CP MOTORSPORTS - BUSCH KEEPS HOT STREAK ALIVE WITH WEEKEND SWEEP AT TEXAS

 

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(Photo by Robert Laberge/NASCAR via Getty Images)
(Photo by Jared C. Tilton/NASCAR via Getty Images)

Over the past two weeks, Kyle Busch has done his channeled his inner T-Pain. The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota like the famous rapper has proved all he does is wins, wins, wins, no matter what. No matter which series Busch competes in, he seemingly has the hot foot each and every week.

Busch, who led only 34 laps, took the lead from Martin Truex, Jr, on the race's final restart to win his second race of the 2016 season. The victory is also Busch's second career victory at Texas Motor Speedway and the ninth time he has won both the Sprint Cup and Xfinity series races in the same weekend -- the most in NASCAR history.

Since Busch's leg injury in last season's Xfinity opener at Daytona, he has reeled off seven Sprint Cup wins and an astounding 21 top-ten finishes. Busch believes his injury may have brought everyone in his camp closer together.

"I think that it's just a part of everyone coming together," Busch said. "I think it's a part of the whole team. It's not just me, it's not just (wife) Samantha (Busch), but it's (crew chief) Adam Stevens, it's (team owner) Coach Gibbs, it's the organization and everyone rallying around us. It's my medical team, everyone that helped me, as well, getting me healthy, too, and forcing me to do the therapies and things like that and getting up in the morning and going and trying to get better faster.

"I think, too, things are clicking. Things are gelling, and it wouldn't be possible probably, like Joe (Gibbs) mentioned, without the relationship that Adam (Stevens) and I were able to spend gathering and gaining in the XFINITY Series. If we would have came into this Cup deal not really knowing each other, it probably wouldn't have been as good as it was. So I think that has been a huge part of it, as well, too.

(Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

"It's all worked real well, and it's been exciting to have the success that we've had as of late, and let's just keep it going."

Dale Earnhardt, Jr, finished a distant second place to Busch. The finish is his fourth top-ten of the season and his 17th career top-ten in 28 races at Texas Motor Speedway. 

Earnhardt, Jr, spoke more praises for NASCAR's 2016 rules package following the runner-up effort.

"I enjoyed driving the car tonight," Earnhardt, Jr, said. "The car was very loose and very challenging but a lot of fun for me. Obviously our car was good, so passing guys -- we had a lot of passing, which with the '14 or '15 package, I'd have never got by Joey (Logano), so it was fun to have an opportunity to sort of set somebody up and get it by him there at the end, and that's due to the direction we went this year with the low downforce. Pretty cool.

Joey Logano, who is the owner of a victory at Texas, finished in third place. Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson and Chase Elliott finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively. Martin Truex, Jr, led a race high 141 laps but could only muster a sixth place finish after gambling on pit strategy before the race's final restart. 
Pole award winner Carl Edward led 124 laps and finished in seventh place with Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick rounding out the race's top ten finishers.

Busch's two victories put him in the early lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series points standings by just six points over six-time champion Jimmie Johnson as the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next Sunday.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 7
Unofficial Race Results for the 20Th Annual Duck Commander 500 - Saturday, April 9, 2016
Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 334 Laps - 501 Miles

Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Status    Tms    Laps
1    15    18    Kyle Busch    Interstate Batteries Toyota    334    44    4    123.9    Running    2    34
2    16    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Nationwide Chevrolet    334    39        113.9    Running        
3    2    22    Joey Logano    Shell Pennzoil Ford    334    38        105.5    Running        
4    11    48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet    334    37        105.1    Running        
5    4    24    Chase Elliott #    NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet    334    37    1    94.9    Running    1    1
6    3    78    Martin Truex Jr.    Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota    334    37    2    132.6    Running    6    141
7    1    19    Carl Edwards    Stanley Toyota    334    35    1    125.3    Running    4    124
8    17    5    Kasey Kahne    Quicken Loans Chevrolet    334    33        84.6    Running        
9    21    41    Kurt Busch    Monster Energy/Haas Automation Chevrolet    334    32        84.6    Running        
10    22    4    Kevin Harvick    Jimmy John's Chevrolet    334    32    1    97.3    Running    1    1
11    9    20    Matt Kenseth    Dollar General Toyota    334    31    1    110.5    Running    2    20
12    6    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Office Toyota    334    29        89.5    Running        
13    18    1    Jamie McMurray    Bad Boy Off Road Chevrolet    334    28        82.7    Running        
14    20    42    Kyle Larson    Target Chevrolet    334    27        72.0    Running        
15    12    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    334    27    1    76.1    Running    1    12
16    5    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.    Zest Ford    334    25        89.3    Running        
17    19    31    Ryan Newman    Caterpillar Chevrolet    333    24        66.6    Running        
18    8    2    Brad Keselowski    Miller Lite Ford    332    23        79.1    Running        
19    10    3    Austin Dillon    DOW - FlexsoLyt Chevrolet    332    22        73.8    Running        
20    30    95    Ty Dillon(i)    Nexium 24HR Chevrolet    332    0        56.7    Running        
21    26    10    Danica Patrick    Nature's Bakery Chevrolet    332    20        57.7    Running        
22    23    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet    332    19        60.5    Running        
23    32    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Chevrolet    332    18        57.0    Running        
24    24    43    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Ford    331    17        49.9    Running        
25    33    38    Landon Cassill    MDS Transport Ford    330    16        44.6    Running        
26    25    27    Paul Menard    Rockstar Energy/Menards Chevrolet    330    15        52.6    Running        
27    27    44    Brian Scott #    Albertons Co./Shore Lodge Ford    330    14        47.3    Running        
28    34    34    Chris Buescher #    Love?s Travel Stops Ford    330    13        41.8    Running        
29    7    21    * Ryan Blaney #    Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford    330    12        65.1    Running        
30    37    98    * Cole Whitt     Chevrolet    329    11        35.7    Running        
31    28    7    Regan Smith    Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet    329    10        45.8    Running        
32    35    46    Michael Annett    Pilot Flying J Chevrolet    329    9        34.2    Running        
33    31    23    David Ragan    Dr Pepper Toyota    328    9    1    36.7    Running    1    1
34    29    83    Matt DiBenedetto    Cosmo Motors Toyota    327    7        32.4    Running        
35    38    32    Jeffrey Earnhardt #    Can-Am Ford    323    6        28.8    Running        
36    40    55    * Reed Sorenson     Chevrolet    315    5        26.2    Running        
37    13    14    Brian Vickers    TaxAct Military Files Free Chevrolet    290    4        65.9    Accident        
38    36    15    Clint Bowyer    Visine Chevrolet    289    3        40.7    Accident        
39    14    16    Greg Biffle    Kleen Performance Ford    286    2        57.2    Accident        
40    39    30    * Josh Wise    CrawfestNB.com Chevrolet    178    1        23.8    Accident        
 Race Comments:    Kyle Busch won the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 36th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 24 (transmission change).  
 Failed to Qualify:    N/A
 Time of Race:    03 Hrs, 37 Mins, 16 Secs.    Average Speed:    138.355 MPH    Margin of Victory:    3.904 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    7 for 41 laps: Laps: 1-5 (Green/Yellow Start [None]); 30-33 (Competition [32]); 136-141 (Debris Turn 4 [6]); 212-221 (#30 Accident Turn 3 [88]); 280-284 (Debris Fronstretch [5]); 289-292 (#16, 5 Accident Turn 2 [19]); 295-301 (#3, 27, 7, 46, 14, 31, 17, 48, 15, 20, 6, 44, 23 Accident Backstretch [42]).
 Lead Changes:    17 among 8 drivers: C. Edwards 1-30; D. Ragan 31; C. Edwards 32-58; M. Truex Jr. 59-72; M. Kenseth 73; C. Elliott # 74; M. Truex Jr. 75-137; C. Edwards 138-174; M. Truex Jr. 175-176; Kyle Busch 177; K. Harvick 178; C. Edwards 179-208; M. Truex Jr. 209-216; M. Kenseth 217-235; M. Truex Jr. 236-259; T. Bayne 260-271; M. Truex Jr. 272-301; Kyle Busch 302-334.
Chase Grid Outlook:     1.Kyle Busch 259 (2 wins);2.J. Johnson 253 (2);3.K. Harvick 252 (1);4.D. Hamlin 201 (1);5.B. Keselowski 201 (1);6.C. Edwards 241 (0);7.J. Logano 234 (0);8.D. Earnhardt Jr. 211 (0);9.Kurt Busch 208 (0);10.A. Dillon 198 (0);11.M. Truex Jr. 187 (0);12.M. Kenseth 171 (0);13.J. Mcmurray 171 (0);14.C. Elliott # 168 (0);15.A. Allmendinger 166 (0);16.K. Kahne 161 (0).
American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award    : Kyle Busch, #18     Coors Light Pole Award    : Carl Edwards, #19 194.609 mph
Ingersoll Rand Power Move    : Dale Earnhardt Jr, #88 3 positions    Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Toyota Racing Development (TRD), #19 
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Kyle Busch, #18     Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race    : Chase Elliott, #24 0.183 sec
Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap    : Carl Edwards, #19     Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Chase Elliott, #24 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Apr. 17, 2016 - Bristol Motor Speedway

 

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