Sunday (5/16) Kurt Busch battled to a dramatic win at the Kansas Speedway in NASCAR’s AdventHealth 400.
The race had plenty of excitement from start to finish. There were multiple lanes of racing as there always are at Kansas. That meant two, three and even four or five wide racing at times. Some of the teams pushed the limits of the tires by under-inflating them for better traction. However, this led to some not so positive results when those tires would go flat.
Ten different drivers would exchange the lead 18 times. It looked as though it would be a battle of the Busch Brothers. Kyle Busch was the winner of stage one. Kurt Busch was the winner of stage two. Kurt was the car to beat though. He led a race high 116 of the 267 laps in the race.
The race’s eighth and final caution allowed Kyle Larson to take over the lead. He raced out to a bit of a cushion. However, Kurt began running him down. With just nine laps remaining Kurt passed Kyle for the lead.
Kurt held on to that lead to score his first win at Kansas Speedway in 33 tries. This was also his first win of the 2022 season. The win is also the first for the 23XI Racing team in the #45 car. Kurt becomes the eleventh different winner in the 2022 season for the NASCAR Cup Series.
Kyle Larson held on for second-place with Kyle Busch in third. Denny Hamlin finished in fourth-place with Christopher Bell in fifth. See the complete race results for the AdventHealth 400 race here.
Chase Elliott leaves Kansas as the leader in the point standings. Ryan Blaney is in second-place. Kyle Busch holds third while William Byron is in fourth. Ross Chastain rounds out the top five. See the complete NASCAR Cup Series point standings here.
Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series teams and drivers is a trip to Texas Motor Speedway All-Star Weekend and the All-Star Race Sunday. May 22nd.
By: Buck Stevens