SPRINT CUP SERIES PURE MICHIGAN 400 Aug. 21, 2011 • Brooklyn, Mich. • 203 Laps RACE 23 TIME OF RACE: 2:41:26 • AVERAGE SPEED: 150.898 mph • MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.568 second • POLE: Greg Biffl e, 190.345 mph • LEAD CHANGES: 20 among 10 drivers Quad Racer Kyle Busch Wins His Fourth Race Of The Season
KYLE BUSCH scored his fourth victory of the season with a win in the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Speedway. While other drivers were
able to make their way through traffi c by chipping away at the competition, Busch swallowed up those in front of him in gulps. After starting 17th, he ran
down race leader Greg Biffl e, who had been dominant through much of the fi rst half of the race, and eventually dispatched of the Roush Fenway Racing driver for the lead on lap 99. He rallied from 17th again after
a round of pit stops left him deep in the fi eld, and was harassing Jeff Gordon for the lead when his run to the front was only briefl y interrupted by a round of green- fl ag pit stops. He blasted past fi ve-time
champion Jimmie Johnson for the lead with a dozen laps remaining. And he held off Johnson, Brad
Keselowski, a fast closing Mark Martin and Gordon in a green- white-checkered fi nish for his fi rst career Cup win at the 2-mile track. “I pretty much knew I wanted
the top [lane],” Busch said of the restart that came after the day’s fi nal caution and pushed the race into overtime. “I saw the 2 [of Keselowski] was going to start
a little bit. Being the inside guy, whether you get tight or you get loose, it’s going to be hard to hold yourself off that outside guy. “T ere wasn’t much debate
from my side.” Busch led twice for 22 laps and
the win guaranteed him one of the 12 spots in this year’s Chase. It was his 23rd career Cup victory.
“I wish I could have hung on.” —JIMMIE JOHNSON
on the inside; I didn’t know if he was going to try to push the 48 [of Johnson] or make it three-wide. I fi gured I’d just give myself the best opportunity to win and that was run the top side and keep my momentum rolling up through Turns 1 and 2. “When we got down in there,
we were side by side a little bit; Jimmie just had to pinch his car
“Kyle Busch is the most
competitive guy I’ve ever worked with,” crew chief Dave Rogers said. “He beat himself up more than he should have last week [when he fi nished third at Watkins Glen].” Johnson, one of several drivers
who said they struggled with a loose-handling car early on, moved up to second in points with his ninth top-fi ve of the season.
He was running fourth when
he ducked onto pit road for his fi nal stop and was already headed back out onto the track when the day’s fourth caution appeared. As the bulk of the lead-lap cars hit pit road, Johnson found himself with the lead when the race resumed on lap 173. “Once we had the car under
me,” he said, “we were in the game [and] had a shot at running in the top three. With the call that Chad [Knaus, crew chief] made coming to pit road before the caution came out, that gave us a chance to win. “I wish I could have hung on.
We had some debris on the grille. T e car was much looser than the run before. I got away from Kyle, but as I was pulling away, I was sliding the car pretty bad. I knew that my rear [tires] weren’t going to last long enough — 24, 27 laps around here is a long run.”
—KENNY BRUCE
82
FACEBOOK.COM/NASCARILLUSTRATED
Photo: Chuck Yadmark
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102