Kyle Busch wins All-Star Race for first time

[May 22, 2017]  CONCORD, N.C. -- The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota team became $1 million richer Saturday night after Kyle Busch's win in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Busch won the exhibition event for the first time in his career.

"It's the All-Star Race for one, and for two, we've never won at Charlotte in a Cup car. So we finally achieved that goal tonight and won the All-Star Race and won a million bucks, so there's reason to celebrate and to celebrate big," Busch said. "I can't say enough about this team. ... First race, first win for those guys."

Kyle Larson got past Jimmie Johnson on the last lap to take second and relegate Johnson to a third-place finish.

Ten drivers -- Larson, Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, Chase Elliott and Joey Logano -- had advanced to the 10-lap, 10-driver final stage of the race.

Larson qualified by winning the first two stages, Johnson by winning the third stage, and the others by having the highest average finishes among the remaining drivers in the first three stages.

Clint Bowyer had the same average finish as Logano in the first three stages, but Logano took the final spot by finishing higher than Bowyer in the third stage.

Keselowski stayed out between the third and fourth stages to restart with the lead, but when the green flag waved for the final stage, he dropped back through the field and Kyle Busch took the lead.

After taking the lead at the fourth-stage green flag, Kyle Busch was in front the remaining laps.

Larson dominated the first two 20-lap stages of the race. He led the first 40 laps.

"We had the best car out there, for sure," Larson said. "In traffic, I thought it was really good. I thought we had it most of the race, but that's how racing goes. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it doesn't. But I think we had a really fast car today."

Pit strategy after the second stage, though, shuffled him to third to start the third stage when Bowyer and Ryan Blaney got off pit road ahead of him by taking only two tires.

The two-tire stop gave Bowyer a set of mismatched tires, as he ran the second stage on his set of optional softer tires.

When the green flag waved to start stage three, Bowyer dropped back through the field.

Blaney was able to remain up front longer than Bowyer, but he quickly gave way to Johnson.

"It's really the only strategy we've got," Blaney said. "You can't pass anywhere. It's not great track conditions, to be honest with you. It's just on the bottom. We had to try something to get our average up or try to win a stage, and that's what we tried."

Monster Energy NASCARCup Series driver Kyle Busch (18) starts his victory burn out during the Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

As Blaney fell back through the field, Stewart-Haas Racing teammates Harvick and Kurt Busch waged a battle for second behind Johnson. Harvick took the spot, and in the closing laps of stage three, Larson claimed third from Busch.

Three of the four drivers advancing to the All-Star Race through the Monster Energy Open earlier in the evening -- Blaney, Daniel Suarez and Elliott -- used their sets of softer tires at the start of the race, but none managed to break into the top 10 by the end of the first stage.

"We got a few rows on the start, and then things got jumbled up and we went back to where we started," Blaney said. "That was kind of the end of it."

Suarez gained the most ground of the three, finishing stage one in the 11th position.

The faster but quick-wearing tires looked to only be beneficial to drivers already close to the front of the race field. Johnson utilized the softer set in stage two, restarting the stage in fourth and getting up to second behind Larson by the end.

The 70-lap All-Star Race ran incident-free, with the only slow-downs coming between stages.

NOTES: Jimmie Johnson has been the only repeat winner of the Monster Energy All-Star Race in the last 18 years, and he has won the exhibition event four times. ... Joey Logano won the 2016 All-Star Race. ... Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Friday night after leading 90 of the 134 laps. It was his seventh Truck Series win at Charlotte, but he has never won a Cup Series race at the track. ... The latest format of the All-Star Race was designed to celebrate the first All-Star Race, dubbed "One Hot Night," on its 25th anniversary. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman both won the All-Star Race, then known as The Winston, in their rookie seasons -- Earnhardt in 2000 and Newman in 2002.

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