Kurt Busch wins fratricidal duel in Georgia

The recent announcement of the cessation of activities NASCAR of Chip Ganassi Racing did not trouble its star driver, far from it. After a sublime duel with his brother Kyle, Kurt Busch demonstrated great consistency throughout the 250 laps of the race and great authority during the final laps to win.

Kurt Bisch is ahead of his brother Kyle ©Getty Images

The first segment went to Kyle, victorious on Saturday in his 102nd Xfinity Series race, the second division of NASCAR. Coming back from 8th place at the start, Kurt follows closely ahead of championship leader Denny Hamlin (Joe Gibbs Racing). A few drops of rain will disrupt the second segment, raising fears of an interruption of the race, but the section comes to an end and returns to Kurt in front of Kyle. Hendrick Motorsports duo Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson followed closely while their teammate Chase Elliot, who started from pole, struggled in the soft underbelly of the pack following a disastrous pit stop early in the race.

Not what you want to see from the No. 9.

A miscue on pit road costs @chaseelliott a mountain of positions. pic.twitter.com/hMuyCiO6yl

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) July 11, 2021

The decision announced at the start of the week to carry out a total resurfacing of the Atlanta track was not unanimous among the drivers. The race however proved the officials right since a race interruption of almost 20 minutes was necessary before the last segment to lay patches of bitumen on the oldest surface on the calendar dating from 1996.

Atlanta asphalt has had its day ©Getty

During the last 80 laps of the race, the Busch brothers exchanged leadership and it was finally the younger Kyle who gave in by brushing the wall 6 laps from the end, leaving his brother to join Victory Lane. Guilty of speeding during his last pit stop, Kyle Larson only finished 18th and left the championship lead to Denny Hamlin in 13th.

Kyle Busch was the first to congratulate his brother after this great confrontation ©Getty

Quaker State 400 standings:

Next Sunday, head to New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the always very spectacular 301-lap race on the “Magic Mile”.

Find all the NASCAR information in issue 2319 of AUTOhebdo, on sale Monday evening in digital version and Wednesday on newsstands.