Kyle Busch won for the first time since June Sunday night securing his second Cup title.
That’s two for Kyle Busch, five for Joe Gibbs and 19 this year for Toyota. Maybe not a season for the all-time record books, but pretty close.
Busch, in the No. 18 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, picked a perfect night to snap his aggravating 21-race Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series losing streak dating to Pocono in June. His convincing victory in the Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway Sunday delivered his second Cup Series title in the last five years and gave Gibbs his fifth owners’ title dating to Bobby Labonte in 2000.
It was Toyota’s 19th victory this year, all from the four-team JGR stable: seven from Martin Truex Jr., six from Denny Hamlin, five from Busch and one from Erik Jones. TRD’s 19 victories compares to the 17 total from Ford (10) and Chevrolet (7) in the 36-race season.
Busch led five times for 120 of the 267 laps, and was never seriously challenged as he led the final 45. Fellow Championship 4 contender Truex Jr. was second, Jones was third, Championship 4 contender Kevin Harvick was fourth and defending series champion Joey Logano was fifth. Hamlin, the other Championship 4 contender, was 10th after late-race overheating issues.
Perhaps surprisingly, he took it well after his fourth disappointment in NASCASR’s championship-deciding race. “We’re going to celebrate our year,” he said, but didn’t reveal when or where. (The talk is that Michael Jordon, a neighbor in North Carolina, may attend). “Our year was fantastic in every way you can think of, and it just didn’t pan out in one race in our favor. You know, I don’t know about those guys. I talked to them briefly before the race, but I don’t know. Right now we’ve just got to gather all the thoughts and think about everything.”
The 400-mile race was almost boringly uneventful. Two of the three caution periods – at lap 82 and then at lap 162 – signaled the end of the first and second stages. The only incident caution came at 138, when John Hunter Nemechek spun alone and without contact. The Championship 4 spent most of the night at the front, within the top-10 almost from start to finish. They raced with some conviction at time, but mostly they were equally spaced out from each other.
Other than the one lap Ricky Stenhouse led (39) during green-flag pit stops, the four championship drivers led every lap: Busch five times for 120 laps, Truex Jr. four for 103, Harvick three for 11 and Hamlin once for two laps. Hamlin started on the pole via points when qualifying was rained out on Saturday.
As usual this year the memory of the late J.D. Gibbs was close to everyone in Victory Lane. Joe Gibbs’ eldest son was 49 when he died in January of “degenerative neurological conditions.” After playing four years of football at William and Mary, he helped his father build and operate JGR. He took an even bigger role with Gibbs returned to the NFL for the Redskins’ 2004-2007 seasons.
“J.D. spent his entire professional life building our race team,” Joe Gibbs said. “This whole year is a tribute to him. Everybody saw the Daytona 500 (when Hamlin won) and everything that’s happened this year. The Lord has had His hand in what has taken place. I believe J.D. had a great view of it. This whole year we’re celebrating his life.”
Busch made special mention of the Gibbs family in his post-race celebration. “It’s been a difficult time on Melissa (J.D.’s wife) and Joe,” he said. “I don’t know how much it means to them to be able to reward them with a championship trophy, but it’s the best I can do. Everybody always says you never give up. We’re no different. We just do what we can do each and every week. It was a lot of fun to cap off such an amazing year.”
Amazing, indeed: a 1-2-3 finish in the Daytona 500 victory, three of the Championship 4 drivers, another Cup Series championship and 19 victories from its four drivers. You can’t do much better than that.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Ford, Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, and Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, pose for a photo opportunity prior to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, lead the field to the green flag to start the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Express Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, races Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Busch Light Ford, during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Martin Truex Jr., driver of the #19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota, pits during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates with his crew after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 M&M’s Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Ford EcoBoost 400 and the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Championship at Homestead Speedway on November 17, 2019 in Homestead, Florida.
Homestead, Florida
Sunday, November 17, 2019
1. (4) Kyle Busch (P), Toyota, 267.
2. (3) Martin Truex Jr. (P), Toyota, 267.
3. (16) Erik Jones, Toyota, 267.
4. (2) Kevin Harvick (P), Ford, 267.
5. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 267.
6. (10) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 267.
7. (15) Ryan Newman, Ford, 267.
8. (22) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.
9. (12) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 267.
10. (1) Denny Hamlin (P), Toyota, 267.
11. (7) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 266.
12. (25) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 266.
13. (18) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 266.
14. (17) Daniel Suarez, Ford, 266.
15. (11) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 266.
16. (20) Chris Buescher, Chevrolet, 266.
17. (19) Paul Menard, Ford, 266.
18. (8) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 265.
19. (23) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 265.
20. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 265.
21. (13) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 265.
22. (14) Aric Almirola, Ford, 264.
23. (30) John Hunter Nemechek(i), Ford, 264.
24. (24) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 263.
25. (26) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 263.
26. (28) Michael McDowell, Ford, 263.
27. (31) David Ragan, Ford, 263.
28. (33) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 262.
29. (37) Drew Herring, Toyota, 262.
30. (34) JJ Yeley(i), Ford, 262.
31. (29) Corey LaJoie, Ford, 261.
32. (39) BJ McLeod(i), Chevrolet, 256.
33. (40) Timmy Hill(i), Toyota, 248.
34. (27) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 243.
35. (36) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 242.
36. (38) Josh Bilicki(i), Ford, Brakes, 240.
37. (35) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, Brakes, 236.
38. (32) Joe Nemechek(i), Chevrolet, Steering, 227.
39. (9) William Byron, Chevrolet, Engine, 215.
40. (6) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Engine, 209.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 142.654 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 48 Mins, 47 Secs. Margin of Victory: 4.578 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Hamlin (P) 0;K. Harvick (P) 1-20;M. Truex Jr. (P) 21-38;R. Stenhouse Jr. 39;M. Truex Jr. (P) 40-86;K. Busch (P) 87;M. Truex Jr. (P) 88-120;K. Busch (P) 121-143;K. Harvick (P) 144-156;K. Busch (P) 157-167;D. Hamlin (P) 168-169;K. Busch (P) 170-209;M. Truex Jr. (P) 210-214;K. Harvick (P) 215-222;K. Busch (P) 223-267.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch (P) 5 times for 120 laps; Martin Truex Jr. (P) 4 times for 103 laps; Kevin Harvick (P) 3 times for 41 laps; Denny Hamlin (P) 1 time for 2 laps; Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 19,42,18,4,11,12,14,24,48,3
Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,4,42,19,11,12,22,20,48,14
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