Joliet, IL (My Sportsbook) - Kyle Busch passed Jimmie Johnson on the second to last lap to win Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 Sprint Cup Series race at the Chicagoland Speedway. The No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driver finished 0.159 seconds ahead of Johnson.
The victory was Busch's seventh of the season and the 11th of his Sprint Cup career. Busch also scored a weekend sweep at Chicagoland. He won the Nationwide Series race Friday night.
Busch dominated most of the race, but Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, passed Busch and took the lead for the first time with 17 laps to go. Johnson looked as though he was headed towards his second victory of the season, but a caution with seven laps to go changed all of that.
The caution set up a two-lap dash to the finish. On the final restart, Busch immediately moved up on Johnson's bumper and then the two ran side-by-side before Busch made an outside move on Johnson for the lead a lap and a half from the finish line.
"That pass for the lead there, I got a good restart on Jimmie and was able to push him a little bit on that start," Busch said. "I got him going, and then had to go to the outside, because I knew he was going to go to the bottom there through one and two. It stuck and we were able to get by him there."
Johnson made an attempt to catch Busch on the final lap, but got loose as he headed into the final turn, ending his chance to win.
"He got to the outside of me there," Johnson said. "And he got a good run on me. I guess deep down inside I knew better than to give him the outside, but he had a run coming in the inside on the restart."
Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart completed the top-five.
Busch's victory at Chicagoland also tied a NASCAR record for four consecutive races won by brothers. Kyle also won at Sonoma, CA and Daytona, while his older brother, Kurt, picked up the victory two weeks ago at New Hampshire. Brothers Tim and Fonty Flock were the last duo to accomplish the feat when they combined for four wins in a row from September 11 to October 6, 1955.
Busch started on the pole since qualifying was rained out on Thursday at Chicagoland. He went on to lead 165 of 267 laps.
Meanwhile, Jeff Burton started third, but fell back in the field to 18th by lap 15 when his car was tight because of low tire pressure. Then things got worse for Burton during a planned competition caution by NASCAR on lap 35. While attempting to make his first stop, Burton made contact on pit road. He never got into his pit stall and then was caught speeding. He was sent to the tail end of the lead lap cars and restarted 41st. Burton ended up with a 19th- place finish.
Denny Hamlin also had his share of problems at the track when he suffered engine trouble on lap 47. Hamlin managed to limp back to his pit area where his team changed a faulty ignition box. He returned to the track four laps behind and finished a disappointing 40th.
Matt Kenseth ran among the top-10 for the first half of the race before taking the lead for the first time on lap 114. Kenseth ran out in front for seven laps, but Busch pulled even with him and then pulled ahead. One lap later, Kenseth suffered a flat tire and had to make an unexpected stop. He returned one lap down in 37th, but recovered later in the evening for a seventh-place finish.
Carl Edwards came on strong in the late-stages when he passed Tony Stewart for second on lap 192. Edwards continued his pace as he caught Busch for the lead with 64 laps to go. But a flat left-front tire forced Edwards to pit, handing the lead back over to Busch on lap 212. Edwards returned one lap behind in 31st. Edwards wound up with a 32nd-place run.
With the victory, Busch increased his points lead to 262 over Dale Earnhardt, Jr, who finished 16th. The next event is scheduled for Sunday, July 27th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
