Busch earned the distinction of being the first Cup driver to win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway from pole position — even though he didn’t start there. Following an engine change on the No. 18 Toyota, Busch was relegated to the 39th starting position. He moved up to 30th position on Lap 21 and gained four additional spots 14 laps later. When green flag pit stops began, Busch moved to the point for the first time on Lap 54 for two laps.
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Busch methodically drove to the front of the field throughout the race and finally took the lead with 57 laps to go. After a late round of pit stops, he came out third during a restart with 22 laps remaining. From there, it took Busch just five laps to chase down the leader, pushing Bowyer up the track to move out front again.
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver then had to hold on for two final restarts for his 13th career victory.
“We just had to battle back,” Busch said. “We didn’t have the best car out there, but we had a car we kept on working on. I don’t know where I get credited for winning this thing, whether it’s from the back or from the pole. Either way, we conquered both of them.”
Greg Biffle was seventh and Brian Vickers, another Toyota driver with an engine change, was eighth. Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the top 10.
Jimmie Johnson, strong all afternoon, wrecked with six laps to go to finish 24th.
Carl Edwards’ motor blew with two laps to go while he was running fourth. He finished 17th.
Matt Kenseth, trying to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three races of the season, lost his engine six laps into the race and finished last. In all, Roush Fenway Racing lost three of five motors.
FIN ST CAR DRIVER
1 1 18 Kyle Busch
2 2 33 Clint Bowyer
3 3 31 Jeff Burton
4 4 0 David Reutimann
5 5 96 Bobby Labonte
6 6 24 Jeff Gordon
7 7 16 Greg Biffle
8 8 83 Brian Vickers
9 9 26 Jamie McMurray
10 10 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
11 11 9 Kasey Kahne
12 12 29 Kevin Harvick
13 13 20 Joey Logano *
14 14 171 David Gilliland
15 15 7 Robby Gordon
16 16 77 Sam Hornish Jr.
17 17 99 Carl Edwards
18 18 12 David Stremme
19 19 78 Regan Smith
20 20 47 Marcos Ambrose
21 21 82 Scott Speed *
22 22 11 Denny Hamlin
23 23 2 Kurt Busch
24 24 48 Jimmie Johnson
25 25 39 Ryan Newman
26 26 14 Tony Stewart
27 27 55 Michael Waltrip
28 28 34 John Andretti
29 29 19 Elliott Sadler
30 30 7 Casey Mears
31 31 42 Juan Montoya
32 32 1 Martin Truex Jr.
33 33 44 A.J. Allmendinger
34 34 43 Reed Sorenson
35 35 98 Paul Menard
36 36 113 Max Papis
37 37 64 Todd Bodine
38 38 25 Brad Keselowski
39 39 8 Aric Almirola
40 40 5 Mark Martin
41 41 187 Joe Nemechek
42 42 6 David Ragan
43 43 17 Matt Kenseth
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