Busch passed Johnson with 12 to go and began to stretch his lead, checking away from the field before older brother Kurt Busch cut a right front and slammed the outside wall, resulting in the first and only green-white-checkered restart.
Busch, considered the best driver on restarts, was challenged by Johnson going into turn one but eventually pulled away from the No. 48, winning by a margin of 0.568 seconds. Brad Keselowski finished in third with Mark Martin and Ryan Newman trailing in fourth and fifth. Keselowski’s third place finish is his third straight top five, following his win in Pocono and a second place finish last week at Watkins Glen. Keselowski now finds himself 12th in points with two wins, 52 points behind 10th place Tony Stewart.
Now, as for Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards? They both had days that wouldn’t get them even close to the Chase. Edwards had something amiss in his engine all day and it seemed as if something had broke within the motor. Leaving him with finishing 36 and the Cat in the Hat’s hopes of victory lane at a track his drivers are dominate at just a mere dream.
Hamlin, the clear favorite after winning at Michigan in June, suffered damage after brushing the wall with 75 laps to go. Hamlin was forced to the garage for repairs, putting him 15 laps down and dropping him out of contention for the win. Hamlin finished 35th and now sits 14th in points with only one win.
These drivers better buckle down or their hopes of the Chase will continue to slip right from their finger tips. Next weekend..Bristol! And Bristol can be mean to a driver.