Sunday, May 15th, 2022
Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, KS
In an event fraught with pit road mistakes and mechanical issues, Kurt Busch ran an impeccable race.
In an intensely competitive run to the finish of Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, Busch nosed past leader Kyle Larson at the finish line on Lap 259 of 267 and completed the pass two corners later off Turn 2, as Larson scraped the outside wall.
Seven laps later, Busch’s No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota crossed the finish line 1.413 seconds ahead of Larson to win for the first time at Kansas, the first time this season and the 34th time in his career. Busch has now won NASCAR Cup races for five different car owners and with four different manufacturers.
“If I can get one Kyle, I can get both,” said an elated Busch, who passed brother Kyle Busch, the third-place finisher, 11 circuits after a restart on Lap 235.
With 21 laps left Busch began his pursuit of Larson, making up ground as traffic became a factor. On Lap 259 Busch pulled even to the inside of Larson, as the drivers raced side-by-side from the backstretch to the finish line, with Busch inches ahead at the stripe.
Busch widened his advantage through the first two corners of Lap 260 and cleared the No. 5 Chevrolet as Larson brushed the wall near the exit of Turn 2.
“It’s all about teamwork,” Busch said. “I don’t do this alone, and the way that Toyota’s helped us, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing)… My little brother has been so important, just on the family side of ‘Hey, you’ve got to get through these steps.’
“But this is 23XI. This is our first win with the 45 car, and with Jordan Brand on the hood, I felt like I had to play like the GOAT, race like the GOAT. I had to beat the Kyles. I beat both.”
Larson said his car got tight toward the end of the race but asserted that he and Busch never made contact as they raced side-by-side.
“I wasn’t upset with him or anything,” Larson said of Busch. “It was just hard racing there for the win. I knew when he got to my inside, I was struggling in traffic a little bit and he was able to get by and from there, I just had to hold onto second.
“I just fought really hard today and overdrove it at moments. Just had to work hard for it.”
Busch’s win was also a milestone for fourth-place finisher Denny Hamlin, who co-owns 23XI Racing with NBA legend Michael Jordan. Hamlin started the race in the rear of the field and went to the back two more times under penalty before rallying to score his second top-five of season.
Bubba Wallace, who scored 23XI’s first victory last year at Talladega, ran 10th despite a late penalty for an uncontrolled tire.
“It’s huge. I’m so proud of Kurt—and Bubba as well,” Hamlin said. “Bubba deserved a shot at the win as well. They were so much better than that. There were just mistakes, and we’re working on that. I feel like I’ve let these guys down with pit road—and it’s just part of it.
“It’s growing pains, but, man, this is what this team is capable of, and I’m so happy for Kurt. Way more joy than if I was winning.”
Pole winner Christopher Bell finished fifth, followed by Martin Truex Jr., as Toyota claimed five of the top six positions. Ross Chastain, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Alex Bowman ran seventh through ninth, respectively.
Flat left rear tires, which had surfaced as a major issue during Saturday’s practice, continued to plague drivers during the race itself.
Christopher Bell lost the lead under caution after Lap 64 with a flat left rear. The same issue sent William Byron into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 113 and erased a lead of more than 1.5 seconds over Kurt Busch.
Three laps later, front-row starter Tyler Reddick rode the outside wall with a left rear down. Truex slowed with a flat left rear while running fourth within one lap of the end of Stage 2. The recurring problems scrambled the field—and so did a comedy of errors on pit road.
Hamlin, who started in the rear of the field because of unapproved adjustments to his No. 11 Toyota, twice was flagged for equipment interference.
Kyle Busch came to pit road as the leader on Lap 83 and lost nine positions after stopping his No. 18 Camry too close to the wall. After finishing second to his brother in Stage 2, he drew a pit road speeding penalty in sector 10.
Larson lost track position because of two consecutive slow stops in the first half of the race. Chastain lost 13 positions on pit road during the Stage 2 break when his crew had trouble changing the left rear tire.
Erik Jones’ crew was unable to remove his right rear tire and had to cut the wheel off before replacing it, costing Jones seven laps before repairs were made.
Chase Elliott had the opposite problem. The left rear tire fell off the No. 9 Chevrolet as Elliott was running sixth on Lap 196. The car became mired in the mud near the apex of Turns 3 and 4 in a grassy strip below the apron, and the reigning series champ lost three laps.
Remarkably, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Bell, Truex and Chastain all recovered to finish in the top seven. But the one driver who ran a mistake-free race—Kurt Busch—came home the winner.
