(Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Headlined by a Kurt Busch victory, Toyota placed six cars in the top 10 Sunday in the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway, doing so for the first time since 2017 at Watkins Glen.
Busch led 116 laps, the most of any driver, and fought off Kyle Larson and brother Kyle Busch late. Kurt led up until a caution for fluid on the racetrack on Lap 230, where he surrendered his lead to Kyle Busch on the pit cycle.
Kyle Busch was passed by Larson on the restart, but the trio of Larson and the Busch brothers hung closely together. With nine laps to go, Kurt Busch passed Larson for the win after Larson got loose and hit the wall while racing for the lead.
“When we started this car number, I knew we had our work cut out for us,” Kurt said. “I just thought all a long if we got up front it would be a whole new game of blocking the air, taking lanes away. Today, this Toyota Camry TRD was fast right off the truck.”
Kyle Busch recorded his ninth top 10 of the season with his third-place finish. He was too far back to pass Larson for second despite Larson’s contact with the wall.
“Larson did a good job getting in my left rear in the right spot to drag me back going down the backstretch and I couldn’t retaliate,” Kyle Busch said. “Once he got clear it was over.”
Denny Hamlin, who owns Kurt Busch’s car for 23XI Racing, pieced together a fourth-place finish for Joe Gibbs Racing. He suffered several issues throughout the race but moved toward the front late.
Hamlin recorded just his second top-five finish of the season. His only other top five came at Richmond in April, where he won the race.
“We went to the back three times. I just never could get an opportunity to get up there and show the speed,” Hamlin said. “Once I was there, I just couldn’t get past the aero side of it. We were all a freight train at the top, and that’s all I had.”
It’s also Hamlin’s second win in as many seasons as the owner of 23XI Racing. His other victory came with Bubba Wallace last October at Talladega.
“It’s big on a lot of levels,” Hamlin said. “I just don’t know why this one just feels bigger to me.”
Wallace had one of the fastest cars all day, but an uncontrolled tire on a late pitstop sent him to the rear. He rallied to finish 10th.
“Bubba deserved to have a shot at a win today,” Hamlin said. “It was so much better than that (tenth). Mistakes, and we are working on it… It’s growing pains.”
Christopher Bell, Sunday’s polesitter, finished fifth. He led 37 laps and fell out of the top 10 towards the middle of the race but found speed late for his third top five of the season.
“This was a long time coming,” Bell said. “We’ve had a couple of these races where all of us have been really good, but every car was exceptional today… When we lost track position, we just kind of lost the balance on it.”
Martin Truex Jr. rallied for a sixth-place finish after blowing a tire and falling a lap down at the end of Stage 2.
