Race report
NASCAR Cup Bristol
Leaders crash and Kyle Busch inherits Bristol Cup win
Kyle Busch had a perfect view of the battle for the win on the last lap in Sunday night’s Bristol Dirt Race and an even better one when it was over.
Jim Utter
Edited: Apr 18, 2022, 1:36 PM
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Entering the final turn of the final of 250 laps, Chase Briscoe got into leader Tyler Reddick which sent both cars spinning out of control.
Reddick was able to straighten out his No. 8 Chevrolet and continue but not before Busch – who was running far back in third – nipped him at the checkered flag by 0.330 seconds and stole the victory.
As he crossed the finish line, Busch yelled of his team radio, “I’ll take it!”
The win ends a 25-race winless streak by Busch, who now owns nine total Cup wins at the .533-mile track. Busch also tied seven-time Cup champion Richard Petty’s streak of 18 straight seasons with at least one victory.
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“We got one. Doesn’t matter how you get them. It’s all about getting them,” said Busch, who was greeted by a cascade of boos from the Bristol crowd. “I mean, man, I feel like Dale Earnhardt Sr. right now. This is awesome. I didn’t do anything.
“It’s just a testament to our team, Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota … and it being fast, fast enough to stay in contention, fast enough to see those guys. I don’t know why we couldn’t fire off after it rained, both times. It just would not fire. Took it about 20 laps to get going.
“Overall, just really pumped to be back. Real pumped to get a win. This one means a lot. I can win on any surface here at Bristol. Bring it on, baby.”
Joey Logano, who won the inaugural Bristol Dirt Race last season, finished third, Kyle Larson was fourth and Kyle Larson rounded out the top-five.
Completing the top-10 were Alex Bowman, Christopher Bell, Chase Elliott, Michael McDowell and Ty Dillon.
Briscoe ended up 22nd.
“I was running Tyler down and tried throwing a slider and didn’t expect him to drive in there on me and I got loose. I was spinning either way,” Briscoe said. “I feel terrible. I didn’t want to wreck him.”
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Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, most teams elected to pit but Kyle Busch was among those who stayed out. When the race resumed on Lap 151, Busch led the way followed by Logano and Blaney. Briscoe lined up 14th.
Reddick shot to the middle between Kyle Busch and Logano off Turn 2 and grabbed the lead shortly after the restart.
Cody Ware, Elliott and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. got collected in an incident off Turn 4 on Lap 162 to bring out another caution. On the restart on Lap 168, Reddick led the way followed by Logano, Blaney and Austin Dillon.
Erik Jones spun off Turn 2 on Lap 169 and suffered some damage to his No. 43 Chevrolet, which produced the 11th caution of the race. The race resumed with 75 laps remaining and Reddick in command.
Todd Gilliland spun off Turn 2 on Lap 178 which again put the race under caution. Reddick led on the restart on Lap 184 followed by Logano and Austin Dillon.
Kyle Busch blasted from sixth to second after the restart.
On Lap 203, rain began to pick up in intensity as Stenhouse hit the wall and NASCAR displayed a caution. The race resumed on Lap 211 with Reddick still out front.
Austin Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet lost an engine on Lap 212, sending him back into the field where he collected Kurt Busch and J.J. Yeley in an accident and brought out caution No. 14.
The race returned to green with 33 laps to go and Reddick still out front. Rain picked up during the caution causing NASCAR to display the red flag with 28 laps remaining.
The rain ended after a short delay, the race returned to caution and then went green on Lap 227.
With 17 laps to go, Briscoe had made his way back to second place, almost a second behind Reddick.
Stage 2
Briscoe reclaimed the lead with 10 laps remaining and held off a fast-approaching Bell to take the Stage 2 win.
Daniel Suarez ended up third, Elliott was fourth and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, most teams took advantage of the six-minute break to pit but Suarez was among those who stayed out and inherited the lead.
When the race resumed on Lap 76, Saurez led the way followed by Ross Chastain and Briscoe. Larson lined up in fourth.
Larson quickly moved into second after the restart.
On Lap 85, Denny Hamlin reported he was “losing power” and dropped back to the rear of the field.
On Lap 92, Bowman spun off Turn 4 to bring out the fourth caution of the race. Hamlin took his No. 11 Toyota to the garage with an engine issue which brought an early end to his race.
The race returned to green on Lap 97 with Suarez out front followed by Larson, Briscoe and Chastain.
On Lap 98, a multi-car wreck erupted on the backstretch that collected Kevin Harvick, Bowman, Corey LaJoie and Noah Gragson.
The race resumed under the threat of rain on Lap 106 with Suarez still in command followed by Chastain and Larson.
Brad Keselowski spun off Turn 2 to bring out a caution. The race returned to green on Lap 119 with Suarez still leading followed by Chastain and Kyle Busch.
Soon after the race was declared official following the completion of 125 laps, a caution was displayed on Lap 126 for debris on the backstretch of the track.
The race returned to green on Lap 132 with Suarez still out front, followed by Bell and Larson.
LaJoie wrecked on the backstretch shortly after the restart to bring out the eighth caution of the race. Suarez remained in the lead on the restart on Lap 140.
Briscoe and Bell went three-wide with Suarez on the restart off Turn 2 and Briscoe came away with the lead.
Stage 1
Larson claimed the Stage 1 win under caution of Ty Dillon as Justin Allgaier wrecked on the last lap to bring out a caution.
Bell ended up third, Austin Dillon was fourth and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
Cole Custer started on the pole but Briscoe dove to the inside and grabbed the lead off Turn 4 to move out front on Lap 1.
On Lap 11, Custer was forced to pit under green because of a buildup of mud on his front grille.
On Lap 13, NASCAR threw a caution and ordered all teams to pit to clean their grilles and windows. Teams would not lose positions on the track.
Aric Almirola were both allowed to return to the lead lap and Custer got two of his laps back because they had to pit for mud before the caution was thrown. They did not return to their original positions, however.
The race returned to green on Lap 26 with Briscoe out front.
With 40 laps remaining in the stage, Briscoe held about a half-a-second lead over Larson with Ty Dillon running third.
Chase Briscoe lost the lead on Lap 49 to Larson and then he spun out coming off Turn 2 on Lap 50 to bring out a caution.
The race returned to green on Lap 56 with Larson out front followed by Ty Dillon and Kyle Busch.
With 10 laps to go, Larson’s lead over Ty Dillon remained about a half-a-second while Bell moved into third.
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