Following the NASCAR Sprint Cup GoBowling.com 400 Saturday night (5/7), Kyle Busch is not winless at Kansas Speedway anymore.

Martin Truex Jr. led the field to the green flag starting in the Pole position. He then spent the majority of the race showing that he would be the car to beat for the win. Martin was one of 10 drivers that exchanged the lead 16 different times during the 267 lap race. He was in the lead position for a race high 172 laps.

However, it was the #78 team that ended up beating themselves. Under a green flag pit stop with around 52 laps left to go in the race, the team didn’t get all five lug nuts tight on the car and Martin had to pit a second time because of the loose wheel. That put the #78 Chevrolet a lap down and eliminated his chance of winning the race he had dominated to that point.

Defending Sprint Cup Champion Kyle Busch had not had the best of luck at Kansas Speedway over his career. In fact, it was one of four tracks he had not won a Sprint Cup race at when the 2016 season began. Earlier this season Kyle was able to reduce that to three tracks by winning at Martinsville. He took the lead of the GoBowling.400 for a second time with 37 laps remaining in the race with hopes of checking off another track.

Kevin Harvick was able to get to the back bumper of the #18 Toyota several times as the laps wound down. However, he was not able to make the pass and Kyle got his first NASCAR Sprint Cup win at Kansas Speedway. That leaves only Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway with unchecked win boxes on his Sprint Cup racing resume.

Kevin finished in second place with Kurt Busch taking third place. Matt Kenseth captured the fourth place finish with Ryan Blaney rounding out the top five, See the complete race results for the GoBowling.com 400 here.

The top four places remain the same in the NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings as Kevin Harvick remains the leader followed in order by Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Kurt Busch moves up a spot to take over the fifth place this week. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

Kyle’s first Kansas win makes him the first driver to reach three wins in the 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup season and puts him at the top of the Chase Grid as a result. With a repeat winner, the number of drivers in the all but guaranteed a spot in The Chase remains at six. See the 2016 NASCAR Chase Grid here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers head to the “Monster Mile” of Dover International Speedway next for the AAA 400 Drive For Autism Sunday afternoon, May 15th.

By: Buck Stevens