NASCAR Cup Fontana: Kyle Busch powers to record-breaking victory

Busch, who moved from Joe Gibbs Racing to Richard Childress Racing over the winter, grabbed the lead on lap 143 and held on through a final round of green-flag pitstops to keep clear of Chase Elliott to win by 2.998 seconds.

The win gives the 37-year-old the outright record for most consecutive seasons with at least one victory, as he pulls clear of seven-time NASCAR champion Richard Petty to move on to 19 straight seasons.

Busch is also the final winner on the two-mile track layout at Fontana as it is scheduled to be transformed into a short track and will not be on the 2024 Cup schedule.

In addition, the last time Busch won a Cup race in a car not from Joe Gibbs Racing was 25 March 2007, nearly 16 years ago, when Busch drove for Hendrick Motorsports.

But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the two-time Cup champion, as he had to overcome a pit speeding penalty and battle his way back to the front of the field.

“Could have, should have, would have last week. I think it’s just phenomenal,” Busch said, reflecting on missing out at the Daytona 500 last weekend. “I can’t thank Richard and Judy [Childress] enough, Austin [Dillon] for calling me and getting me talking and getting me the opportunity to come over here to RCR.

Race winner Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

“The guys did a great job. Everybody that worked so hard in the off-season. We did a lot of sim stuff, a lot of testing in general just trying to get up to speed. There is nothing more rewarding than being able to go to victory lane.”

Ross Chastain led the most laps with 91 but ended up third as he faded towards the end, while his Trackhouse Racing team-mate Daniel Suarez was fourth and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five.

With Denny Hamlin sixth, Brad Keselowski bounced back from a crash at the Daytona 500 to take seventh, ahead of Alex Bowman and Austin Dillon, as last weekend’s runner-up at Daytona Joey Logano completed the top 10.

NASCAR Cup - Fontana race results - 200 laps

Cla	Driver		Manufacturer	Gap	Interval
1	Kyle Busch		Chevrolet
2	Chase Elliott		Chevrolet	2.998	2.998
3	Ross Chastain		Chevrolet	7.353	4.355
4	Daniel Suarez		Chevrolet	11.866	4.513
5	Kevin Harvick		Ford	13.268	1.402
6	Denny Hamlin		Toyota	13.296	0.028
7	Brad Keselowski		Ford	13.541	0.245
8	Alex Bowman		Chevrolet	16.289	2.748
9	Austin Dillon		Chevrolet	16.795	0.506
10	Joey Logano		Ford	17.013	0.218
11	Martin Truex Jr.		Toyota	17.105	0.092
12	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.		Chevrolet	23.231	6.126
13	Chris Buescher		Ford	24.082	0.851
14	Corey Lajoie		Chevrolet	29.296	5.214
15	Harrison Burton		Ford	34.796	5.500
16	Ty Gibbs		Toyota	36.726	1.930
17	Todd Gilliland		Ford	36.869	0.143
18	Michael McDowell		Ford	41.379	4.510
19	Erik Jones		Chevrolet	42.406	1.027
20	Chase Briscoe		Ford	43.955	1.549
21	Justin Haley		Chevrolet	1 Lap	1 Lap
22	Noah Gragson		Chevrolet	1 Lap	1.730
23	J.J. Yeley		Ford	1 Lap	15.742
24	B.J. McLeod		Chevrolet	1 Lap	2.555
25	William Byron		Chevrolet	2 Laps	1 Lap
26	Ryan Blaney		Ford	4 Laps	2 Laps
27	Cody Ware		Ford	5 Laps	1 Lap
28	Austin Cindric		Ford	6 Laps	1 Lap
29	Kyle Larson		Chevrolet	15 Laps	9 Laps
30	Bubba Wallace		Toyota	28 Laps	13 Laps
31	Ty Dillon		Chevrolet	60 Laps	32 Laps
32	Christopher Bell		Toyota	112 Laps	52 Laps
33	Ryan Preece		Ford	113 Laps	1 Lap
34	Tyler Reddick		Toyota	113 Laps	5'34.369
35	Aric Almirola		Ford	114 Laps	1 Lap
36	A.J. Allmendinger		Chevrolet	125 Laps	11 Laps
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