NASCAR AdventHealth 400: Kurt Busch wins big at Kansas Speedway
The NASCAR Cup Series' May schedule continued Sunday with the AdventHealth 400, the 13th race of the season, as Kurt Busch came out on top in dominating fashion in Kansas City.
It is his first win of the 2022 season and his first for 23XI Racing, but the 34th win of his Cup career.
Here are the top moments from Kansas Speedway:
Green!
After some rain in the area earlier in the day, things got underway right on time in K.C.
Tyler Reddick got a good jump at the start, but it was Christopher Bell who led after the first lap.
Trouble off Turn 4
Chase Briscoe went for a long slide through the infield grass, as the first caution of the day came out early.
The green flag was back out on Lap 10 after a quick caution for Briscoe's spin, as Reddick regained the lead.
Elsewhere, in mid-pack around 21st, Cole Custer bounced off Justin Haley and the wall off Turn 4, but both drivers escaped any major damage to their cars.
Poppin' tops
Kyle Larson took the lead from Reddick — just as the caution came out on the frontstretch when BJ McLeod went for a spin that ended up popping off his car's roof hatch.
Trouble on pit road
Pit stops were a struggle for many drivers: Austin Dillon got a penalty for removing equipment (fuel can), Denny Hamlin got a penalty for equipment interference and Austin Cindric had an uncontrolled tire — which ultimately sent him to the rear. Bell ended up re-taking the lead as a result of the mess on pit road.
Crash in Turn 4
The green flag was back out at Lap 41 with 40 laps to go in Stage 1 — but it didn't last long.
Daniel Suárez, who was running fourth, had his left rear tire go down, causing the No. 99 car to spin out on Turn 3. It brought out the third caution of the day and Suárez had an early exit from the race.
Another one
Another left rear tire went down: Leader Bell, who led everyone to pit road.
Stage 1: Check
Kyle Busch took the first stage by a second and a half over Ross Chastain, followed by Chase Elliott, Reddick and William Byron rounding out the top five.
Misfortune struck for Busch on pit road. His team had major problems addressing his left front tire, which resulted in a long stop that dropped him from first to 10th. Meanwhile, Elliott won the race off pit road.
Lead change!
Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. led the field to green at Lap 88 before Byron dove to the bottom off Turn 4 to snag the top spot.
Elsewhere, Reddick had a bunch of debris get stuck on his grill before getting into the wall in Turns 1 and 2, which left him with the right rear flat tire.
Getting the spins
Kevin Harvick took a spin in Turn 1 to bring out the caution in the middle of green flag pit stops.
Elliott became the new leader under caution.
Bizarre miscue
Erik Jones' team faced a strange issue in the second stage. The lug nut was so tight on Jones' right rear tire that the crew couldn't get it off, and they eventually had to cut it off in order to change that tire after the heavy-duty tools didn't do the trick. Unfortunately, Jones lost seven laps as a result of the issue.
Kurt Busch and Ryan Blaney were the front row at the restart, as the green flag came back out at Lap 137.
Stage 2: Check
Kurt Busch opened up his lead to nearly two full seconds to win Stage 2, as Truex Jr. suffered a tire issue.
Big-time penalty
Kyle Busch had to go to the rear of the field for the restart after receiving a speeding penalty on pit road.
Chastain also had an issue — a long stop by his crew dropped him from seventh back to 20th.
Kurt Busch led the field back to green at Lap 174 with Blaney battling beside him for the top spot.
Slide job!
Larson pulled a slide job on Kurt Busch, who drove back around him to take the lead back after Larson's right rear hitting the wall saved him from spinning out entirely.
Larson fed back to third with a scraped-up right rear fender.
Big spin in Turn 3
Elliott's left rear tire went down, causing him to get stuck in the infield grass. Just like that, the caution was out again. Meanwhile, Kurt Busch won the race off pit road.
Getting stuck in the infield cost Elliott three laps. Bubba Wallace passed him for fifth just before that caution.
The green flag was back out with 66 laps to go.
Family affair
It was one lead change after another as things continued in the third and final stage.
Coming up on 40 laps to go, Kurt Busch was 2.5 seconds ahead of his brother, Kyle. Two out of the last three times Kurt Busch has won a Cup Series race, he had to go through his younger brother to do it.
Meanwhile, the caution was out. NASCAR though there might have been fluid laid down on the frontstretch.
Kyle vs. Kyle!
The green flag was back out with 33 laps to go at the restart. Larson cleared Kyle Busch and took the lead with 32 to go, while Bell was battling Kurt Busch for third.
Stage 3: Check
In the end, Kurt Busch ended up taking the checkered flag, followed by Larson, Kyle Busch, Hamlin and Bell.
BJ McLeod
