Kurt Busch Wins at Rain Shirtened Michigan NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race

Starting 24th in a backup car, Kurt Busch fought his way to the front of the field through intermittent rain showers and won Sunday’s Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway when a deluge halted the race after 138 of a scheduled 200 laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second when NASCAR red-flagged the event for the fourth time. Martin Truex Jr. was credited with third, followed by Matt Kenseth and Penske teammates Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski.

The victory was Busch’s second of the season. He won for the third time at Michigan and for the 27th time in his career.

"It’s an unbelievable feeling to know what we went through, paced ourselves, and found the lead toward the latter part of the race when the rain came in," Busch said in Victory Lane.

"You know what’s more special about this? Winning in Chevrolet’s backyard. That’s what’s most important about winning in Michigan, so thanks to Chevrolet."

That his team had put in extra hours to ready a backup car after Busch hit the wall in Friday’s opening practice was not lost on the winning driver.

"Yeah, you have to get down and dirty," Busch said. "You have to really roll-up your sleeves, get your elbows dirty, and put the work into it. And (crew chief) Tony Gibson makes these guys work a little extra hard.

"I always say thanks. I’m always there early with them. And it’s a great team chemistry feel."

"When it came to the restarts, we didn't take off as well as the 41," Earnhardt said. "We saw the same thing at Charlotte, the 78 (Truex) and the 41 take off real good.

"We were just kind of tight waiting on the front to work, don't have the good speed that they have the first three or four laps, and that was the difference today, and the 4 (Harvick) having the trouble he had. He had the field covered."

If fortune favored Kurt Busch on Sunday, the same can’t be said for brother Kyle Busch, whose car slipped on damp asphalt in Turn 3 and shot into the outside wall to bring out the third caution on Lap 52. In what may be the decisive blow to his prospects of making the Chase after missing the first 11 races because of injuries sustained at Daytona in February, Busch finished 43rd.

IOWA DRIVERS SPOTLIGHT:
Michael Annett was the highest finishing driver (30th place) from Iowa (Des Moines) Fairfax native Landon Cassill was 31st, and NSCS Rookie of the Year contender Brett Moffitt (Grimes) came home 33rd.

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race - Quicken Loans 400
Michigan International Speedway
Brooklyn, Michigan
Sunday, June 14, 2015

1. (24) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 138, $186125.

2. (14) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 138, $141435.

3. (9) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 138, $137580.

4. (12) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 138, $148471.

5. (11) Joey Logano, Ford, 138, $140508.

6. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 138, $141031.

7. (25) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 138, $126331.

8. (17) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 138, $108515.

9. (20) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 138, $132940.

10. (32) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 138, $126523.

11. (13) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 138, $106015.

12. (4) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 138, $107140.

13. (27) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 138, $116448.

14. (22) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 138, $105823.

15. (1) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 138, $110215.

16. (19) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 138, $97065.

17. (16) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 138, $116073.

18. (23) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 138, $119840.

19. (8) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 137, $131801.

20. (7) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 137, $124471.

21. (6) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 137, $131771.

22. (26) Aric Almirola, Ford, 137, $123346.

23. (31) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 137, $114918.

24. (5) Ryan Blaney(i), Ford, 137, $82560.

25. (33) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 137, $93635.

26. (30) Sam Hornish Jr., Ford, 137, $111630.

27. (36) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 137, $104618.

28. (15) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 137, $111924.

29. (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 137, $141035.

30. (35) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 137, $85935.

31. (29) Landon Cassill(i), Chevrolet, 137, $83785.

32. (40) Cole Whitt, Ford, 137, $90732.

33. (37) Brett Moffitt #, Ford, 137, $82610.

34. (39) Josh Wise, Ford, 137, $81010.

35. (18) David Ragan, Toyota, 136, $108059.

36. (21) Greg Biffle, Ford, 136, $111823.

37. (38) Jeb Burton #, Toyota, 136, $80731.

38. (41) JJ Yeley(i), Toyota, 136, $76142.

39. (43) Matt DiBenedetto #, Toyota, 136, $72070.

40. (42) Mike Bliss(i), Ford, 136, $68070.

41. (28) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 84, $64070.

42. (34) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 64, $68070.

43. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, Accident, 52, $101561.