Kyle Busch completes weekend sweep at Texas

FORT WORTH, TX - APRIL 13: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates by shooting revolvers in Victory Lane as Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage (L) looks on after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for Texs Motor Speedway)
FORT WORTH, TX - APRIL 13:  Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates by shooting revolvers in Victory Lane as Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage (L) looks on after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas.  (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for Texs Motor Speedway)
FORT WORTH, TX – APRIL 13: Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 Interstate Batteries Toyota, celebrates by shooting revolvers in Victory Lane as Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage (L) looks on after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 13, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images for Texs Motor Speedway)

FORT WORTH, Tex.–Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series NRA 500 Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch dominated the race, leading 171 laps out of 334. It was a good weekend for Busch, who also won Friday’s Nationwide Series race.

This weekend sweep marked the second time this season that Busch has won Cup and Nationwide races in the same weekend. It is also the eighth sweep of his career.   And the first time he has won a Sprint Cup race at Texas.

“This is awesome. It’s such an amazing feeling- I’m jacked up. Man, this is cool. We’re in victory lane in Texas finally in the Cup Series,” Busch said. “Man, if it wasn’t for my pit crew. We had a great racecar and we worked really hard all weekend long on this car. We had a great car, but without that pit crew – they’re the best in the business and been the best in the business since I’ve been with them in 2008. They know when it’s crunch time.”

That pit crew got Busch out first during a caution with 20 laps to go and that turned out to be the race winning move. Although he had dominated early in the race, Busch seemed to struggle in the second half. It then became up to Martin Truex Jr. who took the lead from Busch and appeared to be on his way to the win. It was that final caution though and the work on the part of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing crew that got their driver out first. With fresh tires and the lead, Busch was able to stay in front to the checkered flag.

Truex Jr. who was hoping to break a winless streak dating back to 2007 at Dover International Speedway, finished second for the 6th time in the 209 races since that last win.

“When they say second sucks- second sure sucks tonight,” Truex said. “We had a great racecar. Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and the guys did a great job with the car –getting it where we needed it. We were good at the start. We were off a little bit. We were a third or fourth- place car there for a long time. Just kept working on it. Got it where we were the best car on the race track. Just got beat out of the pits at the end.”

Truex may have more disappointment in the week ahead. The No. 56 Toyota he raced to his second place finish failed NASCAR’s post race inspection when it was found to be too low in the front. The car will be taken back to NASCAR’s R&D center for further evaluation.

Carl Edwards who overcame several issues, including engine and safety belt issues was happy about his third place finish.

“That was a mad panic all night.  I think we just have some work to do,” Edwards said, “I think the tire kind of threw us for a little bit of a loop tonight.  I think a lot of people struggled, but we definitely struggled as much as anyone.  But I don’t feel ultra-confident if we had to come race here next week that we could pull off a third again.”

Edwards’ teammate at Roush-Fenway Racing Greg Biffle came in fourth. More impressively, Joey Logano, who wasn’t even in his car when the engines fired after parts from his car were confiscated during prerace inspection, finished fifth after starting in the rear of the field.

“It was a little too close for my comfort, to be honest with you, and having to start from the back we worked our way up,” said Logano, “We never had any short run speed in our car all weekend, even for practice we were slow on the short run but good on the long run. We’ll have to figure out where that speed is, but if you would have told me I’d finish fifth today, I’d have given you a hug. I’m pumped up about our finish and the way we got that.”

Jimmie Johnson, Aric Almirola, Brian Vickers driving in relief of Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman completed the top ten.

Johnson remains in the Sprint Cup points lead with Keselowski still in second. Busch moved up to third in the standings while Edwards and Biffle moved up two spots each to round out the top five. The series heads to Kansas Speedway next Sunday for the STP 400.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race – NRA 500

Texas Motor Speedway

Fort Worth, Texas

Saturday, April 13, 2013

1. (1) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, $550858.

2. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 334, $346555.

3. (9) Carl Edwards, Ford, 334, $268605.

4. (35) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, $214855.

5. (18) Joey Logano, Ford, 334, $204713.

6. (7) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, $203341.

7. (3) Aric Almirola, Ford, 334, $182841.

8. (15) Brian Vickers(i), Toyota, 334, $153305.

9. (16) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334, $183746.

10. (31) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, $167288.

11. (14) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, $144395.

12. (20) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, $165006.

13. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334, $170701.

14. (23) Mark Martin, Toyota, 334, $134315.

15. (26) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 334, $164648.

16. (11) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 334, $149455.

17. (19) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 334, $151751.

18. (22) Trevor Bayne(i), Ford, 334, $119810.

19. (4) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 333, $145424.

20. (10) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 333, $145024.

21. (13) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 333, $158435.

22. (32) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 332, $139668.

23. (21) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 332, $119910.

24. (38) David Reutimann, Toyota, 332, $126468.

25. (28) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 332, $123418.

26. (25) David Ragan, Ford, 331, $126768.

27. (33) David Stremme, Toyota, 331, $115132.

28. (42) Danica Patrick #, Chevrolet, 331, $102585.

29. (6) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 330, $117985.

30. (40) Josh Wise(i), Ford, 330, $102835.

31. (24) Casey Mears, Ford, 330, $104910.

32. (27) David Gilliland, Ford, 329, $95810.

33. (12) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 326, $102710.

34. (39) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 326, $93610.

35. (41) Joe Nemechek(i), Toyota, 324, $92485.

36. (43) Timmy Hill #, Ford, 322, $91360.

37. (2) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 316, $117603.

38. (8) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, Front Suspension, 306, $130196.

39. (36) JJ Yeley, Chevrolet, Rear Axle, 293, $79260.

40. (17) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. #, Ford, 290, $123596.

41. (34) Mike Bliss(i), Toyota, Brakes, 140, $71260.

42. (30) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, Engine, 138, $75260.

43. (37) Michael McDowell, Ford, Overheating, 44, $63760.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  144.751 mph.

Time of Race:  3 Hrs, 27 Mins, 40 Secs. Margin of Victory:  .508 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  7 for 36 laps.

Lead Changes:  18 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   Kyle Busch 1-39; D. Ragan 40; Kyle Busch 41-42; M. Truex Jr. 43-75; Kyle Busch 76-82; D. Gilliland 83; Kyle Busch 84-131; R. Newman 132-134; Kyle Busch 135-187; J. Gordon 188-200; M. Truex Jr. 201-223; Kyle Busch 224; M. Truex Jr. 225-279; J. Gordon 280-281; J. Logano 282; M. Truex Jr. 283-288; Kyle Busch 289; M. Truex Jr. 290-314; Kyle Busch 315-334.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch 8 times for 171 laps; M. Truex Jr. 5 times for 142 laps; J. Gordon 2 times for 15 laps; R. Newman 1 time for 3 laps; D. Ragan 1 time for 1 lap; D. Gilliland 1 time for 1 lap; J. Logano 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 12 in Points: J. Johnson – 269; Brad Keselowski – 260; Kyle Busch – 251; G. Biffle – 239; C. Edwards – 234; D. Earnhardt Jr. – 234; K. Kahne – 232; C. Bowyer – 208; J. Logano – 207; P. Menard – 206; M. Kenseth – 204; K. Harvick – 192.

Greg Engle
About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.