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Kurt beats Kyle in thrilling finish at Kentucky Speedway

Rod Mullins

nascarKurt Busch edged out brother Kyle Busch in a thrilling finish to the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway from Sparta, Ky., on NBCSN on Saturday night to register his first win of the 2019 season.

NBCSN coverage highlights:

  • Earnhardt Jr. on last lap battle between Kurt and Kyle Busch: “They’re two of the best that we’ve had in our sport, and they’ve given us their best, the best show we’ve ever seen at Kentucky.”
  • Kurt Busch to Snider following the win: “Racing your little brother and watching him win a lot, I’m proud of him, but I’m proud of him that he gave me a little room on the outside. He could have clobbered us against the wall and third place probably would have gotten it. What an awesome run.”
  • Kyle Busch to Stavast following his second-place finish: “Glad it was a thriller, unfortunately we were on the wrong end of the deal…. great races and great finishes, been a part of a lot of them, not very many, actually none with my brother like that, so that was a first.”
  • Burton on redemption for Kurt Busch: “Think about what happened to that team last week – lead the race and pitted, then lighting came out. Then they come back this week and to win the race – that is redemption.”
  • Allen on battle between Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch: “It wasn’t many races back when Kurt Busch was trying to catch his brother, and he said, ‘If I caught him I would have wrecked him for the win.’ Well right there, those two fought as cleanly as you can fight for a win. What an incredible battle we just saw between Kurt and Kyle.”
  • Earnhardt Jr.“I love it when it comes down to those two. They know each other better than anybody.”
  • Letarte on win for Kurt Busch’s crew chief Matt McCall: “He tried to play it off, but you could hear the emotion coming in. I’ve been there. I’ve been the guy that’s judged for making a poor pit decision. He played it off all week. His owner, his team, everyone supported him, and he bounced back by giving Kurt Busch the chance.”
  • Earnhardt Jr. on restart: “I don’t know if I can pick one that has an advantage but this might be the restart – this might be the most pressure-packed restart all season long. You’re going to have to be mean on this restart. You’re going to have to be willing to have to do whatever it takes.”
  • Letarte on quality of race: “37 laps to go – what a race. What a great job by the speedway, all the track prep they did, this rules package, it’s been breathtaking.”
  • Letarte on hard racing between Logano and Busch: “This is ridiculous, these guys are driving like it’s the rental go-kart place at 185 miles an hour.”
  • Burton on Clint Bowyer’s driving style with 95 laps to go: “It sounds like that’s a long way away, but we have seen how hard it is to pass. Clint Bowyer knows he needs to win a race to get in the Playoffs. He’s going to act like this is just a few laps left to go. He is going to do everything he can to keep William Byron behind him.”
  • Allen on stage winners: “The Busch brothers have dominated in Kentucky. Kurt Busch won stage one, and Kyle Busch won stage two.”

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Rod Mullins

Rod Mullins

Rod Mullins covers NASCAR for Augusta Free Press. Rod is the co-host of the “Street Knowledge” podcasts focusing on NASCAR with AFP editor Chris Graham, and is the editor of Dickenson Media. A graduate of UVA-Wise, Rod began his career in journalism as a reporter for The Cumberland Times, later became the program director/news director/on-air morning show host for WNVA in Norton, Va., and in the early 1990s served as the sports information director at UVA-Wise and was the radio “Voice of the Highland Cavaliers” for football and basketball for seven seasons. In 1995, Rod transitioned to public education, where he has worked as a high school English, literature, and creative writing teacher.