CUP: Kurt Busch Rolls In 600 At Charlotte

Sprint Cup

CUP: Kurt Busch Rolls In 600 At Charlotte

Kurt Busch won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway...

Mike Hembree | Posted May 30, 2010 Charlotte, NC

Kurt Busch celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

For a driver who doesn’t have a sparkling history at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Kurt Busch has grown to like the place over the past two weekends.

LINK> UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: COCA-COLA 600 - CHARLOTTE
PDF> UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: COCA-COLA 600 - CHARLOTTE

On Sunday, Busch backed up his impressive victory in last week’s Sprint All-Star Race by scoring a dominant win in the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s longest race. The victory was Busch’s first in a points race at CMS (and also marked the first points win for his car owner, Roger Penske, at the track).

Busch outran Jamie McMurray by .738 of a second at the finish to foil what could have been a spectacular day for Chip Ganassi, McMurray’s team owner. Dario Franchitti won the Indianapolis 500 for Ganassi earlier in the day, and McMurray, who led late in the race, came close to giving Ganassi a remarkable double.

“We went with the All-Star setup,” Busch said. “I thought we’d be best during the night and that we could deal with whatever happened during the day. But we ran good during the day, too.”

Completing the top five were Kyle Busch, Mark Martin and David Reutimann.

While Kurt Busch was celebrating in victory lane, Kyle, his younger brother, was being lectured by veteran driver Jeff Burton on pit road. On the race’s final restart, Busch apparently bumped Burton slightly as they went three-wide with Clint Bowyer, and Burton dropped back with a left-rear tire problem.

After the race, Burton, obviously upset, confronted Busch, yelling at him and pointing a finger at him several times. It was a very uncharacteristic move for Burton.

“I have no idea what transpired there,” Kyle Busch said. “What I remember on the restart – the 33 car [Bowyer] ducked low to my inside. It forced me to the middle. I didn’t get a lot of room. I was pinching the 33 as tight as I could, trying not to wreck him. I did the best I could. I don’t know if I touched or got into him [Burton]. If I did anything wrong, I’d be more than happy to sit with Jeff Burton and talk about it.”

The battle for the finish was set up by Marcos Ambrose’s crash with 24 laps to go and the subsequent caution period that gave the leaders the opportunity to pit. McMurray, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth pitted for two tires, but Jeff Gordon, Martin and Ryan Newman stayed on the track.

The green flag flew with 19 laps to go and with Gordon, Martin and Newman in the first three positions, but Busch quickly moved to the lead and held a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

Jimmie Johnson, running 26th, dropped off the lead lap on lap 273 when he lost control of his car for the second time and slammed into the inside wall off turn two. He returned to the race after repairs but was 33 laps behind.

Kurt Busch was in a dominant position as the race reached the halfway point. Through 200 laps, he had led 137, and he retained the lead.

The tone of the race changed dramatically on lap 168.

Chad Knaus (Right), crew chief for the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, watches as crew members work on damage after the car was involved in an incident during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Johnson lost control of his car exiting the fourth turn and slapped the outside wall. Denny Hamlin dropped low on the track as he passed Johnson, and Hamlin wound up driving through the corner of the infield grass.

During the ensuing caution, there was big trouble in the pits. The cars of Kyle Busch, who had held the lead, and Brad Keselowski collided as Keselowski was trying to enter his pit and Busch was leaving his. Busch’s car was left with right front damage, and he also was penalized by NASCAR for speeding as he left pit road. Remarkably, he rallied to finish third.

Kurt Busch was dominant in the race’s first quarter, leading 77 of the first 100 laps. Johnson (13) and Newman (11) were the only other drivers to lead laps in double figures in the first 100.

The first caution of the race flew on lap 63 as Juan Pablo Montoya lost control in turn two and slid into the inside wall.

Thirty laps later, Ambrose bumped the wall and slid off the track, bringing out the second caution.

LINK> UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: COCA-COLA 600 - CHARLOTTE
PDF> UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS: COCA-COLA 600 - CHARLOTTE

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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