The championship, Kyle Busch won’t get this year, but he did win Wednesday at Texas to extend his streak of seasons with at least one victory to 16, putting him two years behind the all-time series record.
Busch stretched his fuel and held off Martin Truex Jr. to win for the first time this season in Cup, ending a 33-race winless streak. Busch’s 16th consecutive season with a win ties him with Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace and Jimmie Johnson for third on the all-time Cup list. Richard Petty has the record with 18 consecutive seasons with at least one win.
“I was nervous the whole last run,” Busch told NBCSN after his 57th career Cup win. “The last three laps, that’s like winning a championship, that’s how nervous I was.”
It had been so long since Busch had won a Cup race that he initially forgot to do his trademark bow after getting the checkered flag. He also had to get a push to victory lane with his car out of fuel.
“We haven’t been the best on mile‑and‑a‑halves this year but we’ve been working on it and strategizing on things that we can do to improve and it was nice to see some of that in that fruit pay off tonight,” Busch said.
Christopher Bell finished a career-high third and was followed by Ryan Blaney and Alex Bowman.
The race resumed Wednesday after it was stopped Sunday afternoon after 52 laps. The race was halted 72 hours, 28 minutes, 34 seconds because of persistent rain and mist.
Joey Logano is the only driver who has clinched a spot in the championship race. Busch was eliminated from title contention earlier in the playoffs.
Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski head to Sunday’s race at Martinsville in the final three transfer places to the title race.
Harvick is 42 points above the cutline. Hamlin is 27 points above the cutline. Keselowski is 25 points above the cutline.
Those below the cutline are Bowman (-25 points), Chase Elliott (-25), Truex (-36) and Kurt Busch (-81).
STAGE 1 WINNER: Clint Bowyer
STAGE 2 WINNER: Kyle Busch
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Martin Truex Jr.’s runner-up finish was the fifth time he’s placed second in a race since his Martinsville win in June. … Christopher Bell finished a career-best third. … Ryan Blaney’s fourth-place finish was his sixth top 10 in the last seven Texas races. … … Alex Bowman’s fifth-place finish was his eighth top 10 in the last 10 races.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: After waiting three days, Matt Kenseth and Bubba Wallace were eliminated in a crash a few laps aft the race resumed Wednesday.
NOTABLE: The final green flag stretch of 118 laps was the longest such stretch to end a race at Texas in the last 17 races there.
NEXT: The series races Nov. 1 at Martinsville Speedway (2 p.m. ET on NBC).