Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch wins Pure Michigan 400 – NASCAR news
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch secured a spot in the 2011 Sprint Cup chase after winning Pure Michigan 400 at the Michigan International Speedway.
By holding off Jimmie Johnson, he passed the finish line 0.568 seconds ahead.
Busch has collected his fourth win in the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship. It was his first victory at the venue from 14 starts at Michigan. Overall, it is Busch’s 23rd win in his Sprint Cup career.
Busch said, “That restart there, I think I restarted fourth, and Jimmie was gone, like in three laps. I was like, 'holy cow!' I didn't think there was any way I was going to run him back down. Our car was good on the long run. I felt comfortable running
my pace, trying to get closer to him.”
After the second last restart, Busch was about three laps late to join the race. His car started to lose pace. He tried to move up and down on the track but it was of no use.
Busch added, “Finally was able to do that and power by Jimmie and get by him. Once I got by him, I just picked the top [racing line]. That's where I wanted to be anyway. I could run some consistent times up there that were faster than him and drive away
a little bit.”
Busch snatched win from Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson while he was in lead towards the finish line. Since the second last restart in the race, Johnson was in the lead with 13 laps on the countdown.
Shortly after the restart, Johnson was ahead of teammate Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth. Busch was chasing down on both drivers and immediately got on to Busch. Though it took him few laps to hunt him down but eventually in turn two he left Johnson behind
giving him no chance.
Just before the last restart, the top drivers’ squad headed to pit stops which moved him into the lead. While two laps on the countdown were left, he was leading the pack across the finish line. Now he holds the top seat within Cup championship and also
leads his way into the cup chase.
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