The Associated Press
Steve Reed
BRISTOL, Tenn.–Kyle Busch was all smiles and Kyle Larson was all scowls.
Busch passed Larson with five laps to go at Bristol Motor Speedway yesterday afternoon to win his second-straight Cup Series race, culminating a rain-delayed weekend when temperatures dipped into the high 30s F.
Busch celebrated by thrusting his arms in the air and with a traditional bow to the crowd on top of his No. 18 Toyota while the snow began falling–a fitting end to a long weather-stalled weekend.
Busch said after the race that he didn’t have the best car but “we had the best car right at the end.”
The loss left Larson, who led a race-high 200 laps, extremely frustrated.
“I feel like every time I race here, I almost get a win,” Larson said of his second-place finish.
“I’ve been beat by Kyle [Busch] about every time I race here, too, so that gets frustrating after a while.”
It was Busch’s 45th career Cup Series win, moving him ahead of Bill Elliott into sole possession of 16th place.
It also was his seventh win at Bristol while Larson has yet to win at the half-mile track.
Coincidentally, Busch won with the aid of longtime nemesis Brad Keselowski, who wrecked with 30 laps left, bringing out the caution flag.
Larson appeared to have the car to beat yesterday, running well ahead of the pack on long green flag runs. But after Busch took on tires during the yellow flag stop, he knew he was back in the race with 22 laps to go.
He finally caught Larson with five laps left, bumped him out of the way, and scooted by.
Larson made a late charge but couldn’t catch him.
“When it comes down to crunch time, you gotta go,” Busch reasoned.
Asked if Keselowski had moved up on his list of favourites, Busch laughed and said, “That’s pushing it too far.”
Larson was leading when the race was postponed Sunday with 296 laps remaining after being delayed several times because of rain.
The race also was delayed for about 35 minutes yesterday but the cars finally got back on the track after the rain and sleet subsided.
Larson said he wasn’t sure why his car got loose late in the race, which allowed Busch to get by him.
“I just really didn’t have any grip,” he noted. “I thought it would tighten up for me and I could get going, but it never really did and I was just really loose.
“I hate that I didn’t win,” Larson added. “It’s another one at Bristol.”
As for Busch, he has another Bristol sword to add to his collection, although he’s not quite sure what he’s going to do with all of those unusual trophies.
“It’s a cool problem to have,” he quipped.
