It was Busch's third win of the season
Wins continue to come Kyle Busch’s way in his debut season with Richard Childress Racing.
But Sunday’s victory at World Wide Technology Raceway didn’t come easy for the No. 8 Chevrolet driver. Busch endured five restarts over the final 40 laps of the Enjoy Illinois 300 before holding off runner-up finisher Danny Hamlin by 0.517 seconds to earn his third win of the season and the 63rd NASCAR Cup Series victory of his career.
And in a celebratory mood at the conclusion of the race, Busch channeled the famous saying of late Raiders owner Al Davis.
“That was pretty awesome,” Busch told FOX Sports after hopping out of his car. “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby.”
It was a marathon of a win for Busch, with the race going through 11 yellow flags, two red flags and a two-hour weather delay. He beat out Hamlin as well as third-place finish Joey Logano and Kyle Larson, who took the fourth spot.
“Our short-track stuff has been a struggle this year. We knew we really wanted to come out here and set a focus on running at a shorter track,” Busch told reporters per The Associated Press. “I felt like this was a good precursor to what we have coming for the rest of the year.”