SPARTA, Kentucky — Kyle Busch dominated at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night, leading 163 of the 267 laps to win the Quaker State 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race and claim his second victory of the season.
Busch climbed two spots in the championship points standings from 37th to 35th, 87 points behind 30th-place driver Cole Whitt.
Busch has to be in the top 30 by the end of the 26-race regular season for his two wins to get him into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. He has eight more races to make up the deficit.
Joey Logano finished second and Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates — Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth — finished third, fourth and fifth to give JGR four spots in the top five of the finishing order.
NASCAR debuted a new track-specific aerodynamic package for the Quaker State 400. The aim of the package was to decrease downforce with the goal of improving the on-track product.
The changes came, at least in part, as a result of suggestions made by a newly formed drivers council.
The package for Kentucky included a shorter spoiler height of 3.5 inches (down from six inches), a splitter extension panel — or radiator pan — of 25 inches (down from 38 inches) and a decrease of 1.75 inches in splitter overhang.
“I know we’ve said it many times, and certainly want to reinforce it here, that we’re committed to putting on the best racing on the track, and I’m certainly pleased that it’s been evident from, really, every conversation we’ve had with our industry that they feel the same way,” NASCAR executive vice president and chief racing development officer Steve O’Donnell said.
Sprint Cup competitors had limited time to get used to the new aerodynamic package for the Kentucky race. NASCAR scheduled a four-hour test for Wednesday and extra practice time Thursday and Friday. Wednesday’s test session was cancelled because of rain and so was all of the Sprint Cup Series practice on Thursday.
Teams got on track for 50 minutes of practice Friday before rain set in again. NASCAR then made the call to cancel qualifying hours before it was even scheduled to get underway, deciding that if the track was dry well before the evening’s scheduled Xfinity Series race, that time would best be used for Sprint Cup Series practice to give teams additional opportunities to adjust to the new rules package.
Weather did allow for additional practice time for Cup teams on Friday evening.
Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski were the beneficiaries of front-row starting spots after posting the two fastest lap time during the initial practice on Friday.
Keselowski combined with Busch to lead all but one lap in the first half of the race. Keselowski took the lead at the start of the race, but a four-tire strategy during a lap 30 competition caution while the front-runners took two sent Keselowski to 11th for the restart and Busch restarted up front with Hamlin and Logano in second and third.
Keselowski quickly worked his way toward the front and was up to second and closing on Busch by the time a yellow flag waved on lap 82.
Before the caution, Hamlin was forced into an unscheduled pit stop by a tire issue and was then caught speeding on pit road. The stop-and-go penalty put him down two laps, but after several cautions, he was back on the lead lap and able to work his way back toward the front.
Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. also had problems in the first half of the race.
Johnson battled handling issues that were bad enough to send him down pit road twice during the lap 82 caution.
Earnhardt battled brake issues that plagued him throughout the race, causing a caution on lap 135 and then making contact with Danica Patrick just past lap 200 to bring out another yellow flag.
Like Hamlin, Johnson was able to recover, at least well enough to finish ninth.
Keselowski got back to the lead on lap 96 but again lost positions on pit road during a caution on lap 122. He restarted 10th after his front tire carrier slipped in front of his car. Keselowski then hit the tire as he pulled out of his pit stall.
Busch restarted up front, this time with Martin Truex Jr. alongside in second. Edwards got up to second just before the next yellow flag on lap 143. And when the race restarted, Keselowski was back up tho third. A few laps later, he took second from Edwards.
Pit strategy again sent Keselowski back through the field when the yellow flag waved on lap 153. While others stayed out, Keselowski pitted and restarted 18th.
As Busch continued to run up front, Keselowski made his way back through the field and was back inside the top five on lap 181.
Ryan Newman stayed out while everyone else pitted to lead two laps during a lap 186 caution, but when the race returned to green, Newman dropped back through the field and Busch retook the lead and Hamlin moved into second.
Busch, Hamlin and Edwards waged a three-way battle for the lead after a lap 208 caution that was won by Hamlin. Busch also lost second to Logano.
Logano moved to the front on a restart after the 11th and final caution of the race with 47 laps to go. Busch got back up to second and battled Logano for the lead with 20 laps to go. After racing back and forth for a few laps, Busch was able to retake the top spot for good.
Keselowski finished sixth despite sensing a possible tire issue late in the race. Jeff Gordon placed seventh and Kevin Harvick was eighth. Kurt Busch finished behind Johnson in 10th.
The 11 yellow flags resulted in a track record, surpassing the previous record high of 10 cautions at Kentucky Speedway.