Kyle Busch took advantage of a rare mistake by four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson to pull away for the win Sunday in the “Autism Speaks 400 presented by HERSHEY’S Milk & Milkshakes” at Dover International Speedway.
Busch, 25, a champion in waiting, and Johnson, a proven one, waged quite a battle on the high-banked, one-mile track, the lead see-sawing back and forth between the two each time the race resumed following five caution periods and assorted green-flag stops.
But when Johnson was flagged for speeding while exiting the pits during a round of green-flag stops on lap 363 and forced to return to pit road to serve a drive-through penalty, the battle was effectively over.
By the time Johnson returned to the track, he was one lap down. And Busch was long gone.
Jeff Burton finished second by 7.551 seconds. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann completed the top five.
There were eight race leaders, but once Kasey Kahne faltered—bitten by a broken gear-shifter early in the race—the battle for the win was between Busch and Johnson.
“I think the race off pit road really won it for us,” Busch said, noting that he didn’t know if Johnson sped in an attempt to beat him back onto the track, “but that’s what I’m going with.
“I wouldn’t say that we psyched Jimmie out. I mean, he’s won four championships so he’s pretty much been through all the head games in this world.
“But … it kind of turned our way today. Unfortunately for those guys … they got busted for speeding and we weren’t able to beat them outright and race them around to the end of the race the last 30 laps.
“But I feel like our car was at least good enough where we could at least challenge them for it, and I’m going to go out on a limb and say that we could have beat him today, with or without the penalty. But he had a fast racecar all day. It was a fun battle there racing him through the last … 100 laps or so.”
FIN CAR DRIVER MAKE 1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 2 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 3 17 Matt Kenseth Ford 4 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 5 0 David Reutimann Toyota 6 16 Greg Biffle Ford 7 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 8 99 Carl Edwards Ford 9 14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet 10 20 Joey Logano Toyota 11 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 12 56 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 13 39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 14 43 A.J. Allmendinger Ford 15 5 Mark Martin Chevrolet 16 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 17 33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 18 12 Brad Keselowski Dodge 19 2 Kurt Busch Dodge 20 9 Kasey Kahne Ford 21 98 Paul Menard Ford 22 83 Casey Mears Toyota 23 82 Scott Speed Toyota 24 78 Regan Smith Chevrolet 25 38 David Gilliland Ford 26 6 David Ragan Ford 27 26 David Stremme Ford 28 19 Elliott Sadler Ford 29 34 Travis Kvapil Ford 30 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 31 7 Robby Gordon Toyota 32 1 Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 33 37 Kevin Conway * Ford 34 77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 35 42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet 36 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 37 46 J.J. Yeley Dodge 38 87 Joe Nemechek Toyota 39 71 Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 40 9 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 41 66 Dave Blaney Toyota 42 55 Michael McDowell Toyota 43 36 Johnny Sauter Chevrolet
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Kyle Busch Wins ‘Autism Speaks 400’ NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Dover
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