NSCS Recap: Kyle Busch masters new aero package in Sprint Cup win at Kentucky

SPARTA, Ky. – Adapting adroitly to a new competition package for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series cars, Kyle Busch sped to victory in Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway, taking a giant step toward the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup with his second victory since returning from an 11-race injury absence.

Busch won for the 31st time in his career and the second time at the 1.5-mile track. Race runner-up Joey Logano was the only interloper in a top five that also included all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers—Busch, Denny Hamlin in third, Carl Edwards in fourth and Matt Kenseth in fifth.

Busch grabbed the lead from Logano after several laps of intense racing, taking the point at the stripe on Lap 248 and clearing Logano’s Ford through Turn 2 on Lap 249 of 267. From that point, Busch pulled away to win by 1.594 seconds.

The new aero package, in Busch’s view was a benefit as he closed on Logano in a race that saw a track-record 22 green-flag passes for the lead.

"All the drivers were kind of striving for this," Busch said. "I felt like it was a positive thing when I was chasing Joey down. Right when I got to him, he moved up and tried to block my lane. With the old package, you’d get stalled out, and get stuck behind the guy. I just moved down and went a little bit lower and got my Camry to stick and was able to power through and get back by him.

"We swapped the lead back and forth a couple times. I thought it was pretty good racing. You don’t want to spend too much time racing around and putting on too good of a show for the fans to take yourself out of a win. I thought that was a really good race, at least it wasn’t a guy who checked out on the last run and you didn’t see a pass for the lead coming down the final stretch."

Long a proponent of lower downforce, Edwards was even more effusive in his praise of the new package.

"This package, we need to keep going in this direction," Edwards said. "We could race closer together—I was steering right. We were using the whole car. We just need to keep taking downforce away. It was an awesome show. Just an awesome, fun day and I’m glad Kyle got the win."

Busch led a race-high 163 laps, scoring a maximum 48 points and moving to 35th in the standings, 87 points behind Cole Whitt in 30th. Busch must finish the first 26 races in the top 30 in order to be eligible for the Chase.(Reid Spencer, NASCAR Media)

100th start for Danica Patrick

Danica Patrick will make her 100th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start in Saturday's Quaker State 400 presented by Advance Auto Parts at Kentucky Speedway, becoming the first female to reach the milestone. Patrick's six top-10 finishes are the most all-time among female drivers. She is also the only female driver to earn a NSCS Coors Light Pole Award (2013 Daytona 500). On the season, Patrick ranks 20th in the driver points standings. The #10 Stewart-Haas Racing driver is one of 16 female drivers who have competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.(NASCAR)

Quaker State 400 Weekend Schedule

Thursday, July 9
10:00 AM, NCWTS Kentucky Final Practice, FS1
2:00 PM, NXS Kentucky Practice, FS1
4:00 PM, NXS Kentucky Final Practice, FS1
5:00 PM, NCWTS Kentucky Qualifying, FS2
7:30 PM, NCWTS Kentucky Race, FS1

Friday, July 10
11:30 AM, NSCS Kentucky Practice, NBCSN
1:00 PM, NSCS Kentucky Final Practice, NBCSN
3:30 PM, NXS Kentucky Qualifying, NBCSN
5:30 PM, NSCS Kentucky Qualifying, NBCSN
7:30 PM, NXS Kentucky Race, NBCSN

Saturday, July 11
7:30 PM, NSCS Kentucky Race, NBCSN

Watkins Glen introduces new "Bronson Hill" camping area

Race fans looking to camp at Watkins Glen International now have a new area to consider. Due to the increasing demand of RV camping space, the historic circuit has introduced "Bronson Hill", an outfield location set just outside of the Gate 6 entry into the facility. All sites are sized at 30x50 feet, and feature non-trackside pricing -- $375 until Monday, August 3rd, when rates rise to $425. In addition, Two vehicle passes come with each site purchase. Fans can call 866.461.RACE or log onto www.theglen.com for more information.(WGI)

NSCS Race Recap: Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Coke Zero 400

Dale Earnhardt Jr. endured a weekend of rain, a three-hour-plus pre-race delay, and nine caution flags to win the Coke-Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway early Monday morning.

The race ended at 2:41 a.m. and concluded with a large crash featuring Austin Dillon's No. 3 Chevrolet going airborne and smashing into the catch-fence near Turn 1 after he crossed the start-finish line. Dillon walked away from the wreck, the fourth major crash of the night. After being released from the infield care center, Dillon said he suffered a bruised tailbone and forearm.

Pole-sitter Earnhardt dominated the night, leading 96 laps in his No. 88 Nationwide Stars and Stripes Chevrolet. He also had the convincing support of the fans remaining at the track following the 154-minute rain delay. The delay was a harbinger for the race itself, which included four multi-car crashes and those nine caution flags that covered 43 of the scheduled 160 laps before the green-white checkered finish. It was Earnhardt’s fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup career victory on the 2.5-mile Florida track.

"I had a lot of fun tonight," a somewhat subdued Earnhardt said after the race. "We have such great motors and good cars. We ran Very fast. I had to block a lot, get a lot of pushes from everybody. I had to run real hard to win this race here. We got shuffled back a few times."

Driver Paul Menard could have been speaking for everyone at the speedway when he said on his radio during the race that Earnhardt’s No. 88 was "ridiculously" fast. Earnhardt consistently outran the competition on re-start after re-start.

Earnhardt’s crew raced onto the track after the last-lap crash to check on Dillon’s condition. The catch fences at Daytona International Speedway were reinforced following an accident in 2013 during a NASCAR XFINITY Series race.

Denny Hamlin finished third, with Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch rounding out the top five. Harvick leads the Sprint Cup points standings by 63 points over Earnhardt.(Bill Speros, NASCAR Media)