Kyle Busch wins GoBowling.com 400 to break Kansas jinx

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A look at all the results and action from Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway:

WINNER: Kyle Busch took control of the race in the twilight laps and scored his third victory of the season.

Martin Truex Jr., Busch’s colleague in the Toyota camp, had the best car in the field but fell victim to a pit-road mistake. Busch, who restarted first after the final caution on lap 19, held off Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch in the closing laps.

"It's pretty big," Busch said in victory lane. "There's been a lot of rough days here at Kansas that's for sure. This thing was awesome tonight. The 78 (Truex) was probably the fastest car, but we kept ourselves in the game. ... The call to stay out was a good one. I thought clean air was best."

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had been snakebit at Kansas with four DNFs in 16 previous starts before breaking through in the GoBowling 400. He has finished in the top five just twice and the top 10 only four times.

“I wouldn’t call it a dream come true, but we’ve had some horror stories here over the years,” Busch said. “Now there’s no more excuses when we come to Kansas.”

Charlotte Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway remain the only tracks where Busch has not won in the Sprint Cup Series. The defending series champion won earlier in the season at Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

BIG ONE: The tone of the race changed dramatically with 28 laps to go when Denny Hamlin, chasing teammate and leader Kyle Busch, tried to push his way between Brad Keselowski and Kyle Larson, sparking a multi-car crash. Hamlin’s aggressive move caused Keselowski to lose control, and contact put Larson into the outside wall. Joey Logano’s car also was damaged in the incident.

"I was going in there three-wide," Hamlin said. "We were all trying to drive in there to clear each other and we got too loose. It's crazy there was no contact but both us and the 2-car (Keselowski) got loose. I was just going for it. We've already got a win, so I was just going for it."

STEWART IN FRONT: The late-race pit cycle left Tony Stewart, still rebounding from injuries, in the lead for a run of 12 laps before Kyle Busch surged to the front. In his final season, Stewart entered the race with a streak of 79 races without a win.

TRUEX STUMBLES: Pole winner Martin Truex Jr. appeared to be on the way to an easy victory but was shackled by a pit-stop mistake with 54 laps to go. Truex had dominated the race, leading 172 of 267 laps, but had to pit twice under green-flag conditions because of a loose wheel. He dropped from first place to 23rd, two laps down. Truex’s winless streak stretched to 33 races.

FAST AND FASTER: The first half of the race was slowed by only three cautions. Debris in the Turn 4 brought out the yellow at lap 24. Matt DiBenedetto’s incident in the Turn 4 produced the second caution at lap 57, and Paul Menard’s meeting with the wall brought out the third caution.

OOPS: Jamie McMurray lost two laps early in the race when he was blackflagged for what NASCAR called an unapproved body adjustment. The team apparently changed the configuration of a body panel during a pit stop. Crew chief Matt McCall argued the call with a NASCAR official — to no avail.

THEY WENT BOWLING: Saturday afternoon might have marked the first time a racing Hall of Famer (Richard Petty) and a baseball Hall of Famer (George Brett) bowled on the same lane. Petty, the team owner, and Brett, the race’s grand marshall, rolled a few bowling balls at a temporary lane set up by the race’s sponsor, GoBowling.com.

Follow Hembree on Twitter @mikehembree

PHOTOS: 2016 Sprint Cup race winners

GoBowling.com 400 Results

Saturday's results from the 1.5-mile Kansas Speedway (start position in parentheses):

1. (6) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 267.

2. (26) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 267.

3. (4) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 267.

4. (2) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 267.

5. (7) Ryan Blaney , Ford, 267.

6. (17) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 267.

7. (8) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 267.

8. (29) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 267.

9. (13) Chase Elliott , Chevrolet, 267.

10. (5) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 267.

11. (12) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 267.

12. (16) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 267.

13. (9) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 267.

14. (1) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 267.

15. (22) Dale Earnhardt Jr, Chevrolet, 267.

16. (27) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 267.

17. (15) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 267.

18. (19) Aric Almirola, Ford, 265.

19. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 265.

20. (23) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 265.

21. (31) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 265.

22. (28) Brian Scott , Ford, 265.

23. (32) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 265.

24. (25) Chris Buescher , Ford, 265.

25. (10) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 264.

26. (21) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 264.

27. (20) Greg Biffle, Ford, 264.

28. (30) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 264.

29. (34) David Ragan, Toyota, 264.

30. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 264.

31. (35) Landon Cassill, Ford, 264.

32. (39) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 260.

33. (40) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 257.

34. (38) Joey Gase(i), Ford, 257.

35. (18) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 252.

36. (36) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, Suspension, 245.

37. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, Accident, 240.

38. (14) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 240.

39. (37) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, 212.

40. (11) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, Engine, 129.

Race statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 141.909 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 49 mintues, 20 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 1.112 Seconds.

Caution Flags: 6 for 30 laps.

Lead Changes: 16 among 10 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M. Truex Jr 1-24; D. Ragan 25; Kyle Busch 26-57; M. DiBenedetto 58; M. Truex Jr 59-104; R. Smith 105; M. Truex Jr 106-158; J. Logano 159; D. Patrick 160-161; M. Truex Jr 162-172; M. Kenseth 173; M. Truex Jr 174-211; M. Kenseth 212-213; J. Logano 214-215; B. Keselowski 216-218; T. Stewart 219-230; Kyle Busch 231-267.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Truex Jr 5 times for 172 laps; Kyle Busch 2 times for 69 laps; T. Stewart 1 time for 12 laps; B. Keselowski 1 time for 3 laps; M. Kenseth 2 times for 3 laps; J. Logano 2 times for 3 laps; D. Patrick 1 time for 2 laps; M. DiBenedetto 1 time for 1 lap; D. Ragan 1 time for 1 lap; R. Smith 1 time for 1 lap.

Top 16 in Points: K. Harvick, 390; Kyle Busch, 386; C. Edwards, 367; J. Johnson, 353; Kurt Busch, 350; B. Keselowski, 332; J. Logano, 320; A. Dillon, 307; D. Earnhardt Jr, 305; M. Truex Jr., 303; C. Elliott, 303; J. McMurray, 276; D. Hamlin, 273; M. Kenseth, 269; A. Allmendinger, 265; R. Blaney, 255.