Race report
NASCAR Cup Phoenix II
Kyle Busch beats Keselowski for Phoenix win in chaotic race
Kyle Busch added another victory to his impressive season and Kevin Harvick survived to make the Championship 4.
Jim Utter
Edited: Nov 12, 2018, 12:14 AM
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Busch held off a furious challenge from Brad Keselowski to win Sunday’s Can-AM 500 at ISM Raceway, picking up his eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season, tying him for the series lead with Kevin Harvick.
The win is the 51st of Busch’s career and his second at Phoenix.
“It’s an awesome team and awesome group of guys. Can’t say enough about everybody at Joe Gibbs Racing," Busch said in Victory Lane. "All the men and women there that work so hard to prepare such great race cars that I get to drive.
"This is a sport that everybody loves to come out and participate in and be a part of whether it’s the military, whether it’s the fans that support the military – it’s awesome to have all that here in NASCAR."
Asked if the win Sunday gives him momentum next week at Homestead, Busch said, "I’d like to think it gives us a lot, but I don’t know – talk is cheap. We’ve got to be able to go out there and perform and just do what we need to do. Being able to do what we did here today was certainly beneficial.
"I didn’t think we were the best car, but we survived and we did what we needed to do today. It’s just about getting to next week and once we were locked in, it was ‘all bets are off and it’s time to go.' "
Kyle Larson ended up third, Aric Almirola fourth and Harvick completed the top-five.
With the win, Busch locked himself into the Championship 4 next weekend at Homestead, Fla., where he will join Joey Logano (who won at Martinsville, Va.), reigning series champion Martin Truex Jr. and Harvick (who both advance by points).
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Following the break between stages 2 and 3, Kyle Busch elected to remain on the track and stayed in the lead on the restart on Lap 159.
Stage 3
He was followed by Keselowski, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth. Elliott lined up fifth, the first driver who stopped for new tires.
With 120 laps left in the race, Kyle Busch kept a small advantage over Keselowski, followed by Blaney, Hamlin and Chase Elliott.
On Lap 198, Elliott passed Ryan Blaney to move into the third position.
With 100 laps to go, Kyle Busch continued to hold a small lead over Keselowski. Elliott was in third, Blaney was fourth and Hamlin fifth. Harvick was seventh and Kurt Busch remained one lap down.
On Lap 220, Kyle Busch put Darrell Wallace Jr. a lap down, which knocked Kurt Busch out of the free pass position.
Hamlin was forced to pit road for a green-flag pit stop on Lap 222 after cutting a tire.
With 88 to go, Elliott moved to the inside of Kyle Busch and reclaimed the lead.
On Lap 229, Tanner Berryhill spun to bring out a caution as several drivers had already began a round of green-flag pit stops.
During the stops, Elliott was penalized for speeding on pit road, sending him to the rear of the field on the restart.
On the restart with 77 laps to go, Keselowski led the way followed by Blaney, Truex, William Byron and Ryan Newman.
Shortly after the restart, Blaney fell off the pace and dropped back through the field.
On Lap 239, Harvick got into the back of David Ragan, who was running two laps down, and sent him for a spin to bring out a caution. Kyle Busch appeared to get some damage in that incident and pit to make repairs.
On the restart with 68 to go, Keselowski led the way, followed by Truex, Jones and Byron.
With 60 to go, Keselowski remained out front while Kurt Busch (sixth) and Harvick (seventh) raced for the final spot in the Championship 4.
On Lap 264, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. slammed into the Turn 2 wall and a fire briefly broke out in the rear of his No. 17 Ford. The wreck also spilled oil on the banking, which brought out a red flag to clean the track of debris.
Erik Jones, Kurt Busch and Hamlin elected to remain on the track and led the way when the race returned to green with 44 laps to go. Harvick restarted in sixth, Elliott in seventh and Truex in 10th.
On the restart, Hamlin drifted up the track while racing for the lead and slammed into Kurt Busch, knocking him into the wall. Busch’s No. 41 Ford then came back down the track and into Elliott, doing extensive damage to his No. 9 Chevrolet.
“I’m really sorry guys, I didn’t get the job done,” Busch said of his team radio.
On the restart with 37 to go, Jones led the way followed by Kyle Busch and Harvick. Kyle Busch reclaimed the lead shortly after the restart.
With 30 to go, Harvick moved into third as Almirola ran in fourth.
On Lap 287, Alex Bowman spun and hit the wall in Turn 1 to bring out another caution. A fire briefly broke out in Bowman’s No. 88 Chevrolet and he dropped oil all over the track, which required another red flag.
When the race returned to green with 20 to go, Kyle Busch led the way followed by Harvick, Almirola and Truex. Almirola moved into second shortly after the restart.
Yet another caution bunched up the field when Berryhill wrecked on Lap 296. On the restart with 12 to go, Kyle Busch led the way, followed by Almirola, Harvick and Keselowski.
With nine laps to go, Kyle Busch held a big lead after Keselowski moved into second.
Read Also:
- Chase Elliott wins Stage 1 as cut tire forces Harvick to pit road
- Kyle Busch takes Stage 2 win at Phoenix
Cla # Driver 4506 Laps Time Laps Led 1 18 
Kyle Busch Toyota 312 117 2 2 
Brad Keselowski Ford 312 0.501 32 3 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet 312 2.287 4 10 
Aric Almirola Ford 312 2.884 5 4 Kevin Harvick Ford 312 4.573 73 6 1 
Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 312 5.220 7 6 
Matt Kenseth Ford 312 7.077 8 3 
Austin Dillon Chevrolet 312 7.776 9 24 
William Byron Chevrolet 312 8.474 10 43 Darrell Wallace Jr. Chevrolet 312 8.739 11 31 
Ryan Newman Chevrolet 312 9.142 12 47 A.J. Allmendinger Chevrolet 312 9.389 13 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 312 10.749 14 78 Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 312 11.140 8 15 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 312 17.819 16 34 Michael McDowell Ford 311 1 lap 17 20 Erik Jones Toyota 310 2 laps 11 18 37 
Chris Buescher Chevrolet 310 2 laps 19 13 Ty Dillon Chevrolet 310 2 laps 20 38 David Ragan Ford 310 2 laps 21 32 Matt DiBenedetto Ford 310 2 laps 22 95 Regan Smith Chevrolet 310 2 laps 23 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet 309 3 laps 16 24 15 Ross Chastain Chevrolet 309 3 laps 25 72 Cole Whitt Chevrolet 309 3 laps 26 00 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 308 4 laps 27 7 
D.J. Kennington Chevrolet 306 6 laps 28 51 Cody Ware Ford 306 6 laps 29 21 Paul Menard Ford 303 9 laps 30 88 Alex Bowman Chevrolet 285 27 laps 31 97 Tanner Berryhill Toyota 283 29 laps 32 41 Kurt Busch Ford 272 40 laps 52 33 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Ford 262 50 laps 34 12 Ryan Blaney Ford 237 75 laps 3 35 14 Clint Bowyer Ford 133 179 laps 36 19 
Daniel Suarez Toyota 96 216 laps 37 22 Joey Logano Ford 95 217 laps 38 23 J.J. Yeley Toyota 88 224 laps 39 66 Timmy Hill Toyota 40 272 laps
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