Kyle Busch offered his family and hometown fans a celebration not soon to be forgotten at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Sunday’s Shelby 427.
Though Busch was just 11 when the speedway was completed in 1996, the trophy from his native track is one he’ll always covet.
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“Guys, I don’t believe it,” Busch said over the radio. “This is awesome.”
“Sometimes you don’t have the best car, but you have to dig and claw at it,” replied crew chief Steve Addington.
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.
And despite fighting a loose car that felt “like (he was) wrecking in every corner,” Busch was able to take the lead on Lap 228. When NASCAR threw a debris caution on Lap 259 — the record-breaking 12th caution of the day — Addington called for right side tires and a wedge adjustment before Busch left the pits.
Busch came prepared at the start of the weekend, beating big brother Kurt for the pole to put brothers on the front row for the first time since 2000. But an engine change in his Toyota meant he had to drop to the back of the field at the start of the race, and Busch had to power his way through the field over 285 laps.
In a brief address to the crowd before the start of the race, he promised to get to the front.
“I just said, ‘Hey, you know what? We’re going to the back so get ready for a show. Here it comes,’” he recalled. “Even if I got up to 20th and then backed it in, it was still going to be a show.”
But there were two more cautions, and Busch had to hold off the competition over two final restarts for his first victory of the season. It was his first win at Las Vegas in six career Cup Series starts, 13 total spanning NASCAR’s top three series.
“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.”
He celebrated with thick burnouts through the grass, then apparently blew his engine again. Enveloped in thick white plumes of smoke, he emerged from the clouds to make his trademark bow to the crowd.
He then collected the checkered flag from NASCAR, and kneeled to kiss the finish line on the track.
“I just had to kiss the ground this place was built on,” he said, recalling every phase of construction.
Matt Kenseth, first in the Cup standings entering the race, finished last, after his engine blew six laps into the race. That ended Kenseth’s bid to become the first driver to win the first three races in a Cup season.
“This is pretty cool,” Busch said after his celebratory burnout on the frontstretch. “I didn’t know exactly what it would mean, but when I was coming to the checkered flag, there were knots in my stomach.”
Clint Bowyer regained a lap he lost early and finished second, thanks to crew chief Shane Wilson’s decision to keep him on the track while the other front-runners pitted under caution on Lap 260 of the 285-lap race. Bowyer surrendered the lead to Busch off Turn 2 on Lap 269.
Jeff Burton, Bowyer’s teammate at Richard Childress Racing, took third, followed by David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte. Jeff Gordon (who assumed the series points lead by 18 over Bowyer), Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top 10.
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