ENTRY | # | DRIVER | HOMETOWN | DOB | AGE | MAKE | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Tampa, FL | Mar 14, 1984 | 40 | Ford | Smithfield | Stewart-Haas Racing | Drew Blickensderfer |
2 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | Auburn Hills, MI | Feb 12, 1984 | 40 | Ford | King's Hawaiian | RFK Racing | Matt McCall |
3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Chesterfield, VA | Nov 18, 1980 | 43 | Toyota | Sport Clips Haircuts | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gabehart |
4 | 15 | JJ Yeley | Phoenix, AZ | Oct 5, 1976 | 48 | Ford | Diagnostic Imaging Centers | Rick Ware Racing | Kevyn Rebolledo |
5 | 22 | Joey Logano | Middleton, CT | May 24, 1990 | 34 | Ford | Verizon 5G | Team Penske | Paul Wolfe |
6 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Bakersfield, CA | Dec 8, 1975 | 48 | Ford | Busch Light #ForTheFarmers | Stewart-Haas Racing | Rodney Childers |
7 | 45 | Kurt Busch | Las Vegas, NV | Aug 4, 1978 | 46 | Toyota | Jordan Brand | 23XI Racing | Billy Scott |
8 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Las Vegas, NV | May 2, 1985 | 39 | Toyota | M&M's Crunchy Cookie | Joe Gibbs Racing | Ben Beshore |
9 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr | Mayetta, NJ | Jun 29, 1980 | 44 | Toyota | Auto-Owners Insurance | Joe Gibbs Racing | James Small |
10 | 34 | Michael McDowell | Phoenix, AZ | Dec 21, 1984 | 39 | Ford | Love's Travel Stops | Front Row Motorsports | Blake Harris |
11 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Apr 27, 1990 | 34 | Chevrolet | Bass Pro Shops /TRACKER Off Road | Richard Childress Racing | Justin Alexander |
12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr | Olive Branch, MS | Oct 2, 1987 | 37 | Chevrolet | Dillons/ Louisiana Hot Sauce | JTG Daugherty Racing | Brian Pattie |
13 | 5 | Kyle Larson | Sacremento, CA | Jul 31, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | HendrickCars.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Cliff Daniels |
14 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Tuscon, AZ | Apr 25, 1993 | 31 | Chevrolet | Ally | Hendrick Motorsports | Greg Ives |
15 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | High Point, NC | Dec 31, 1993 | 30 | Ford | Wabash | Team Penske | Jonathan Hassler |
16 | 7 | Corey Lajoie | Kannapolis, NC | Sep 25, 1991 | 33 | Chevrolet | Garner Trucking, Inc. | Spire Motorsports | Ryan Sparks |
17 | 42 | Ty Dillon | Lewisville, NC | Feb 27, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | Ferris | Petty GMS Motorsports | Jerame Donley |
18 | 9 | Chase Elliott | Dawsonville, GA | Nov 28, 1995 | 28 | Chevrolet | UniFirst | Hendrick Motorsports | Alan Gustafson |
19 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Prosper, TX | Oct 29, 1992 | 31 | Ford | Castrol GTX Full Synthetic | RFK Racing | Scott Graves |
20 | 43 | Erik Jones | Byron, MI | May 30, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | FOCUSfactor | Petty GMS Motorsports | Dave Elenz |
21 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Wauchula, FL | Nov 17, 1983 | 40 | Ford | General Formulations | Live Fast Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
22 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Monterrey, Mexico | Jan 7, 1992 | 32 | Chevrolet | CommScope | TrackHouse Racing | Travis Mack |
23 | 51 | Cody Ware | Greensboro, NC | Nov 7, 1995 | 28 | Ford | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Billy Plourde |
24 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Alva, FL | Dec 4, 1992 | 31 | Chevrolet | Advent Health | TrackHouse Racing | Phil Surgen |
25 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Mobile, AL | Oct 8, 1993 | 31 | Toyota | McDonald's | 23XI Racing | Bootie Barker |
26 | 24 | William Byron | Charlotte, NC | Nov 29, 1997 | 26 | Chevrolet | RaptorTough.com | Hendrick Motorsports | Rudy Fugle |
27 | 41 | Cole Custer | Ladera Ranch, CA | Jan 23, 1998 | 26 | Ford | HaasTooling.com / PAG | Stewart-Haas Racing | Mike Shiplett |
28 | 77 | Josh Bilicki | Menomonee Falls, WI | Jun 3, 1995 | 29 | Chevrolet | UACC / Support Ukraine | Spire Motorsports | Kevin Bellicourt |
29 | 8 | Tyler Reddick | Corning, CA | Jan 11, 1996 | 28 | Chevrolet | BetMGM | Richard Childress Racing | Randall Burnett |
30 | 31 | Justin Haley | Winamac, IN | Apr 28, 1999 | 25 | Chevrolet | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Trent Owens |
31 | 20 | Christopher Bell | Norman, OK | Dec 16, 1994 | 29 | Toyota | Rheem | Joe Gibbs Racing | Adam Stevens |
32 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Columbus, OH | Sep 2, 1998 | 26 | Ford | Menards\Monster | Team Penske | Jeremy Bullins |
33 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Mitchell, IN | Dec 15, 1994 | 29 | Ford | Rush Truck Centers / Cummins | Stewart-Haas Racing | Johnny Klausmeier |
34 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Huntersville, NC | Oct 9, 2000 | 24 | Ford | Dex Imaging | Wood Brothers Racing | Brian Wilson |
35 | 16 | Noah Gragson | Las Vegas, NV | Jul 15, 1998 | 26 | Chevrolet | Chevrolet | Kaulig Racing | George Spencer |
36 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Sherrills Ford, NC | May 15, 2000 | 24 | Ford | First Phase Credit Card | Front Row Motorsports | Seth Barbour |