No beating Busch
JOLIET -- Kyle Busch could not resist.
"Well, glad to see everybody again. It's been a long time," he cracked Saturday night as he walked into the Chicagoland Speedway Media Center after completing the weekend sweep that left all of NASCAR Nation wondering when his amazing run will end.
(Michael R. Schmidt/STNG)
liz wilkinson allen/staff photographer
Busch dominated the Dollar General 300 Nationwide Series race Friday night, then on Saturday claimed the first under-the-lights Sprint Cup title in Chicagoland history, taking the LifeLock.com 400 in dramatic, thrilling fashion.
The win was his seventh in 19 races on the Sprint Cup circuit this season and increased his cushion on the season points lead to a whopping 262 over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 16th.
At several junctures during the night, another Busch victory appeared a foregone conclusion. He led a race-record 165 of the 267 laps.
But after the eighth of nine cautions, Busch's former teammate Jimmie Johnson was able to make the move around Busch for the lead. If you were thinking at that point Johnson had stolen the victory, you were not alone.
"Typically, last year and the year before, whenever we saw Jimmie Johnson coming with about 100 to go, 80 to go, 50 to go, and he would take the lead, I was always like, 'race over,' " Busch said. "And he would go on to win, and I was pretty much right.
"I think this is the first time I said, 'race over,' and Jimmie Johnson didn't win. You know, sometimes things change, and that's why you never give up in this sport."
Without the ninth and final caution (covering Laps 263-265), Busch readily admits there would have been no way to catch Johnson. But on a restart, you take your best shot, especially when you're in Busch's position.
"Without that caution, the race was over," Busch said. "I mean, just judging from what was in front of me and what I knew at that particular point, the race was over. Jimmie was going to lead us to that checked flag without that caution.
"So when the caution came out, it kind of changed everything, and I was just trying on that restart to do whatever I could to get back by him. But I did surprise myself."
Busch came up hard behind Johnson, tapped him on the bumper and drove on the high side, finally nudging in front and retaking the lead entering Turn 3.
"Jimmie was going to bring us down slow," Busch said. "I remember this from short-track days when somebody was in your mirror and you creep up on them. You stop and they'll go up on you. Well, I just went -- I pushed Jimmie to go and was like, 'let's go, man, here we go.' I just had to go to the outside because he was going to block the bottom in Turn 1 and 2.
"He was watching his mirror, and as soon as I touched his rear bumper, I just laid on the gas. Whether he was going to go or wasn't going to go at that point, it was going to be a whale of a restart and pretty exciting.
"Fortunately, that was our race-winning move just being able to stay with him on the restart and not spin my tires and get to his outside on (Turns) 1 and 2. You know, with that old car (previous to the car of tomorrow), you couldn't have done that. You couldn't have gotten on the guy like that because you would have just spun him out because the noses and tails don't really meet up. But with this car, it worked out."
Busch said he has watched Johnson made a similar move a few times, though he wasn't sure he could pull it off himself. But you don't reach the summit in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing if you don't have some tricks up your sleeve, tricks that you are willing to use for late restarts.
"My dad was probably my biggest influence on restarts and helping me," Busch said. "There are some keys to it that help you out -- and I'm not going to tell you what they are. I'll keep those for myself and my dad. He'll know.
"Besides that, it's just about anticipation. It's about visualizing something that's not there yet, but trying to think of all the different scenarios that can happen, and with all the different types of racing that I've done over the years, there's been so many different types of restarts that you start to see a trend. Very rarely do you see something that hasn't happened yet."
Having a large lead in the point standings allows Busch the freedom to reach deep into that bag of tricks on occasion.
"Yeah, leading the points, it definitely has its advantages," he said. "Being able to go out there and make a bonsai move like that ... Even if I did slip up or something like that, the worst we probably would have ended up was fourth or fifth, having to catch the car, hopefully not wrecking it, but just getting loose or something like that."
For his part, Johnson was more than pleased with everything except the finish.
"Not a bad race until the last lap," he said. "A great performance for the team. I'm very proud of the effort. We had a great car there at the end, passed the 18, got going the last restart and should have given him (Busch) the inside.
"There's no way I thought with how good my car was that I couldn't have gotten away from him through 1 and 2, and somehow he got to be outside. As soon as he broke the plane of my bumper, I knew I was in trouble, and sure enough, I was."
Johnson said he was not thinking defense on the restart.
"We had such a good car," he said. "I thought I would get away from him on the restart, and he got a great start and was right there with me and just broke past that bumper plane through the center of 1 and 2, and that was it.
"So looking back, if I could do it over, I would have played more defense on that restart. I thought with how we had been running, I was in good shape."
Normally, that would be the case. But when you're dealing with Kyle Busch this season and the chips are down, it become a whole new ballgame.
"I really don't believe how good things are going," said Busch, who still hears more than his share of boos from racing crowds. "It's been a phenomenal year, something just so special. I have to thank the good Lord from up above.
"I don't know where this is coming from, but he's blessing us all at Joe Gibbs this year. This is just a privilege to be a part of and we're so proud. If there's not ever a year like this one again, it's definitely something that we have to cherish now."
The fans who packed Chicagoland Speedway seem to be catching the fever, generally cheering Busch's late pass.
"You've got to stay hungry and humble in this sport," Busch said. "The things that you do to try to win over the fans, they are here to support our racing. I wish they liked me, you know, but I've got to play, I guess, the bad-boy role and them not like me for whatever reason.
"I'm trying, but all I can do is go out there and win races and make my team, my sponsors and everybody who supports me happy."
