In the closing laps of Sunday’s Pure Michigan 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Kyle Busch was “Outrageously Dependable” as he held off five-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson to score his 23rd career victory and his fourth of the 2011 season.
The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) passed Johnson on lap 188 and began pulling away from the Hendrick Motorsports pilot as the laps wound down in what was scheduled to be a 200-lap event. But on lap 198, Jamie McMurray and Busch’s older brother, Kurt, were involved in an accident in turn two which brought out a caution and set up a green-white-checkered finish.
No driver in the top-seven headed to pit road and the stage was set for two of the best drivers in the sport to battle for the win in a two-lap, four-mile dash for the trophy.
As the leader, Busch had the option to pick the inside or outside line for the restart and he positioned his Interstate Batteries “White Hot” Camry on the outside of Johnson’s Chevrolet as the field approached the green flag. When the green flag waved, Busch punched his accelerator and inched ahead of Johnson’s machine as the duo entered turn one. By the time Busch exited turn two, he had cleared Johnson’s machine and pulled away for a .568 of a second margin of victory.
“It feels really good to win here at Michigan,” Busch said. “We’ve been trying so hard the last few times here. Our teammate (Denny Hamlin) has been able to do it but, unfortunately, we haven’t. Good to put it in victory lane, especially for Norm Miller (chairman of Interstate Batteries) and everybody at Interstate Batteries. Everybody from Toyota, this close to Detroit, they want a win here, especially the M&M’s folks as well.”
The victory was Busch’s first in the Sprint Cup Series at Michigan, but the fourth for primary sponsor Interstate Batteries. The Dallas-based company took the checkered flag three times at the 2-mile oval with former JGR driver Bobby Labonte in June 1995, August 1995 and August 1999.
“For us, it’s special in a lot of ways,” said J.D. Gibbs, president of JGR. “For Norm Miller, Interstate Batteries, that whole team there was our first sponsor 20 years ago. And 20 years later you’re in victory lane with them and that is special. Obviously, the whole M&M’s partnership as well. It’s a big deal for JGR.”
Interstate Batteries now has 25 Sprint Cup victories as a primary sponsor – 21 came with Labonte, two with former JGR driver Dale Jarrett and two with Busch. The last victory as primary sponsor for Interstate came via Busch in July 2008 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
“How about Interstate Batteries – our founding sponsor at Joe Gibbs Racing,” said crew chief Dave Rogers. “Finally got a win for Norm Miller, it’s been so long. When I started at Joe Gibbs Racing, Interstate was the only primary sponsor we had. To be a crew chief with the Interstate Batteries Camry today is such an honor – thank you Norm, appreciate it man.”
Busch’s victory was his series-best fourth of the season and helped him clinch a spot in the 12-driver Chase for the Championship. Although it is highly unlikely, should Busch fall out of the top-10 in points in the next three weeks, he would still be in the Chase as spots 11 and 12 are reserved for the drivers between 11th and 20th in points who have the most victories. It is mathematically impossible for any driver outside the top-10 in points to surpass Busch’s win total should he fall out of the top-10 in points before the Chase field is set following the Sept. 10 race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.
With 23 of 36 races complete, Busch leads the championship standings and he has 799 points and has a 10-point cushion over second-place Johnson.
“Certainly, we’ve built our team into a championship contender this year,” Busch said. “That’s where our strong suit has been up to this point, just being able to be consistent or at least try to be consistent. And after our bad days, we try to come back and get a top-10 to try to minimize the damage from the week before. With the next few weeks that are coming up, we feel like they’re really good racetracks for us. There’s a great opportunity for us to win three more races before the Chase starts. We’d love nothing more than to see that and, of course, carry on our strong runs through the final 10 weeks.”
With his victory at Michigan, Busch also qualified himself for the Sprint Summer Showdown which gives the race-winning drivers from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono (Pa.) Raceway, Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International, Michigan and Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway the chance for a $3 million prize during the Labor Day weekend Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Should Busch win at Atlanta, he would win $1 million, while the Kyle Busch Foundation as well as one lucky fan would also win $1 million apiece.
“Atlanta is not so great for me sometimes,” Busch said. “But I have won there (March 2008). We’ll see if we can’t get a good run and win the Sprint Summer Showdown. It’d be great to win money for a fan and for my foundation.”
Busch’s JGR teammates – Joey Logano, driver of the No. 20 Toyota Camry and Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota Camry – finished 21st and 35th, respectively.
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