Busch wins another truck race
Busch held off Brad Keselowski in the closing laps of Friday night’s EnjoyIllinois.com 225 at Chicagoland Speedway to win for the 34th time in the series, frustrating Keselowski’s bid to become the 24th driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s national series.
"We didn’t have the speed on the short run, but on the long runs, we had a really, really good truck," Busch said. "It’s been fun. It’s a great win for this team. This team really deserves. (Crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) and the guys have worked really hard.
"We tried some things in practice today. A couple worked, so maybe we can take those to a few other places later this year."
Busch won for the fourth time this season, the third time at Chicagoland and the 34th time in his career. Keselowski finished second for the fifth time in 58 starts.
Ryan Blaney who drives for the team Keselowski owns, ran third, followed Matt Crafton, who extended his series lead to 41 points over eighth-place finisher James Buescher. Ty Dillon came home fifth.
Keselowski and Busch waged a scintillating battle during the last half of the 150-lap race, trading the lead multiple times before Busch took the point on Lap 130. Busch held the top spot and opened an advantage that reached nearly one second before Keselowski began to close with 10 laps left.
By Lap 143, Keselowski had pulled within a truck-length of the No. 51 Toyota, but Busch kept his rival at bay by running the high line around the 1.5-mile speedway.
"It’s not a lot of fun," Keselowski said of his fifth second-place run, "but this is the most fun you can have finishing second. We’ve been right there. This particular race, second was probably where I deserved to finish on that last run.
"Eventually it’s got to turn your way."
After getting loose and falling back in traffic on Lap 59, Keselowski brushed the wall while racing in close quarters with Ty Dillon.
"I knew I had gotten there pretty late," said Keselowski, who had a strong run to the outside of Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet. "Obviously, I could have stayed in it and wrecked both of us. And then we made slight contact.
"I don’t think it was that harmful to my truck, but any time you hit the wall, it’s not going to help it."
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports Finishing Position:
1st How was it to race Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney for the win?
"That was tough, man. Brad (Keselowski) and Ryan (Blaney) there, they had some really good trucks today. Can't say enough about this Dollar General Toyota Tundra, though. Toyota Tundras are awesome and we showed it today. We didn't have the speed on the short run, but the long run, we had really, really good truck. It's been fun. This is a great win for this team, this team really deserves it. Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and the guys have done a great job and worked really, really hard. Tried some things in practice today and a couple worked, so maybe we can take those to a few other places later on this year."
How was your race?
"I want to thank the Lord for this one. Also, thank everyone from Dollar General. This Toyota Tundra was awesome today. Thank TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Toyota, FlexCo, Monster Energy Drink and Camping World, of course. The fans for being out here tonight — we appreciate their support and it's just an awesome truck tonight. We tried a couple things in practice that worked for us and really liked the way the thing felt. Hopefully we can take those to a couple more places this year."
How tough was the competition in tonight's race?
"It was tough — those guys were really fast on the short run, Brad (Keselowski) and Ryan (Blaney) both, they had really good trucks. You had to play the aero game a little bit with guys and pinch them on their sides a little bit to slow them down on the straightaways and not let them by you. In the corners, of course the outside lane always seemed to prevail. I finally got by Brad, I had to run him up a little bit, a whole slide job and that's part of this racing, you know — it's what you have to do sometimes to win these things. It was fun, a great race. That was a really good show. I got away from Brad there and I was like, 'Oh, okay good I can finally take a breather here and then all of a sudden he runs me back down and he's on my side again. I'm like, 'Geeze-oh-Petes, leave me alone."
How are you doing the new burnout?
"Well, you know I'll admit that Sam Hornish started it in Las Vegas. He was doing a burnout and then as he was doing it he got out of the car and then Ty Dillon replicated that at Kentucky, he started his burnout inside and then as he was doing it got up and out. I'm starting mine outside, and so that's the difference. People want to say they're the same, they're not the same. Just having some fun and changing it around a little bit. They keep shutting off on me. This time it shut off because I was out of gas, last time it shut off on me because my foot slipped off the gas. It's interesting, it certainly is fun to do, a little bit of a challenge and makes it different."
Results
| Pos | # | Driver | Make | Start | Laps | Laps Led | Status |
| 1 | 51 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 7 | 150 | 52 | Running |
| 2 | 19 | Brad Keselowski | Ford | 11 | 150 | 50 | Running |
| 3 | 29 | Ryan Blaney | Ford | 15 | 150 | 6 | Running |
| 4 | 88 | Matt Crafton | Toyota | 8 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 5 | 3 | Ty Dillon | Chevrolet | 2 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 6 | 7 | John Wes Townley | Toyota | 16 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 7 | 24 | Austin Dillon | Chevrolet | 10 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 8 | 31 | James Buescher | Chevrolet | 9 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 9 | 4 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | 1 | 150 | 42 | Running |
| 10 | 98 | Johnny Sauter | Toyota | 14 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 11 | 54 | Darrell Wallace Jr | Toyota | 13 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 12 | 32 | Miguel Paludo | Chevrolet | 3 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 13 | 9 | Ron Hornaday Jr | Chevrolet | 17 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 14 | 77 | German Quiroga Jr | Toyota | 23 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 15 | 6 | Justin Lofton | Chevrolet | 4 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 16 | 30 | Ben Kennedy | Chevrolet | 12 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 17 | 60 | Dakoda Armstrong | Chevrolet | 21 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 18 | 27 | Jeff Agnew | Chevrolet | 24 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 19 | 8 | Max Gresham | Chevrolet | 20 | 150 | 0 | Running |
| 20 | 81 | Kenny Wallace | Toyota | 22 | 149 | 0 | Running |
| 21 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Chevrolet | 26 | 149 | 0 | Running |
| 22 | 02 | Tyler Young | Chevrolet | 19 | 149 | 0 | Running |
| 23 | 18 | Joey Coulter | Toyota | 6 | 148 | 0 | Running |
| 24 | 99 | Bryan Silas | Ford | 25 | 142 | 0 | Running |
| 25 | 62 | Brendan Gaughan | Chevrolet | 5 | 142 | 0 | Running |
| 26 | 07 | Jimmy Weller III | Toyota | 32 | 136 | 0 | Handling |
| 27 | 17 | Timothy Peters | Toyota | 18 | 99 | 0 | Accident |
| 28 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | RAM | 30 | 90 | 0 | Running |
| 29 | 92 | Scott Riggs | Chevrolet | 27 | 72 | 0 | Accident |
| 30 | 63 | Justin Jennings | Chevrolet | 28 | 50 | 0 | Accident |
| 31 | 84 | Mike Harmon | Chevrolet | 34 | 46 | 0 | Engine |
| 32 | 57 | Norm Benning | Chevrolet | 35 | 21 | 0 | Axle |
| 33 | 50 | Danny Efland | Chevrolet | 33 | 18 | 0 | Electrical |
| 34 | 38 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | 31 | 4 | 0 | Vibration |
| 35 | 0 | Chris Lafferty | Chevrolet | 36 | 4 | 0 | Rear End |
| 36 | 93 | Chris Jones | Chevrolet | 29 | 3 | 0 | Transmission |