Busch completed a comeback for the ages on Sunday when he won at Homestead-Miami Speedway to earn his first Sprint Cup championship.
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Still recovering from a broken right leg and left foot in a crash at Daytona 10 months ago, newly crowned NASCAR champion Kyle Busch is taking the precautions necessary to avoid further complications if another high-impact wreck occurs.
“I think that time, he had a lot of time to think about a lot of things, and I don’t know what he did, but he came out of it even better than he was before, and I think he showed it right away when he came back that there was a pretty good chance he was destined to win this championship”.
Martin Truex Jr. battled an ill-handling auto most of the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway and ultimately finished 12th. With a little help from Jerry’s wife Bea Conkle, Vice President, Wendy Touchette an avid Tony Stewart fan surprised Jerry by wearing a Jeff Gordon #24 logo NASCAR shirt for the final race. Gordon said before the season started he’d retire after this race. Kevin Harvick, last year’s champion, starts in 13th position, and Jeff Gordon, a four-time champion, enters the final race of his career in 5th position.
“You always want to win, but I’ve learned not to be greedy”, Harvick said after his 12th second-place finish of the year cost him the championship. In part because the start of the race was delayed 90 minutes by rain and track drying, the Gordon lovefest went on and on and on. “The competitor in me got a little bit-just so caught up in the moment of the race where we took the lead and I got really excited, and I thought, Okay, we’ve got clean air”. NASCAR played a 75-second reflective video of his career and NASCAR Vice Chairman Mike Helton thanked him for his contributions to the sport, calling Gordon a “true champion”. A three-win season in 2010 still only got him to eighth in points, and on and on the cycle went as Busch just couldn’t race smart or safe enough in the Chase.
“It’s been truly remarkable, and such an unbelievable experience”, Busch said Tuesday during a teleconference to reflect on his feats.
Truex was the underdog driving for the small team. “I’d have loved to have won it, loved to have seen him go out with a championship, but we went out in the top four and not many guys do better than that”. After previous year, I felt like we had everything go our way and tonight, it didn’t go our way.
With 10 laps remaining, NASCAR called a caution due to debris on the track with non-Chaser Brad Keslowski leading the field and Kyle Busch leading the Chase drivers.
When the pitting cycled through, Logano had the lead, Busch was second and Harvick third.
Gordon came to victory lane to congratulate Busch.
It’s time to have a ticker-tape parade down the Strip saluting a pro championship for the city, the place where Kyle Busch was born and raised.
Busch has been known for showing equal amounts of talent and temperament. Counting NBC’s debut in July at Daytona, eight races have been impacted by weather.
“I knew it was time to go”, Busch said of the restart. We fought really hard, fought back, and we finished sixth. Winning his first Sprint Cup Championship and also grabbing a truck series owners’ championship in the process makes this past 48 “a whirlwind”. The celebration for Busch and the entire No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team has just begun, and will likely continue well into the off season. His older brother Kurt won the title for Jack Roush in 2004.
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Busch required special dispensation to be eligble for the title, as NASCAR rules originally stated only drivers contesting the full season could feature in the Chase. This is our last opportunity, it’s a great opportunity for four drivers and there’s 39 others that are participating in this race.
