Busch brothers battle for victory at Kentucky Speedway

By Jerry Jordan, Editor

SPARTA, Ky. – The Brothers Busch battled in the final laps at Kentucky Speedway to see who would get to the checkered flag first – a scenario that played out earlier this year at Bristol Motor Speedway with Kyle Busch edging out his older brother Kurt but this time the roles were reversed.

Coming from fourth with a strong push by his teammate, Kyle Larson, Kurt Busch rocketed to the front of the field with Kyle Busch on his inside. With the Green-White-Checkered flags waving them on, the two got into each other but Kurt was able to pull ahead by less than half-a-car-length to get his first win in 30 races.

“Yeah, we had a bump side-draft rub right after the start-finish line taking the white,” Kurt Busch said. “And, so it was a matter of how far I wanted to push him left and how far he was trying to push me right and there was a quick movement and the two of us came together. I felt it and then I could smell it. Like oh, boy, I’ve got pretty good tire rub, but I only have a mile to go. It’s going to hold, and it’s going to hold, and if it doesn’t I’m going to be yanking on my wheel to the left to take him with me.”

Before the race, Kurt Busch told Kickin’ the Tires that he knew the car was fast but he had to have things go right on pit road and he had to stay out of trouble on the track. He did both, although the contact with his brother could have been bad. Still, he has been in position to win several times this year with two runner-up finishes and 11 Top 10s in 19 races.

“You know, we’ve got to be in position more often with fast cars, and to have the lap time that the car will produce and to run up front in the Top 5 and to win a stage. That was our first stage win early in the race. And then I didn’t – I just kept telling them, the car is handling good, but you know you’ve got to stay with the track conditions. Keep up with the track conditions, and this was the first race with this amount of traction compound applied, but also with 40 cars out there, it burns off, and you have to make adjustments to keep the speed up. So, I’m really proud of our guys and the way they kept the setup dialed in. I just told them, it’s good, it’s not loose, it’s not tight, just keep up with the track, and that’s – when you win, it’s done by a team.”

It was the third time that Kurt and Kyle had finished one-two but it was the first time that Kurt Busch had come out on the winning end. The other two times – Sonoma Raceway and Bristol – Kyle edged him out. And since he flew up to Kentucky Speedway on Kyle’s plane, the win cost him his ride home.

“I haven’t seen him yet, but I was supposed to fly home with him, and now I’m looking for a plane ride. So that’s Kyle. He won’t even wait,” Kurt Busch said. “We shared a plane ride earlier this year. I think it was Phoenix where he won, and I had to sit there and wait for him to do his little Victory Lane thing. It’ll be fine. We’re going over to his house tomorrow actually for a little get‑together on a Sunday off, and I’m going to plop the trophy down right on his kitchen counter.”

When asked about waiting, Kyle began laughing and said, “No hard feelings, that was fine. It was good but he’s got to find his own way home because I am not waiting for him. No, he’s going to spend two hours in Victory Lane, I am getting the **** out of here.”

The younger Busch said he might have been able to overtake Kurt for the lead but he was on older tires and Kurt has taken four fresh Goodyear Eagles on his last pit stop. Had he tried to drive in too deep, he said he probably would have crashed.

“I got him cleared just by a little bit getting into (Turn) 3 and I think I could have slid up in front of him but I think if I did I would have knocked the wall down on the exit,” Kyle Busch said. “It was just going to be carrying too much speed for how bad my front tires were and how tight I was, you know. So, we just didn’t make the right adjustments through there on the final adjustments on the final pit stop and putting right side tires on it. We got way too tight.”

As the post-race press conference came to a close, Kurt Busch did acknowledge that he isn’t quite ready to break up the band and make 2019 his final year in the NASCAR Cup Series. He said the win gives him a fresh perspective and he’ll probably start sending inquiries Monday looking for 2020 sponsorship. It is the first time since announcing a one-year deal at Chip Ganassi Racing that he publicly said he would be interested in returning for another year of racing.

“For me it’s a matter of just having the dominos line up and everybody fall together and to make it happen,” Kurt Busch said. “I guess the easiest way to move things forward is request for proposals are going out Monday with sponsors, with manufacturers, with team owner. Yes, a win, that might have happened last week at Daytona is one of those moments. Tonight is one of those stamps on – this 1 team is a powerful team, and it would be stupid not to keep this group together, and that’s part of my leverage, but at the end of it, we just want to make it work for all parties.”

RESULTS: 9th Annual Quaker State 400  presented by Walmart at Kentucky Speedway 

               1. (4)  Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 269.

               2. (10)  Kyle Busch, Toyota, 269.

               3. (21)  Erik Jones, Toyota, 269.

               4. (19)  Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 269.

               5. (18)  Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 269.

               6. (7)  Clint Bowyer, Ford, 269.

               7. (11)  Joey Logano, Ford, 269.

               8. (1)  Daniel Suarez, Ford, 269.

               9. (35)  Ryan Newman, Ford, 269.

               10. (25)  Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 269.

               11. (14)  Paul Menard, Ford, 269.

               12. (16)  Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 269.

               13. (15)  Ryan Blaney, Ford, 269.

               14. (2)  Aric Almirola, Ford, 269.

               15. (20)  Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 269.

               16. (23)  Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 269.

               17. (22)  Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 268.

               18. (12)  William Byron, Chevrolet, 268.

               19. (8)  Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 268.

               20. (3)  Brad Keselowski, Ford, 268.

               21. (29)  Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 268.

               22. (5)  Kevin Harvick, Ford, 268.

               23. (27)  Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 267.

               24. (6)  Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 267.

               25. (17)  Michael McDowell, Ford, 267.

               26. (26)  Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

               27. (30)  Matt Tifft #, Ford, 267.

               28. (28)  Corey LaJoie, Ford, 266.

               29. (24)  David Ragan, Ford, 266.

               30. (13)  Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 266.

               31. (32)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 264.

               32. (33)  Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 263.

               33. (31)  Bayley Currey(i), Ford, 262.

               34. (36)  Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 260.

               35. (9)  Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 238.

               36. (34)  BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 110.