Kyle Busch drove his way to his second grandfather clock while completing the weekend sweep at Martinsville Speedway. The smallest track in the Sprint Cup Series hasn’t been very kind to Kyle Busch over the years, but the #18 M&M Toyota Camry of Joe Gibbs Racing was nothing short of spectacular for the STP 500 on Sunday.
Busch led 352 of the 500 laps turned and he received the Mobil One Driver of the Race for his efforts. The victory was his first on the Sprint Cup circuit this year and assured the defending NASCAR Champion a place in the Chase once again. It was Busch’s 35th career victory and his 352 laps led were the most since Bobby Hamilton led 378 while dominating the spring race in 1998.
“I can’t say enough about this whole JGR team,” said Busch, who led the final 173 laps after passing teammate Matt Kenseth for the top spot. “The (No. 18) M&M’s Camry was awesome in practice on Saturday. We had a really good car through practice, and crew chief Adam Stevens made some really good adjustments overnight to keep us where we needed to be, running up front all day.”
Road Course specialist A.J. Allmendinger finished runner-up, matching his career-best finish on an oval track. The #47 Kroger sponsored Chevrolet was strong from the get-go. After Jamie McMurray cut a tire bringing out the eighth and final caution and Allmendinger found himself re-starting in the third spot behind Matt Kenseth, Allmendinger forced his way passed Kenseth with ten laps to go and finished .663 seconds behind Busch.
“God, I wish we had one more spot,” said Allmendinger. “We got our car really, really good on the long runs,” he continued. “That’s kind of where I thought we shined. We didn’t have great short-run speed, but after about 30, 40 laps we could really get rolling there. I was kind of hoping we’d stay green the last 120 laps. I figured that wasn’t going to happen, but I was praying we had a shot at that, because I felt like if that happened, we had a great chance to win the race.”
Kyle Larson finished an impressive third, giving the #42 Target hot-rod it’s best finish of the season. Larson started in the 17th position but quickly worked his way into the top ten and remained there throughout the contest. Like Busch, the up-and-coming youngster used what he learned from the Camping World Truck race the previous day and preserved his tires during the long runs in between cautions.
Austin Dillon had another impressive showing finishing in the fourth spot. The #3 Dow Chevrolet team decided to stay out on old tires after the race’s last caution to gain track position for the final few laps. The decision paid off as Dillon was able to hold his position over hard charging Brad Keselowski.
Kevin Harvick led 75 laps, but struggled to find any consistency throughout the events longer runs. The #4 Freaky Fast Jimmy Johns Chevrolet couldn’t muster up the speed he showed earlier in the contest and ended up finishing in the 17th position.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had to battle back from a cut tire that put the Hendricks Motorsports standout a lap down only seven laps into the race. Persistence paid off for Earnhardt Jr. after racing his way back onto the lead lap. The #88 Nationwide sponsored Chevrolet finished in the 14th position.
The STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway took three hours and 17 minutes to complete. There were eight cautions for 51 laps and the average speed was 80 miles an hour. Joey Logano received the Coors Light Pole Sitter award for his qualifying efforts on Saturday. Toyota Racing Development took home the Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race.
Final Results for the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway:
1. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500 laps, 45 points.
2. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 500, 39.
3. (17) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 500, 38.
4. (29) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 500, 37.
5. (11) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 500, 36.
6. (25) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 500, 35.
7. (3) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 500, 34.
8. (4) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, 34.
9. (24) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, 32.
10. (5) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 500, 31.
12. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 29.
13. (23) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 500, 28.
15. (9) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 500, 27.
16. (28) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 500, 25.
17. (19) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, 25.
18. (16) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 500, 23.
19. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 500, 22.
20. (10) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 499, 21.
21. (22) David Ragan, Toyota, 499, 20.
22. (2) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 499, 19.
23. (15) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 499, 18.
24. (27) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 498, 17.
25. (30) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 497, 16.
26. (26) Brian Scott, Ford, 496, 15.
27. (32) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 496, 14.
28. (33) Landon Cassill, Ford, 495, 13.
30. (31) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 495, 11.
31. (18) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 494, 10.
32. (13) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 494, 9.
33. (36) Chris Buescher, Ford, 491, 8.
34. (34) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 491, 7.
35. (38) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 490, 6.
36. (37) Joey Gase, Ford, 490, 0.
37. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 490, 4.
38. (39) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, engine, 326, 3.
39. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 221, 2.
40. (20) Aric Almirola, Ford, engine, 206, 1.
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