Kyle Busch dominated at the high-banked half-mile Bristol Motor Speedway by achieving victories in all major races that took place. O'Reilly 200 Camping World Truck Series race, Food City 250 Nationwide Series race and finally Irwin Tools Night Sprint Cup race which was one of season’s most spotlighted events after celebrating the 100th Cup race at the track.
His accomplishment made Kyle Busch the first driver in NASCAR history to triumph in all three major series in the same week.
"I love Bristol. I love winning. To do it for the first time – to sweep a weekend, that’s pretty awesome. I’ve been trying to do this since I got to NASCAR. Fortunately, tonight I was able to be the first one to do it."
On a night when several drivers into title contention struggled with numerous issues, Busch was in the equivalent of a runaway train.
Pole winner Jimmie Johnson dominated the first half of the race followed by Tony Stewart who was crashed early from behind and dropped in the back of the field. Kyle Busch taking advantage of caution restarts, soon managed to chase Johnson down although starting 19th but in what it seemed a duel between Johnson and Kyle Busch for the victory, Johnson ran into trouble when he was wrecked by Juan Pablo Montoya on lap 262. Montoya bumped Johnson’s right rear and sent him into the wall causing him a lot of damaged and left Kyle Busch almost unchallenged. The pole-sitter lost 66 laps during repairs and finished 35th.
Johnson radioed after the wreck.
"Dude, I left him room. What the hell?"
Jamie MCMurray and David Reutimann tried to threat Kyle's dominance. Yet on Lap 429 of 500, Busch nosed past Reutimann after an intense 15-lap battle and pulled away to a Cup Series victory that makes him a serious title contender having 3 wins with 2 races ahead of the race.
McMurray finally came 3rd, followed by Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne. Jeff Gordon finished 11th and became the second driver to clinch a spot in the Chase.
It was a statement race for Bowyer, who separated himself from Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray in the battle for the final position in the Chase. Bowyer overcame a pit road speeding penalty to finish in the top five, while Martin struggled to a 23rd-place result in a car that didn't handle to his liking.
Boywer now leads McMurray, who supplanted Martin in 13th place, by 100 points. Martin is 14th, 101 points back.
Hamlin snapped a drive shaft near the midpoint of the race and lost 26 laps in the garage while his crew replaced it. Hamlin finished 34th. The only consolation for Johnson and Hamlin is each has a series-best five victories, good for 50 bonus points until now to start the Chase.
