Kyle Busch, the driver of the number 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, notched his 200th career victory in NASCAR's upper racing divisions. The win at the Auto Club Speedway in Sunday's Monster Energy Cup Series race in southern California allowed the Las Vegas native to equal the national series total of Richard Petty, who won 200 events in NASCAR's premier series. It was a somewhat fitting win for Busch who scored his first-ever Cup Series victory as a rookie at the track in 2005. Although he still trails ten other drivers for the most Cup wins, Busch is the winningest driver in both Xfinity Series and Camping World Truck Series.
Busch has always said his goals were simple when he started his NASCAR career. His first goal was to qualify for a NASCAR event, then to finish a race and try to win. This was Busch's 53rd win in Cup, which matches his record 53 wins in the Truck Series and record-setting 92 wins in the Xfinity Series. With this year's race occurring on St. Patrick's Day, it was appropriate that the Joe Gibbs Racing Team was flying the green Interstate Batteries logo. The scariest part for the competition might be that Busch won the Auto Club 400 with a dominant car that no one in Sunday's field could catch.
After proving that he had the car to beat during the first two stages of the Fontana race, Busch had to overcome a pit road speeding penalty following the Stage 2 break. It would take the 33-year old to lap 175 of 200 to reclaim the race lead. Busch led Penske Racing teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski to finish line. Rounding out the Top 10 were Kevin Harvick, Ryan Blaney, Kurt Busch, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola and Austin Dillon. Race teams head to Martinsville Speedway for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series STP 500 on Sunday, March 24.
