Comeback continues for Kyle Busch with win at New Hampshire Sunday

Could Busch imagine, days after a horrific crash, he would become a title contender?

And on Sunday, Busch rolls off fourth in the 5-hour Energy 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway where he won in 2006 but more importantly has finished second in three of the last four starts at the Magic Mile.

“We all know how special Loudon is to me to try to make something happen here, so it’s nice to know we’ve got a fast race auto”. In fact, Busch can be more true to form, not having to worry as much about points racing. He returned in late May and has put himself in contention for a spot in the 16-driver field for the Sprint Cup championship. He’s still outside the top 30 in points, which is the second major qualifier to race for the title in the final 10 races of the season.

His wins at the Sonoma road course and last week’s win on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway oval were things of beauty. Anything less than a 20-position improvement on Cole Whitt this week would be considered a surprise as Busch is favored to score at least a top-10.

“I feel like every weekend, it’s the weekend we’re going to find it”, Stewart said.

He missed the first 11 races, and NASCAR waived the rule that he had to compete in each race to make the Chase.

At New Hampshire Motor Speedway the past few years, fans have come to expect the unexpected in victory lane for Sprint Cup Series events. The aches hardly seem to matter once he’s in the No. 18 Toyota.

“That coming to pit road, I thought I had a tire coming down and there was oil on the track”, Busch said. We’ve got work to do to get our stuff better – I’m not sure we’re maximizing everything we need.

The win was Busch’s third win in the last four races and in his eighth race back after missing the first 11 races of the season due to an injury.

Add those to the upswing in the fortunes of the entire Joe Gibbs Racing team and you have a recipe for success. “I could tell you what the track looked like with the fog”, said the Poison frontman and reality star. Edwards started on the pole and led the first 19 laps. “It took me a long time to understand what it takes to go fast, but lately, the last four or five times we’ve been here, we’ve had some fast cars”.

Busch’s teammates, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, finished sixth and seventh, respectively. The green came out on lap 257 and from there Busch was able to hold off Keselowski for his 32nd career win. “I think if we were a guy or a team that was sort of 13th through 16th or whatever and didn’t have wins then we would be in the same position we’re in right now. That’s what I do on the side, and that’s what my energy goes into”.

Busch has seven races left to crack the top 30 before the Chase opens September 20 at Chicagoland Speedway. Busch felt he might have a tire going down and pitted under green returning to the race in 22nd one lap down. Battling fiercely to get back on the lead lap after an unscheduled pit stop, he made a daring pass of Brad Keselowski and then got by Kevin Harvick to get back on the lead lap just before the caution came out with 59 laps remaining.

Keselowski led a race-high 101 laps and his No. 2 Ford appeared to be the car to beat, leaving him clearly irked at losing the lead with 48 laps left.