NASCAR Atlanta: Kurt Busch beats brother Kyle for dramatic victory

After spending much of the race swapping the lead, Kyle Busch emerged as the leader on lap 213 of 260 following the final round of green-flag pitstops.

But Kurt did not go away and methodically began chasing Kyle back down. With the help of Ross Chastain, Kurt’s Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate, slowing up Kyle, Kurt regained the lead with 25 laps remaining.

Although Kyle mounted several more challenges for the lead, Kurt was finally able to put some distance between the two after Kyle brushed the wall Kurt went on to claim the win by 1.237 seconds.

“Hell yeah, we beat Kyle,” Kurt exclaimed after exiting his #1 Chevrolet. “I taught that kid everything I know. He should be grateful.”

Together, the Busch brothers combined to lead 235 of the 260 laps with Kurt on top on 144.

“That’s the biggest thing, just trying to pull out all the tricks and beat little brother,” Kurt said. “He’s one of the best in our sport. It took a team-mate, in Ross Chastain, but what an incredible car and execution all day.

“We’ve won a race, we’re in the playoffs, no sweat going into September.”

The race was the last on Atlanta Motor Speedway’s current surface and configuration, which is likely to be a good thing, as the race was halted for 20 minutes between Stages 2 and 3 to repair chunks of track that came up on the front straight.

The win is Kurt Busch’s first of the season and locks him into the series playoffs, while four spots in the 16-driver field remain open with five races left in the regular season.

“I just kept asking the track, ‘Hey I’ve been here a long time with you. I missed the race in 2000, then I came back and won in 2002’. To win this, on the old asphalt, I’m very appreciative to win the last race on this asphalt at Atlanta,” Kurt said.

Kyle Busch was not nearly as pleased with Chastain as his brother.

“Would’ve been a hell of a lot better if it wasn’t for some butthead. But it is what it is,” Kyle said. “It was ours to lose and we lost it.”

Martin Truex Jr, who started the race from the rear of the field, fought back to finish third for Joe Gibbs Racing, with Alex Bowman in fourth for Hendrick Motorsports and Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney completing the top five.

Richard Childress Racing’s Tyler Reddick claimed sixth place ahead of last weekend’s winner at Road America Chase Elliott, as Job Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell, Matt DiBenedetto (Wood Brothers Racing) and Brad Keselowski (Team Penske) rounded out the top 10.

Results

Cla	#	Driver	Manufacturer	Laps	Time	Gap	Interval	Laps Led
1	1	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	260	2:50'08.275			144
2	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	260	2:50'09.512	1.237	1.237	91
3	19	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	260	2:50'10.622	2.347	1.110
4	48	Alex Bowman	Chevrolet	260	2:50'17.316	9.041	6.694
5	12	Ryan Blaney	Ford	260	2:50'22.246	13.971	4.930
6	8	Tyler Reddick	Chevrolet	260	2:50'23.256	14.981	1.010
7	9	Chase Elliott	Chevrolet	260	2:50'25.359	17.084	2.103	13
8	20	Christopher Bell	Toyota	260	2:50'28.302	20.027	2.943
9	21	Matt DiBenedetto	Ford	260	2:50'31.305	23.030	3.003
10	2	Brad Keselowski	Ford	260	2:50'32.605	24.330	1.300
11	4	Kevin Harvick	Ford	260	2:50'32.982	24.707	0.377
12	3	Austin Dillon	Chevrolet	260	2:50'33.310	25.035	0.328
13	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	260	2:50'36.145	27.870	2.835	2
14	23	Bubba Wallace	Toyota	260	2:50'38.991	30.716	2.846
15	14	Chase Briscoe	Ford	260	2:50'39.764	31.489	0.773
16	17	Chris Buescher	Ford	260	2:50'40.216	31.941	0.452
17	41	Cole Custer	Ford	260	2:50'41.284	33.009	1.068	1
18	5	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	260	2:50'41.563	33.288	0.279
19	22	Joey Logano	Ford	259	2:50'13.225	1 Lap	1 Lap
20	24	William Byron	Chevrolet	259	2:50'14.801	1 Lap	1.576
21	42	Ross Chastain	Chevrolet	259	2:50'15.980	1 Lap	1.179
22	7	Corey Lajoie	Chevrolet	258	2:50'04.715	2 Laps	1 Lap
23	10	Aric Almirola	Ford	258	2:50'15.327	2 Laps	10.612	8
24	43	Erik Jones	Chevrolet	258	2:50'26.071	2 Laps	10.744
25	37	Ryan Preece	Chevrolet	258	2:50'30.867	2 Laps	4.796	1
26	38	Anthony Alfredo	Ford	257	2:50'35.899	3 Laps	1 Lap
27	34	Michael McDowell	Ford	256	2:50'11.714	4 Laps	1 Lap
28	6	Ryan Newman	Ford	256	2:50'25.361	4 Laps	13.647
29	77	Justin Haley	Chevrolet	255	2:50'38.185	5 Laps	1 Lap
30	78	B.J. McLeod	Ford	254	2:50'27.295	6 Laps	1 Lap
31	53	Garrett Smithley	Chevrolet	253	2:50'27.561	7 Laps	1 Lap
32	15	Bayley Currey	Chevrolet	253	2:50'29.281	7 Laps	1.720
33	51	Cody Ware	Chevrolet	253	2:50'34.997	7 Laps	5.716
34	52	Josh Bilicki	Ford	248	2:50'14.982	12 Laps	5 Laps
35	00	Quin Houff	Chevrolet	248	2:50'36.991	12 Laps	22.009
36	99	Daniel Suarez	Chevrolet	243	2:50'24.382	17 Laps	5 Laps
37	47	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Chevrolet	178	2:48'22.609	82 Laps	65 Laps
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