Holding off Jimmie Johnson and the remainder of the field on the green-white-checkered, Kyle Busch not only recorded his fourth win of the year and locked himself in the 2011 Chase, he also scored his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Michigan International Speedway.
While he has one Nationwide Series win at Michigan on his resume, Busch had always come up short at the 2-mile D-shaped oval in the Irish Hills. In June, Busch finished third behind teammate Denny Hamlin and runner-up Matt Kenseth after leading 59 laps. His career-best finish at Michigan was a second-place in 2008.
Missing out on the win last week at Watkins Glen despite leading on the final restart, Busch was able to get a great jump on the green-white-checkered restart Sunday afternoon to pull ahead of Johnson for the top spot and seal the deal.
Taking the checkered flag, there are now only seven tracks left on the schedule that Busch has yet to win at: Charlotte, Texas, Homestead, Indianapolis, Kansas, Martinsville and Pocono.
With five of those tracks yet to come before the end of the season, and with momentum on his side, Busch might not be finished eliminating tracks from that list.