FONTANA, Calif. – Kyle Busch tied Richard Petty's NASCAR record with his 200th career victory across the three national series Sunday by using an impressive late surge following a speeding penalty to win the Cup Series race at Auto Club Speedway.
Busch dominated the first two stages, but a pit-road speeding penalty dropped him to 18th with 73 laps to go. He carved through the field in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, then got help from a timely caution. Busch catapulted into the lead for good with 26 laps left by drafting off Team Penske teammates Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano.
The win was the third Cup victory at Fontana for Busch, and he's now in position to become NASCAR's overall career victories leader with his next win. Busch has earned 53 of his 200 wins in the Cup Series, along with 53 in the Truck Series and 94 in Xfinity.
"It certainly is a monumental moment for all of us," Busch said. "I knew we had a great race car and we were fast. I just wasn't sure how we were going to able to come back through traffic and get through the field. Maybe the stars aligned a little bit more perfectly today."
Busch reached the brink of the record by sweeping last weekend's two races at Phoenix but missed his first chance to tie Petty in the Fontana Xfinity Series race Saturday when a disastrous late pit stop prevented him from catching winner Cole Custer.
His team handed him a white flag with a logo emblazoned with "200 WINS," and he stood atop his car and waved it toward his large Southern California fan base before taking his customary bow.
"Feels just like No. 1," he said. "Feels just like yesterday. That was such an awesome race car. Dang. I'm glad we put on a heck of a show for these fans. To win 200, whatever it means, it means a lot to me."
"I just wish that we could keep it going, running strong, running well, and winning races."
