Kyle Busch Has Big Weekend at Indy

By ESPN

Kyle Busch led a record 149 of 170 laps and beat teammate Matt Kenseth to the finish line by 2.126 seconds in the second overtime to win his second straight Brickyard 400. Coupled with his Xfinity Series success Saturday, Busch became the first NASCAR driver to win both poles and both races on the same weekend.

"I've never had a dominant car like this," Busch said after winning for the fourth time this season. "This is obviously a special day and a special car."

The impressive feat overshadowed two other storylines: Jeff Gordon's comeback and Tony Stewart's farewell.

Stewart finished 11th in his final race at Indianapolis, and Gordon was 13th. Gordon came out of retirement to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has battled concussion-like symptoms and has not yet been cleared by doctors to drive. Afterward, the two drivers who grew up in Indiana drove side-by-side around the 2.5-mile oval.

"I have gained so much respect and admiration for Tony," Gordon said. "I love this guy. I have always respected his talent."

But nobody was better than Busch this weekend. One year after he won both Indy races, he joined third-place finisher Jimmie Johnson as the only back-to-back winners of the Brickyard. Johnson won in 2008 and 2009.

Busch surrendered the lead for 14 laps after his first pit stop, regained it when race leader Brad Keselowski pitted, then gave it up again for only five laps when he made his second pit stop. Everyone else spent the day chasing Busch.

The No. 18 car was so strong that Roger Penske's drivers started with a strategy of trying to stretch their runs long enough to make one fewer pit stop. It didn't work. Logano finished seventh, and Keselowski wound up 17th. The only real challenge for Busch came with a series of late crashes that delayed his fourth trip to victory lane this season.

The crashes began when Carl Edwards' car wiggled in the first turn on a restart with seven laps to go. His car slid up the track, hit Keselowski and wound up involving Ryan Blaney, Ryan Newman and Danica Patrick. Nobody was seriously hurt, but the wreck brought a red flag out for almost eight minutes.

On the ensuing restart, with three to go, Busch again pulled away, only to have a collision between Trevor Bayne and Clint Bowyer behind him to send the race into first overtime. It happened again when Jamie McMurray slid through the first turn and into the wall on the next restart, but Busch pulled away one more time for a historic win in a race that was actually 425 miles.