Busch holds off Hamlin for win

Jun 5, 2023

MADISON, Ill. — Kyle Busch had been in and out of his car through a lengthy weather delay. He had idled on the track through two red flags. He had kept his poise through 11 cautions, including five down the stretch as he tried to protect his lead.

Must have seemed like Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series Race at World Wide Technology Raceway would never end.

It finally did in the twilight, though, some six hours after the green flag initially dropped. Busch got a big push from Denny Hamlin on the last restart and then held him off in a green-white-checkered finish for his third victory of the year.

"That was pretty awesome, man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today. It was pretty phenomenal for us," Busch said. "We’re going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool."

Bubba Wallace brought out the 11th and final yellow when he was fighting for a top-10 finish and his brake rotor let go with five laps remaining, the last in a series of broken rotors that ended the race for at least three other drivers.

Busch, who had held off Kyle Larson on each previous restart, had one last phenomenal jump in him. He was well ahead of the rest of the field by the backstretch with just over a lap left and was never seriously challenged by Hamlin after he took the white flag, giving Richard Childress Racing another victory after triumphs at Talladega and Auto Club Speedway.

"Any time we give him a car capable of winning, he's going to win it," Childress said. "Those last three or four or however many restarts, I thought that was pretty tough, but I knew he would do his job."

The win was especially gratifying for Busch's crew chief, Randall Burnett, who not only produced a car fast enough to win the pole in his hometown but also made all the right calls on Sunday. Burnett hails from nearby Fenton, Missouri, and had plenty of friends and family in a sellout crowd of about 60,000 on a brutally hot late spring day.

"It means a lot to me coming home," Burnett said.

Hamlin finished second while Joey Logano, the winner a year ago in the Cup Series debut at the track, got around Larson on the final lap for third. Martin Truex Jr. rounded out the top five ahead of Ryan Blaney, last week's winner at Charlotte.

"Long day for sure," Logano said after climbing out of his car. "There were four or five cars that were just better than us. We made some good adjustments at the end and we were in the hunt."

It was a long day for Corey LaJoie, who filled in for Chase Elliott in the No. 9 car for Hendrick Motorsports and spent most of the day near the back before finishing 21st. Elliott was suspended for the race for intentionally wrecking Hamlin last week.

Palou prevails

DETROIT — Alex Palou went from critic to champion in a day.

He started and finished first in the Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday, roughly 24 hours after the IndyCar points leader said the street course was too tight and short for the series.

"It was a lot better than I expected," said Palou, who won his second race in less than a month and the sixth of his caeer.

The Spaniard, who won the Indianapolis Grand Prix, led 74 of 100 laps on Detroit's new street circuit and went ahead for the last time on lap 77. He stayed in front after Will Power made a move that didn't pan out as he made contact with Scott Dixon on lap 91.

"I couldn't get him," said Dixon, a Team Penske driver. "I tried everything. My one chance was when Dixon got into me."

Verstappen again

MONTMELO, Spain — Max Verstappen had warned that his Red Bull team was good enough to win every single race of the Formula One season. On Sunday he took one more step toward that ambitious sweep by easing to victory at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The two-time defending champion started from pole position and never was challenged as he breezed to his fifth win of the year.

Verstappen beat Carlos Sainz's Ferrari to the first corner and then eased his superior car around the 4.6-kilometer (2.8-mile) Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to finish well ahead of Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.

Elsewhere:

n Cole Custer pulled into the lead after a late caution for his first NASCAR Xfinity Series win this season on the road course at Portland International Raceway on Saturday.

n Grant Enfinger won the Craftsman Truck Toyota 200 on Saturday in Madison, Ill.

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MADISON, Ill. — Kyle Busch had been in and out of his car through a lengthy weather delay. He had idled on the ...