Kyle Busch finished strong on the Monster Mile Sunday and walked away the winner in NASACR’s fall race in Dover.
Busch passed Chase Elliot with less than two laps to go to take the “Apache Warrior 400” for his second straight win in the NASCAR Cup series playoffs.
Elliot led for 138 laps during the race – but Busch wouldn’t quit.
“For as far as Chase got out there, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to run him back down, but fortunately I did and gave it everything I had there for those last 60 laps,” said Busch.
But Busch, who still remains behind Martin Truex Jr. in overall standings, says his back-to-back playoff race wins don’t suddenly make him the title chase favorite.
“There’s a lot of racing left to go. I think for week to week you can change your favorite. You’ve got to let these things play out," said Busch. "I don’t know that there’s necessarily a favorite. Maybe it closes the gap that the 78 [Martin Truex Jr.] had on us a little bit.
But Busch’s crew chief Adam Stevens says its fair to say they have some momentum.
“It shows this team is performing at a high level, even when we’re not at our best. Nobody got down. Nobody made any mistakes. And KB was able to kind of put the team on his back there," said Stevens.
Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth Sunday to stay atop the overall points standings.
The “Apache Warrior 400” was the first elimination race in NASCAR Cup series playoffs – trimming the field of drivers contending for the title to 12.
Matt Kenseth and Jamie Mc Murray grabbed the final two spots in the top 12.
Kenseth finished 11th and Mc Murray ninth Sunday on the Monster Mile to stay alive.
Sunday's race took 3 hours, 5 minutes and 48 seconds.
