Kyle Busch wins road race at Sonoma

Jun 29, 2015 - 12:20 AM Sonoma, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Four months after he suffered multiple injuries during a crash at Daytona International Speedway, which forced him to miss the first 11 races, Kyle Busch scored a much-needed victory to keep his hopes alive in making this year's Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.

Busch passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead with five laps to go and then held off his elder brother, Kurt Busch, on the final lap to win Sunday's Toyota/Save Mart 300 at Sonoma Raceway -- a 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course in Northern California.

It was Busch's 30th career win in the Sprint Cup Series but his first since March 23, 2014 at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California (46 races ago/35 races for him). He also recorded his fourth victory on a road course in NASCAR's top series -- two at Sonoma (2008 and '15) and two at Watkins Glen, New York (2008 and '13).

Busch fractured his lower right leg and left foot when he slammed hard into a concrete wall that was not protected by the steel and foam energy reduction (SAFER) barrier in the closing laps of the Feb. 21 Xfinity Series season- opener at Daytona. He underwent two surgeries for his injuries. Busch returned to competition in the middle of May and has started in five Sprint Cup points- paying races since. His first event back was the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"This is awesome. It's unbelievable," said Busch, who became the 11th different driver to win a Sprint Cup race this season. "I can't say enough about my team, everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, and I can't say enough about my medical team that got me back in shape and ready to go behind the wheel."

When Busch returned to racing, NASCAR gave him a medical waiver to remain Chase-eligible. However, he must finish in the top-30 in points when the regular season concludes on Sept. 12 at Richmond. There are 10 races left before the regular season ends. The series returns to Daytona next weekend.

Right now, Busch is ranked 37th in the driver standings. He trails 30th-place Cole Whitt by 136 points.

"Now I don't have to bust my butt and overdrive the car every week in order to get wins," Busch said. "Now I can just concentrate on running top-three, top- five, top-eight - just getting those finishes and points. If we can do that, the points have got to come and fall on the line. Of course, more wins would certainly help us, and that would only help our cause and allow us to get to the top-30 quicker, but we have to take it in moderation here and be smart about it."

It's the first time the Busch brothers have finished 1-2 in a Sprint Cup race. Kurt Busch, who won the most recent event two weeks ago at Michigan (rain- shortened), crossed the finish line a half-second behind his younger brother at Sonoma.

"Congratulations to my little brother (Kyle)," Kurt Busch said. "I know this is huge. He still has a long way to go to get him in that top-30. He's an incredible driver."

Kyle Busch finished last at Michigan. He was 39th in points after that race.

Clint Bowyer placed third, while Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano rounded out the top-five. Johnson, who led the most laps with 45, did not pit during a round of stops under caution with nine laps remaining. He faded shortly after the final restart with seven laps to go and wound up placing sixth.

"It looked like so many guys came to pit road, but then there were more that stayed out," Johnson said of the pit stops late in the race. "I was just surprised how fast they got through traffic and got to my bumper. Tires were definitely the call, but we had a strategy that we were going to stick to. We were one caution away from it working out just right."

Johnson already has four wins this season.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman and Sam Hornish Jr. finished seventh through 10th, respectively.

Jeff Gordon placed 16th in his final race at Sonoma, which is located just miles away from his hometown of Vallejo, California. Gordon, a four-time series champion, won at this road course five times, which is more than any other driver.

"Nothing is going to take away from this weekend for me," Gordon said. "I know it wasn't the finish we all wanted, but it was a very memorable weekend. It's still a little bit more fun to go to hang out with some of my friends and family here, but I hate that we weren't a little bit better."

A.J. Allmendinger, the pole sitter and winner of the most recent road-course race last August at Watkins Glen, experienced a fuel pressure issue during the mid-stages and spent more than 10 laps behind the wall for repairs. Allmendinger ended up finishing 37th.

Carl Edwards, who won at Sonoma one year ago, was involved in a late-race accident with David Ragan and wound up finishing 40th.