Kyle Busch overcomes speeding penalty to claim landmark win

Kyle Busch recovered from a speeding penalty at the end of stage 2 to take a career landmark 200th NASCAR win at the Auto Club 400 at the Auto Club Speedway.

The win ties him with seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion Richard Petty for most wins amongst NASCAR’s top three divisions.

After winning stage two, Busch pitted during the stage break and was the first off pit road, but was dealt a crippling blow as he was too fast on pit road.

The penalty dropped him to 18th for the forthcoming restart and moved Brad Keselowski to the lead. Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola completed the top five

Keselowski jetted away from Harvick on the restart while Busch wasted no time picking his way through slower traffic.

By lap 136, Busch was back in the top ten as Keselowski continued to lead. Logano and Blaney soon made their way past Harvick for second and third as Busch re-entered the top five as the race reached its 300-mile mark.

The final round of green flag pitstops began on Lap 160 with Blaney and Logano the first to pit from the top five.

Keselowski pitted a lap later which brought Kyle Busch back to the lead. Just as his Joe Gibbs Racing pit crew prepared for their final stop, Bubba Wallace cut a tire on Lap 163 and brought out the race’s final caution.

The yellow sealed only seven cars on the lead lap – Busch, Keselowski, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., Blaney, Chris Buescher, Logano and Harvick.

All cars on the lead lap sans Blaney pitted with Busch completing service first, which moved him to second place on the restart.

Blaney faltered on the restart as Keselowski gave Busch a massive push into Turn 1 which opened the door for him to take the lead at the end of the lap.

Logano snaked through and set his sights on his teammate and took the lead on Lap 174.

His time up front was short lived as Busch inhaled both drivers the next lap and retook the lead. The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota Camry never looked back and led the final 26 laps to take the win 2.354 seconds ahead of Logano.

The win is Busch's 53rd MENCS win, and combined with 94 Xfinity Series and 53 Gander Outdoor Truck series wins brings the tally to 200. Having accomplished such an insurmountable feat, the 33-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada was elated in a post race interview.

"It feels just like (win) No. 1, just like yesterday," said Busch. "I had such an awesome race car. I mean - dang! I'm glad we put on a heck of a show for all the fans out here at Auto Club Speedway.

"It's just awesome. To win 200, whatever it means, it means a lot to me. It means a lot to all my guys, to everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. You guys are all the best. It's an amazing opportunity to drive for Joe Gibbs and I've cherished every minute of it."

Logano’s second place finish is his fourth consecutive top five at the 2.0-mile oval in Fontana, California. Keselowski finished third after leading 40 laps, his third top-five finish of the season thus far.

Kevin Harvick finished fourth and Ryan Blaney made it three Team Penske cars in the top five.

Kurt Busch claimed his fourth-straight top ten finish of the year in sixth and Denny Hamlin ended the day in seventh place. Defending race winner Martin Truex, Jr. recovered from crash damage at the end of stage one to take eighth.

Aric Almirola ended up ninth and pole-sitter Austin Dillon completed the top ten. Dillon became ill overnight and had NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Cole Custer on standby in case he needed to step out of the car.

Dillon completed the whole race after leading one lap early on.

The race saw little attrition as Stewart Haas Racing's Clint Bowyer was the races only retirement. Mechanical issues relegated the driver of the No. 14 Rush Travel Centers Ford Mustang to 38th place after just 130 laps.