/p>\n

Stage #2 Top Ten: 22,14,10,41,24,18,31,2,78,4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service RICHMOND, Va. \u2013 Take a bow, Kyle Busch. The driver of the No. 18 Toyota got what he needed late in Saturday night\u2019s Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond Raceway\u2014cautions and short runs in the final 40 laps\u2014to win his third straight Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, matching Kevin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11],"tags":[59,16,486,418],"class_list":["post-16640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nascar","tag-kyle-busch","tag-nascar","tag-richmond-raceway","tag-toyota-owners-400"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/RR_MENCSVL_042118-e1524424630681.jpg?fit=640%2C462","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-4ko","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16640"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16663,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16640\/revisions\/16663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}