Kyle Busch scores NASCAR win 199 at Phoenix

Kyle Busch led a Joe Gibbs Racing 1-2 finish at the TicketGuardian 500 at ISM Raceway to take his 52nd career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win.

The win is Busch’s third at the 1.0 mile oval and his 199th career win across NASCAR’s three top divisions – Cup, Xfinity and Trucks.

Having won the race’s second stage, the driver of the No. 18 Skittles Toyota Camry for Joe Gibbs Racing started the race’s final 152 lap segment in the lead.

Busch ran up front next 42 laps until a crash between Front Row Motorsports teammates Michael McDowell and David Ragan brought out the yellow on Lap 160.

None of the leaders pitted under the yellow which kept the 2015 series champion up front while Clint Bowyer rode behind in second place.

Alex Bowman’s crash on Lap 193 brought the leaders down pit road which elevated Jimmie Johnson to the point by way of a two-tire pit stop.

Johnson only spent four laps up front as Busch overtook him on Lap 200 and held it until lap 218 when Chase Elliott spun in Turn 3 and the yellow flag flew.

Everyone on the lead lap pitted which saw Austin Dillon take the lead by not taking fuel. Aric Almirola followed him along with stage 1 winner Ryan Blaney.

Dillon’s Richard Childress Racing teammate Daniel Hemric didn’t pit and led the field down for the green flag on Lap 226.

Almirola passed Hemric on the restart but a collision between Daniel Suarez and Ryan Preece brought out the yellow flag again while Brad Keselowski trying to avoid the incident.

 Preece spun again after the race restarted on Lap 234 which forced Hemric to pit road for his final stop. The green flag flew once again on Lap 240 with Almirola still leading the way.

Blaney stalked Almirola for 18 laps before taking the lead on Lap 252. He held a steady gap over Kyle Busch as the laps clicked down.

Busch closed the gap on Blaney as the run wore on and eventually took the lead for good on lap 296. Blaney was thereafter dispatched by Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex, Jr. as Busch claimed the win with 1.259 seconds in the bag.

With 199 NASCAR-sanctioned wins to his credit, Busch is now one win away from tying Richard Petty for the lead in NASCAR raced wins. While he is close to making history in the sport, Busch feels that it is business as usual as he racks up wins.

“We've been talking about it for a long, long time,” he said.

It's just a goal that I set out a long, long time ago. Just having the opportunities that I have, go out there and try to win.  Each and every time we're in a racecar, that's what my job is.  We just keep winning, the stats will keep piling up.”

Truex, Jr’s second place finish is the second runner-up finish for the 2017 series champion this year, the first being at Atlanta.

Blaney held on for third as Almirola finished fourth and Denny Hamlin made it three Joe Gibbs Toyotas in the top five.

Chip Ganassi Racing drivers claimed the next two spots with Kyle Larson placing sixth and Kurt Busch claiming seventh. Rounding out the top ten were Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano.

The race was largely attricion free as only three drivers - Ryan Preece, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell were eliminated due to accidents.