Busch sweeps weekend in Martinsville

Busch celebrates

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Kyle Busch finally broke into the win column for the first time this season with a command performance in Sunday's STP 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville Speedway to score the weekend sweep and notch his first-career victory at the famed half-mile short track.

Busch led 352 of the 500 scheduled laps, taking the victory after beating out his teammate Matt Kenseth on a late-race restart and then holding off A.J. Allmendinger over the final 11 laps to record his 35^th-career victory.

Kyle Larson finished third, followed by Austin Dillon and Brad Keselowski.

Busch had been 0-21 at the track which has been a staple on the NASCAR circuit for nearly 70 years – having hosted NASCAR races since 1948.

Busch's previous-best Martinsville finish was a runner-up showing in October of 2012. Busch then came out for Saturday's Camping World Truck Series race and blew their doors off for his first Martinsville truck series win, setting the stage for a dominating showing on Sunday.

And for his efforts: one of those famous Martinsville Grandfather clocks.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] "To win here in Martinsville is pretty cool – finally get to take a clock home," said Busch. "A lot of people said I didn't deserve yesterday – maybe I don't – but I certainly got one today. It certainly helps when you get to run other divisions and that's why I do it to pay off on Sundays. It doesn't work every single weekend, but it works more times than it doesn't.

"I checked off the truck series win yesterday. I never won here at Martinsville in the trucks. I think I've concluded being able to win at all the active tracks that I've made a start. There's not very many left on the list. I'm pumped when I'm able to do that. I don't know that many guys have ever been able to accomplish being able to win at every single active track that they've made starts at, and I look forward to trying to complete that feat."

Busch's victory came at the expense of his teammate Matt Kenseth, who ran 1-2 with Busch for most of the afternoon and worked well together on the restarts, but on the final restart with 11 laps to go, Busch chose the inside line and left Kenseth hanging out to dry on the outside, where he fell back all the way to 15^th in the final running order.

"That was the key to the race – being able to restart on the bottom like that," said Busch of the final restart. "We all talked as a group earlier this morning about how we were going to do that and what we were going to do and we all said, ‘Okay, with 10 to go, it's pretty much off limits, no more,' and it was 12 to go, so it was pretty much right on the brink there, so sorry Matt (Kenseth)."

Busch leads on way to victory

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Busch first picked up the lead on lap 32 and kept his no. 18 M&M's Toyota Camry parked at the front of the field all afternoon, as Kenseth and Kevin Harvick each took turns battling Busch for the lead.

The turning point came following the final caution flag with 15 las to go that brought many of the top contenders to pit road while Busch and Kenseth stayed out, and set up a final 11-lap dash for the win.

Once back under green, Busch pulled away and left Kenseth as Allmendinger moved past on the inside to take second with Dillon close behind while Kenseth struggled on the high side.

Out in front, Busch pulled out to a five-car length lead with a clean race track ahead of him, and although Allmendinger closed a bit in the final laps looking to score his second-career Sprint Cup victory, he was never able to challenge him for the lead.

The runner-up effort was still Allmendinger's best finish of the season and his first top five since his win at Watkins Glen in August of 2014.

"It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. I passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville. That is pretty fricking cool," said Allmendinger. "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."

Dillon's third-place finish marked his best result of the season and tied his career-best finish at Martinsville in all three series, moving him up to seventh in the points standings.

Harvick continues to lead the Sprint Cup Series points despite a 17^th-place finish in Sunday's race. Johnson holds second while Kyle Busch moves up two spots to third. Carl Edwards and Joey Logano round out the top five in the points standings.

QUOTES

KYLE BUSCH, No. 18 M&M's 75 Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
Finishing Position: 1st
Did running the Truck Series race yesterday prepare you for today?
"I'd say it certainly helps when you get to run other divisions and that's why I do it to pay off on Sundays. It doesn't work every single weekend, but it works more times than it doesn't, so can't say enough about everyone at KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) for giving me a great piece yesterday to help me learn, teach me some more things about Martinsville that I didn't already know in 30 other prior starts. I can't say enough about this whole JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing) team on this side. This M&M's Camry was awesome in practice yesterday. We had a really good car through practice and Adam (Stevens, crew chief) made some really good adjustments overnight to keep us where we need to be in order to run up front all day, led a lot of laps, probably led the most laps there and to win here in Martinsville is pretty cool – finally get to take a clock home. A lot of people said I didn't deserve yesterday – maybe I don't – but I certainly got one today."

How big was it to have the preferred lane on the final restart?
"That was huge – the race off pit road – so I've got to thank my guys. Obviously, they were flawless today on pit road. They did a really good job. We made a few adjustments to the car throughout the day and they kept getting me out not even losing a spot on pit road, so they did a great job for me. That was the key to the race – being able to restart on the bottom like that. We all talked as a group earlier this morning about how we were going to do that and what we were going to do and we all said, ‘Okay, with 10 to go, it's pretty much off limits, no more,' and it was 12 to go, so it was pretty much right on the brink there, so sorry Matt (Kenseth), but I can't say enough about my teammates. They helped me a lot at this place as well too – Denny Hamlin most importantly. He's a huge key to our success here, getting me better over the years and just continuing to evolve our program and of course Matt Kenseth coming on board. He's been a huge influence for me to get better here because he just came over and was really good right off the bat, but awesome day for M&M's, NOS Energy Drink, Toyota, Interstate Batteries, JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), TRD (Toyota Racing Development) engines – can't say enough about those guys – so real pumped about this one here."

