Kyle Busch Moves Toward NASCAR Chase with Kentucky Win [VIDEO, PHOTOS]

Kyle Busch took another step toward making the NASCAR Chase Grid with his win Saturday night (7/11) at Kentucky Speedway in the Quaker State 400.

Most of practice and qualifying was rained out at the Kentucky Speedway for the Quaker State 400 Presented by Advance Auto Parts. That meant not only would the NASCAR teams be dealing with a new aero package for the race, they didn’t get much time on the track to get a feel for it or make adjustments to their set-ups before the Saturday night race.

Some teams appeared to handle the lack of practice and new aero package quite well. Other teams were obviously struggling with their cars. As a result, the fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup held at Kentucky Speedway saw a record number of caution periods for the track running under the yellow flag 11 times for 49 laps.

Eight drivers took the lead of the race and exchanged that lead 13 times. Kyle Busch didn’t waste time showing everybody that he was going to be the car to beat. The #18 Toyota took the lead of the race for the first time on lap 34 of the 267 lap race. Kyle would pretty much dominate the race leading a race high 163 laps Saturday night at Kentucky Speedway.

Of the course the most important lap to lead in the last lap and Kyle did that as well. Crossing the finish line first gave Kyle his second win at Kentucky Speedway and his second win of the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Joey Logano captured the second place finish with Denny Hamlin finishing in third place. Kyle and Denny are Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates with Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth who finished in fourth and fifth places respectively giving JGR four of the top five finishing spots at Kentucky Speedway Saturday night. See the complete race results for the Quaker State 400 here.

Kevin Harvick remains the lead in the Sprint Cup point standings with Jimmie Johnson and Joey Logano moving up one spot each to second and third respectively. Dale Earnhardt Jr. experienced break issues in the Quaker State 400 resulting in a 21st place finish and dropping him two spots in the point standings to fourth. Martin Truex held his fifth place spot in the standings. See the complete NASCAR Sprint Cup point standings here.

Kyle Busch’s second win of the 2015 NASCAR season moved him toward making the Chase Grid. Although he now has two wins, Kyle is not yet eligible for the Chase being outside the top 30 in the point standings. However, he has moved closer to becoming Chase eligible by moving up two spots to 35th and closing the gap to 87 points behind 30th place in the standings. Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kurt Busch remain the top four seeds on the Chase Grid as the only other drivers with multiple wins for the year. See what the Chase Grid looks like following the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway here.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series heads to the “Magic Mile” of New Hampshire Motor Speedway next for the New Hampshire 301 Sunday, July 19th.

By: Buck Stevens