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Richmond NASCAR: Kurt Busch claims first win of 2015

Kurt Busch claimed the first victory of his 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in commanding fashion at Richmond, leading 291 of the 400 laps

Busch has shown impressive form since returning to competition after missing the first three events due to suspension during an off-track legal case, and headed to Richmond as the driver who had led the most laps in 2015 without taking a win.

He changed that in the rain-delayed Richmond race. The 2004 champion started third and was rarely challenged after moving into the lead just before one-quarter distance.

During a long green flag run in the middle third, he was caught and passed by Jamie McMurray, before the leaders pitted with about 140 laps remaining.

Just laps later, the race went under caution when Brett Moffitt glanced the wall and Busch made a decisive move on the out-of-sequence Brad Keselowski to unlap himself.

That put Busch in the box seat for the final phase of the race, and he never looked back, despite a handful of late cautions.

He eventually finished 0.755 seconds clear of Kevin Harvick to book his place in the Chase.

"It's an incredible feeling," Busch said. "The way everything came together, it felt like we were building, building and building towards a great finish like this."

Harvick put a move on McMurray at the final restart and the latter eventually finished fourth, having run as low as 30th after having to pit twice during the early competition caution due to loose wheel nuts.

Third went to Jimmie Johnson, who started 36th, the five-time champion's march through the field matched by Kasey Kahne, who took sixth from 40th.

Polesitter Joey Logano led the opening 94 laps before fading somewhat mid-race, and eventually finished fifth.

Fellow front-row starter Denny Hamlin struggled and was 22nd, while Keselowski was a frontrunner for most of the afternoon but dropped a cylinder and finished 17th.

RESULTS - 400 LAPS:

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 3h05m16.s
2 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 0.754s
3 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 2.944s
4 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 3.229s
5 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 3.917s
6 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 4.304s
7 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 5.335s
8 Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6.205s
9 Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 7.120s
10 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 7.472s
11 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 7.726s
12 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 8.699s
13 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 9.497s
14 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 10.384s
15 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 11.135s
16 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 11.311s
17 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 12.212s
18 Justin Allgaier HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 15.063s
19 Carl Edwards Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 16.229s
20 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
21 Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Laps
22 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 Laps
23 David Ragan Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 2 Laps
24 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Laps
25 Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
26 Landon Cassill Hillman Smith Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
27 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 2 Laps
28 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 2 Laps
29 Brett Moffitt Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota 4 Laps
30 Casey Mears Germain Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps
31 David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports Ford 4 Laps
32 Alex Bowman Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 4 Laps
33 Michael Annett HScott Motorsports Chevrolet 5 Laps
34 Reed Sorenson Front Row Motorsports Ford 5 Laps
35 Sam Hornish Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 6 Laps
36 Cole Whitt Front Row Motorsports Ford 6 Laps
37 Matt DiBenedetto BK Racing Toyota 6 Laps
38 Jeb Burton BK Racing Toyota 7 Laps
39 Alex Kennedy Circle Sport Chevrolet 8 Laps
40 Jeff Green The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 14 Laps
41 Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet Accident
42 Josh Wise Phil Parsons Racing Ford Engine
43 Joey Gase Go FAS Racing Ford Accident
- J.J. Yeley BK Racing Toyota Withdrawn

LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:

Pos Driver Points
1 Kevin Harvick 357
2 Joey Logano 324
3 Martin Truex Jr. 315
4 Jimmie Johnson 299
5 Brad Keselowski 283
6 Kasey Kahne 275
7 Matt Kenseth 273
8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 271
9 Jamie McMurray 264
10 Jeff Gordon 263
11 Aric Almirola 250
12 Denny Hamlin 245
13 Paul Menard 239
14 Clint Bowyer 235
15 Ryan Newman 234
16 Danica Patrick 230
17 Carl Edwards 228
18 Kurt Busch 222
19 David Ragan 218
20 Kyle Larson 205

PROVISIONALLY IN THE CHASE: Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch

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