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NASCAR Cup: Kyle Busch dominates to claim first Charlotte victory

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch dominated the NASCAR Cup race at Charlotte to pick up his fourth series win of the season

Starting from pole position, Busch led 377 of the race's 400 laps to take his first victory at Charlotte, the only circuit on the calendar he had not previously won a points-scoring race at.

Joey Logano passed Busch at the start, although Busch was able to get back ahead of the Team Penske Ford six laps later and went on to win all the stages during the race.

Busch stayed in front through comfortable pitstops from his JGR crew and fast restarts after cautions, only giving up the lead during green flag pitstops.

Stewart-Haas Racing's Kevin Harvick looked likely to challenge Busch after moving from the back row of the grid to the top five in the opening 65 laps, but he hit the wall on lap 83 after suffering a left front tyre failure.

Martin Truex Jr finished the race in second after starting in 15th. The Furniture Row Racing driver had to make his way through the pack again during the third stage after he was penalised for speeding in the pitlane.

Penske's Brad Keselowski was off the pace during the first half of the race, but made his way into the top five in the final stage of the race and was running in third with 20 laps to go.

But Keselowski was beaten to third by Busch's JGR team-mate Denny Hamlin, who ran consistently inside the top 10 and completed a Toyota 1-2-3.

Jimmie Johnson put in a great performance to finish fifth in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, having spun on lap 120 after making slight contact with Hamlin.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Jamie McMurray rose up the order and into the top 10 during the second half of the race and took sixth place, with his team-mate Kyle Larson finishing in seventh.

Kurt Busch moved up from 16th at the start to eighth by the chequered flag for SHR, with Hendrick's Alex Bowman and Roush Fenway Racing's Ricky Stenhouse Jr rounding out the top 10.

Result - 400 laps

Pos Driver Team Car Gap
1 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 4h23m22.s
2 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 3.823s
3 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13.598s
4 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 16.777s
5 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 17.164s
6 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 17.925s
7 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 20.548s
8 Kurt Busch Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 26.093s
9 Alex Bowman Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 28.140s
10 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1 Lap
11 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Lap
12 Clint Bowyer Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1 Lap
13 Aric Almirola Stewart-Haas Racing Ford 1 Lap
14 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing Ford 1 Lap
15 Daniel Suarez Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1 Lap
16 Darrell Wallace Jr. Richard Petty Motorsports Chevrolet 1 Lap
17 Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Racing Ford 1 Lap
18 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports Ford 1 Lap
19 Erik Jones Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1 Lap
20 Kasey Kahne Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
21 Ty Dillon Germain Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 1 Lap
23 A.J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 1 Lap
24 Ross Chastain Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 2 Laps
25 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 4 Laps
26 Corey LaJoie TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 4 Laps
27 Parker Kligerman Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota 6 Laps
28 Landon Cassill StarCom Racing Chevrolet 6 Laps
29 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 6 Laps
30 Jeffrey Earnhardt Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 11 Laps
31 Gray Gaulding BK Racing Toyota 12 Laps
32 Timmy Hill MBM Motorsports Toyota 17 Laps
33 B.J. McLeod Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 27 Laps
34 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 52 Laps
35 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 56 Laps
36 Ryan Blaney Team Penske Ford Engine
37 Matt DiBenedetto Go FAS Racing Ford Oil leak
38 J.J. Yeley NY Racing Team Chevrolet Fuel pump
39 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet Accident
40 Kevin Harvick Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Accident


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