By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Mission accomplished, a record set, and a torch passed to the next generation.

Kyle Busch set a Brickyard record for laps led and became the first driver to sweep both a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series race from the pole in the same weekend, but the real symbolism of Sunday’s Crown Royal 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway didn’t come until the event was over.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

As Busch spun his No. 18 Toyota in a celebratory burnout and took his customary bows near the yard of bricks, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon slowly circled the track, driving side by side, waving to fans acknowledging their career accomplishments after what is expected to be their respective last appearances at the Brickyard.

In heat that reached 130 degrees on the asphalt, Stewart recovered from a pit road speeding penalty to finish 11th in his retirement year, and Gordon ran 13th in what was an unanticipated substitute role for ailing Dale Earnhardt Jr.

But Busch received his share of the applause, too, as fans have begun to acknowledge his ascent, at age 31, to the small group of elite drivers in NASCAR’s history.

To say he accomplished his second straight weekend sweep of the Indy races emphatically is to understate the case. In a race that went 25 miles beyond its scheduled distance, thanks to a rash of late cautions, Busch led 149 of 170 laps, a record for the event.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, poses with the winner’s decal in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Jeff Curry/NASCAR via Getty Images)

In the two-lap overtime shootout that decided the issue, Busch crossed the finish line an astounding 2.126 seconds ahead of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Matt Kenseth, who ran second.

“This Toyota was awesome today,” said Busch, who won his second Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis, his fourth of the season and the 38th of his career. “It was just so fast and able to get out front and stay out front. Not even some of my teammates could challenge. This was hooked up and on rails.

“Adam Stevens (crew chief) and these guys are a phenomenal group, and I’m proud to be with them. It’s fun to come out here and have such a dominant piece at Indy. They don’t come along often, so I was just hoping I didn’t screw it up.”

Busch is acutely aware of the history of the sport, and completing a weekend sweep by winning both races from the pole was high on his bucket list.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, celebrates winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

“It’s so cool because it hasn’t been done before,” said the defending Sprint Cup champion, who is the second driver to win back-to-back races at the Brickyard—the other being Jimmie Johnson in 2008 and 2009. “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.”

Busch was on cruise control, heading toward an easy victory, when NASCAR called a debris caution on Lap 150 to remove a piece of sheet metal near the exit from Turn 2.

One of six drivers who stayed out on older tires, Busch led the field to green on Lap 154. Moments later, the No. 19 Toyota of Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Carl Edwards tightened up in the inside lane, twitched out of control and ignited a five-car wreck that necessitated a stoppage that lasted 7 minutes, 25 seconds.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, kisses the bricks with his wife, Samantha, and son, Brexton, after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Bobby Ellis/Getty Images)

“It felt like I just got tight down there,” Edwards said. “I had a little trouble there on the starts, and I got down there, we were fighting really hard for the bottom, and it felt like I got tight with whoever was on the outside of me.

“If indeed that is what happened, I apologize. That’s pretty frustrating. … It felt like I got in there and just scrubbed that right front.”

The following two restarts also brought cautions, the eighth and final one coming when Jamie McMurray made an ill-advised lane change in front of Stewart near the end of pit road and spun sideways off the front bumper of Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet, also collecting Ryan Newman and Brian Scott.

When the race restarted on Lap 169, Busch cleared Joey Logano and Kenseth off Turn 1 and pulled away relentlessly until the finish.

Johnson overcame a pass-through penalty for speeding on pit road to run third, followed by Denny Hamlin, another speeding penalty victim and the third JGR driver in the top four. Kyle Larson came home fifth, posting his fourth top five of the season.

But the story of the day was the long good-bye from Stewart and Gordon, juxtaposed against the backdrop of Busch’s emphatic hello to greatness at the flag stand.

Jeff Gordon, driver of the #88 Axalta Chevrolet, and Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet, take a cooldown lap together after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images)

(L-R) Jeff Gordon, driver of the #88 Axalta Chevrolet, hugs Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet, after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images)

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – Crown Royal presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Speedway, Indiana

Sunday, July 24, 2016

                   1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 170.

                   2. (18) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 170.

                   3. (13) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 170.

                   4. (4) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 170.

                   5. (10) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 170.

                   6. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 170.

                   7. (14) Joey Logano, Ford, 170.

                   8. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 170.

                   9. (12) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 170.

                   10. (23) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 170.

                   11. (3) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 170.

                   12. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 170.

                   13. (21) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 170.

                   14. (22) Chris Buescher #, Ford, 170.

                   15. (15) Chase Elliott #, Chevrolet, 170.

                   16. (11) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 170.

                   17. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 170.

                   18. (26) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 170.

                   19. (9) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 170.

                   20. (33) Landon Cassill, Ford, 169.

                   21. (31) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 169.

                   22. (24) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 169.

                   23. (27) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 168.

                   24. (34) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 168.

                   25. (29) Aric Almirola, Ford, 168.

                   26. (37) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 168.

                   27. (32) Brian Scott #, Ford, 168.

                   28. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 167.

                   29. (35) * Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 167.

                   30. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 167.

                   31. (6) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, Accident, 166.

                   32. (36) * Ryan Ellis(i), Toyota, 166.

                   33. (39) * Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 165.

                   34. (40) Patrick Carpentier, Ford, 164.

                   35. (2) Carl Edwards, Toyota, Accident, 154.

                   36. (17) * Ryan Blaney #, Ford, Accident, 152.

                   37. (28) David Ragan, Toyota, Accident, 117.

                   38. (25) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, Overheating, 71.

                   39. (19) Greg Biffle, Ford, Accident, 53.

                   40. (30) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, Engine, 4.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  128.94 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 17 Mins, 46 Secs. Margin of Victory:  2.126 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  8 for 34 laps.

Lead Changes:  4 among 3 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   Kyle Busch 1-26; B. Keselowski 27-41; Kyle Busch 42-55; J. Logano 56-61; Kyle Busch 62-170.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 3 times for 149 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 15 laps; J. Logano 1 time for 6 laps.

Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick – 671; B. Keselowski – 647; Kurt Busch – 627; J. Logano – 606; Kyle Busch – 601; C. Edwards – 593; M. Truex Jr. – 573; J. Johnson – 552; M. Kenseth – 545; D. Hamlin – 542; C. Elliott # – 525; A. Dillon – 520; R. Newman – 507; J. Mcmurray – 496; K. Larson – 472; K. Kahne – 462.

Akbar Gbaja-Biamila, host of American Ninja Warrior, participates in pre-race festivities prior to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet, takes the green flag at the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Mobil 1/Chevy Summer Sell Down Chevrolet, leads Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, and Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, races the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Red Vest Chevrolet, leads Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, and Carl Edwards, driver of the #19 Stanley Toyota, lead the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Skittles Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 24, 2016 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sean Gardner/NASCAR via Getty Images)