Busch wins NASCAR Sprint Cup championship

Edwards, in his first season with Gibbs, started slowly and did not finish in the top ten until the seventh race of the year.

In the process, Busch outdueled defending series champion Kevin Harvick, four-time series champ Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex Jr.to claim his first Sprint Cup championship.

Returning far sooner than expected, Busch was back driving May 16 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “That allowed me to be here in final race vying for a championship”.

When the checkered flag fell, Kyle Busch had won the race and the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship.

Busch’s title run represents a remarkable reversal of fortune that will go down in NASCAR lore.

Harvick failed in his bid to win back-to-back Sprint Cup championships, settling for yet another runner-up finish.

The title was the fourth for JGR and its first since Tony Stewart in 2005.

Busch also joins older brother, Kurt, as a NASCAR champion.

Gordon, never known for strong restarts, charged into first on a restart on Lap 36. “I was so happy to have that moment with him”.

Sports’ Jeff Gluck weighs in from Homestead on the wild finish in the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. “Beyond that, it’s absolutely been a dream come true”. “But I will say that what he went through this year, I see a changed Kyle….” “It was so much fun”. “All the turmoil that I went through, that my family went through”. Larson and Harvick resumed third and fourth, respectively. “That’s the only thing we’re focused on is getting good finishes, getting in the Chase and then, with this being a special year for me, end it on a positive note”. I know the odds were against us being a single-car team, but again we came here feeling we had a shot.

He handed it to Hendrick and said, “I want you to have this”.

Logano winning surely would spark debate about whether he should have been competing for the title in the finale.

There’s being professional in your work, and then there’s this.. Fellow driver Dale Earnhardt Jr tweeted congratulations to Busch and his Joe Gibbs Racing team.

At the front, the lead was proving to be something of a poisoned chalice and hard to hold on to for very long. Even so, it was clear that Truex like Gordon simply didn’t have the pace to win the day.

Barring any accidents for Busch and Harvick in the final 100 laps, the 2015 championship was now down to a two horse race.

Keselowski took the lead on a restart just past lap 170.

Gordon gave each driver in the finale field an inscribed, carbon-fiber box to commemorate his last race.

Those were the final scheduled pit stops. He won back-to-back races at Las Vegas and Phoenix and eventually won the Chase race at Dover to move on.

It was an emotional evening that saw Gordon end his career. “It didn’t take the championship for me to feel like I’m on top of the world”.

Championship competitor Kevin Harvick finished second, while Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano and Kyle Larson rounded out the top five.

“We were just struggling all night, to be honest with you”, Harvick said.

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But when the sun went away in the late afternoon, so did Gordon’s title chances. “And Lewis, I met at the Super Bowl a couple years ago. I’ve had about six or seven here tonight and it’s pretty awesome to have that opportunity to be here and to see guys like this one right here (Jeff Gordon), Mr. Four Time”.

“Our guys on pit road did a great job all night”.

“Frustrating man, we’re awful”, Truex said. “We were just too tight on the run after that last caution to gain any ground on them”. “We had a fast Shell/Pennzoil Ford that led a lot of laps, so I’m proud of the laps we led”.

As Gordon’s vehicle rolled off pit road to start the race, pit crew members from all the teams stood along the pit wall to clap and honor him. “I’ll never forget it”.

“Had I won this race and this championship, it would have been ideal, and I don’t think I could have accepted that”. NASCAR created the waiver for drivers who suffer injury or other setbacks that cause them to miss races and drop them in points. And with all he’s been through this year, nobody is more deserving than him.

“Crew chiefs, pass this on to your spotters and drivers: Be sure this day concludes on a high note with no interference of a naturally progressed race”.

“We came here to win and I am disappointed that we didn’t give it a better effort”, said Truex.