Allmendinger rallied for 2nd

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AJ ALLMENDINGER, NO. 47 KROGER/BUTTERFINGER/COFFEE-MATE CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 2^ND

NEW PERSONNEL AND NEW RACE CARS. IS THIS THE CULMINATION OF ALL THAT HARD WORK?

"Well, I was hoping for one more spot for a culmination. But, I passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville; that's pretty cool! I can't thank everybody on this team enough, especially (team owners) Tad and Jodi Geschickter. They put a lot of effort into this team. We weren't where we wanted to be about six months ago. We brought in so many people who stepped up to embrace their new roles. I can't thank all our sponsors enough."

ON HIS DAY:
"Man, I hope the fans enjoyed that. Thanks for coming out. It was a lot of fun. I passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville. That is pretty fricking cool. I just can't thank everybody on this team enough. Randall Burnett (crew chief), Ernie Cope (competition director), Brain Burns (engineer), Tony Palmer (engineer) for embracing their new roles and everybody really stepping up together, especially Tad and Jodi Geschickter (team owners) for putting all this effort into this team. I can't thank Kroger, Butterfinger, Coffee-mate, Tad is putting so many stickers on this car it's hard, Scott Products, Kingsford, Clorox, Bush's Beans, Louisiana Hot Sauce, we've got so many sponsors it's pretty cool to be on this race team right now."

HOW HARD IS IT TO GET TO THE BOTTOM?
"With 35 (laps) to go it doesn't matter you've got to do what you have to do. We had such a good long run car I was hoping we would stay green for the last 120 laps. I thought we might really have a shot at them. Randall Burnett and all the guys and pit crew I can't thank them enough. They really stepped it up the last two weeks and gave us a shot to win that race. I had to get aggressive. I thought heck with 12 to go we might have a new clock in the shop. Came up a little bit short, it's pretty cool to be racing Kyle Busch for the win here though."

Larson took 3rd for Ganassi

Harold Hinson/HHP for GM

KYLE LARSON, NO. 42 TARGET CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 3^RD

WHAT WAS THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE TO BRING IT HOME THIRD TODAY?

"We had a really good Target Chevy. It was really fun this whole weekend to be competitive every time I was on the race track. Normally, I'm very bad here and to finish top 3 feels like a win for me. Never would I have thought that I'd get a top 3 here and now I can kind of see a (Grandfather) clock maybe in my future. I had a lot of fun today. We were running in the top 5 and top 7 the whole race. I learned a lot. I spent a lot of time behind Jimmie Johnson and I felt like I just followed his track there and got a lot better throughout the race. Chad (Johnson, crew chief) did a good job taking two tires there at the end we got lined-up on the inside row and we were pretty good there. So, hat's off to everybody on this Target Chevy and it was cool to get a good finish."

ON HIS DAY:
"It was a lot of fun for me. Martinsville in the past has been my worst race track on the schedule. To finish top three here feels like a win. Never what I thought I would be on the podium here at Martinsville and now I can kind of maybe see a clock someday in my future. Had a lot of fun today. Chad (Johnston, crew chief) brought a good Target Chevy here. The pit crew did an amazing job. We gained spots every single time we were on pit road. That was really the key to keeping our track position. We were really good on short runs. Middle runs I would kind of fall off a little bit and then there at the end I could kind of maintain. Had a lot of fun. Had a good late restart there on two tires and was able to carve my way back up to third."

AUSTIN DILLON, NO. 3 DOW CHEVROLET SS – FINISHED 4^TH

A GREAT RUN FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATE, PAUL MENARD, TODAY; AND THE TWO OF YOU SPOKE AFTER THE RACE. HOW WAS IT?

"It was good. Paul just said we had fast race cars. That's pretty much the end of it. I've got to learn to keep my mouth shut on the radio. That's part of racing. I'm a fiery guy and it was fun today. It's nice to see the front of a short track like that. Sometimes you've just got to grow up a little bit, but It's nice to be running up front. I've got to thank Dow and all the people that support us. It's fun. I'll talk to Paul. Me and Paul are fine. That's the small part of it. What a run. Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) made a great call there. The pit crew did a great recovery. We broke a jack and were able to recover from that. A lot of things happened today. It's Martinsville. Your head's hot. You say things you don't want to mean. Monday morning I'll talk to everybody and we'll figure it back out."

WHAT DOES THIS DO TO YOUR CONFIDENCE, ESPECIALLY HEADING INTO SPRING AND SUMMER?

"We just keep getting better every week. I didn't like myself last year. I didn't like who I was for the team. I was frustrated and I wanted to be better for these guys. When they step-up, they make me better. I'm trying to be different, but I'm not doing a lot of different stuff. They're just building me a lot better race cars. Everybody back at the shop putting all those 80-hour weeks in, I hope you understand how important it is because you're making it happen. I wish we had one more spot, but that was pretty darn cool."

ON HIS DAY:
"It was fun. I was excited. To start 29^th and to drive up through there like we did is a testament to these guys and effort they put in. I struggled at this track qualifying. Seemed to race well, I just have never really been good qualifying or practicing. We did a lot to help me as a driver today. Man, it was just a career day for the Dow Chevy here at Martinsville. Looking forward to races to come. I learned a lot today."

Results

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