Kurt Busch came off of pit road following the final round of pit stops at Kansas Speedway behind both Kyle Larson and his brother Kyle Busch.
He showed early on that he had one of the faster cars on the track, but then proved by the end of the race that he had perfected it.
The driver of the No. 45 car chased down his sibling and then streaked to the back of Larson’s No. 5. The pass for the lead was one that required an amount of precise execution. He delivered.
KURT BUSCH TAKES THE LEAD#NASCAR @ALWAYSRACEDAY #ADVENTHEALTH400 pic.twitter.com/ERmkrWrSVr
— Mr Matthew CFB 🇺🇦 (@MrMatthewCFB) May 15, 2022
The win is Busch’s first since joining 23XI Racing and making it a two-car team for the 2022 season.
He shared in the jubilance with team owner Denny Hamlin on pit road during the FS1 post-race broadcast and the importance it meant to his team during his tri-oval interview.
“It’s all about teamwork,” Busch said. “I don’t do this alone. The way that Toyota has helped us, JGR, and the way my brother has helped us (giving advice). Bubba is a tremendous teammate. This is 23XI. This is our first win for the 45 car. With Jordan Brand on the hood, I felt like I needed to race like the G.O.A.T. and play like the G.O.A.T.”
Busch becomes the 11th driver to win a race through the first 13 events of the NASCAR Cup Series season, moving down the playoff cutline once again.
Just five wildcard spots remain with Aric Almirola sitting in the 16th and final spot.
The updated NASCAR Playoff Grid after Kansas: pic.twitter.com/MIEwbKaQhn
— Always Race Day (@AlwaysRaceDay) May 15, 2022
Drivers were subject to tire attrition issues throughout the day, once again.
Because of the load that the new car puts on the left-rear wheel of the race car, issues surrounding wheels arose once again with teams trying to balance speed output with a tire pressure that isn’t as susceptible to blowing out.
As NASCAR teams do, the line is being towed and it forced poor finishes out of Chase Elliott and Daniel Suarez.
On a unique issue, otherwise, Erik Jones’ pit crew was forced to physically cut a wheel off of the race car, because the wheel nut wouldn’t allow it to come off. This will be something NASCAR examines closely, as it cost Jones a number of laps throughout the race.
The people’s champ @Rickjames39 pic.twitter.com/EbA3yCqE90
— Petty GMS (@PettyGMS) May 15, 2022
The series will ahead into the All-Star race on an amount of momentum before the exhibition event goes down on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. The action kicks off Sunday afternoon at 5:00 p.m. on Fox Sports 1.
NASCAR Cup Series Results
Advent Health 400
Kansas Speedway
Sunday, May 15, 2022
1. Kurt Busch
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Denny Hamlin
5. Christopher Bell
6. Martin Truex Jr.
7. Ross Chastain
8. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
9. Alex Bowman
10. Bubba Wallace
11. Austin Cindric
12. Ryan Blaney
13. Austin Dillon
14. Brad Keselowski
15. Kevin Harvick
16. William Byron
17. Joey Logano
18. Noah Gragson
19. Corey LaJoie
20. Ty Dillon
21. Harrison Burton
22. Cole Custer
23. Michael McDowell
24. Chase Briscoe
25. Todd Gilliland
26. Aric Almirola
27. Chris Buescher
28. Josh Bilicki
29. Chase Elliott
30. Tyler Reddick
31. JJ Yeley
32. Erik Jones
33. Daniel Suarez
34. Cody Ware
35. Justin Haley
36. BJ McLeod
