Busch finishes sixth at Atlanta; clinches spot in Race for the Sprint Cup series
Kurt Busch, at the wheel of the No. 2 MIller Lite Dodge, was sixth across the finish line in the Emory Healthcare 500 that ran Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The finish left Busch tenth in the driver standings and, with only one race left in the regular season, guaranteed him a spot in the Race for the Sprint Cup. Only the top twelve drivers will qualify to run in the ten-race competition.
Busch had some excitement on Lap 301 as Kasey Kahne in the No. 9 Budweiser/Valvoline Ford got loose and pushed Busch down on the apron. Busch recovered without losing his position, but Kahne loses a tire. Kahne, last year’s marquee Dodge driver, ultimately finished 32nd, virtually eliminating any chance he had to qualify for the championship series.
All three Dodges qualifying for the race were running at the end. Brad Keselowski came in 25th in the No. 12 Penske Racing car and Sam Hornish Jr. in the No. 77 Dodge finished 30th.
Next race is the Air Guard 400 at Richmond International Raceway on September 11.
Unofficial Results courtesy of NASCAR:
| Finish | Start | Car | Driver | Make | Sponsor | Points/Bonus | Laps | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | 14 | Tony Stewart | Chevrolet | Office Depot / Old Spice | 195/10 | 325 | Running |
| 2 | 4 | 99 | Carl Edwards | Ford | Aflac | 175/5 | 325 | Running |
| 3 | 7 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chevrolet | Lowe’s / Kobalt Tools | 170/5 | 325 | Running |
| 4 | 26 | 31 | Jeff Burton | Chevrolet | Caterpillar | 160/0 | 325 | Running |
| 5 | 3 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | Pedigree | 155/0 | 325 | Running |
| 6 | 11 | 2 | Kurt Busch | Dodge | Miller Lite | 155/5 | 325 | Running |
| 7 | 14 | 33 | Clint Bowyer | Chevrolet | BB&T | 146/0 | 325 | Running |
| 8 | 2 | 39 | Ryan Newman | Chevrolet | U.S. Army Reserve | 147/5 | 325 | Running |
| 9 | 8 | 42 | Juan Montoya | Chevrolet | Huggies | 138/0 | 325 | Running |
| 10 | 32 | 47 | Marcos Ambrose | Toyota | Little Debbie | 134/0 | 325 | Running |
| 11 | 30 | 17 | Matt Kenseth | Ford | Crown Royal Black | 130/0 | 325 | Running |
| 12 | 6 | 56 | Martin Truex Jr. | Toyota | NAPA Auto Parts | 127/0 | 325 | Running |
| 13 | 18 | 24 | Jeff Gordon | Chevrolet | Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation / DuPont | 124/0 | 325 | Running |
| 14 | 33 | 83 | Reed Sorenson | Toyota | Red Bull | 121/0 | 325 | Running |
| 15 | 12 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Chevrolet | McDonald’s | 118/0 | 325 | Running |
| 16 | 13 | 0 | David Reutimann | Toyota | Aaron’s Outdoors Mossy Oak | 115/0 | 325 | Running |
| 17 | 27 | 78 | Regan Smith | Chevrolet | Furniture Row Companies | 112/0 | 325 | Running |
| 18 | 16 | 43 | A.J. Allmendinger | Ford | Insignia HDTV / Best Buy | 109/0 | 325 | Running |
| 19 | 9 | 6 | David Ragan | Ford | UPS | 106/0 | 325 | Running |
| 20 | 36 | 37 | David Gilliland | Ford | Taco Bell | 103/0 | 325 | Running |
| 21 | 17 | 5 | Mark Martin | Chevrolet | Carquest / GoDaddy.com | 100/0 | 325 | Running |
| 22 | 25 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Chevrolet | National Guard / Amp Energy | 97/0 | 325 | Running |
| 23 | 40 | 21 | Bill Elliott | Ford | FordParts.com | 94/0 | 325 | Running |
| 24 | 37 | 38 | Dave Blaney | Ford | A&W All American Food | 91/0 | 325 | Running |
| 25 | 28 | 12 | Brad Keselowski | Dodge | Penske Racing | 88/0 | 324 | Running |
| 26 | 43 | 13 | Casey Mears | Toyota | GEICO | 85/0 | 324 | Running |
| 27 | 31 | 20 | Joey Logano | Toyota | The Home Depot | 82/0 | 324 | Running |
| 28 | 35 | 26 | Patrick Carpentier | Ford | Air National Guard | 79/0 | 323 | Running |
| 29 | 41 | 34 | Travis Kvapil | Ford | Long John Silver’s | 76/0 | 323 | Running |
| 30 | 21 | 77 | Sam Hornish Jr. | Dodge | Mobil 1 | 73/0 | 322 | Running |
| 31 | 24 | 71 | Bobby Labonte | Chevrolet | TaxSlayer.com | 70/0 | 320 | Running |
| 32 | 10 | 9 | Kasey Kahne | Ford | Budweiser / Valvoline | 72/5 | 310 | Running |
| 33 | 29 | 29 | Kevin Harvick | Chevrolet | Shell / Pennzoil | 64/0 | 309 | Vibration |
| 34 | 20 | 82 | Scott Speed | Toyota | Red Bull | 61/0 | 264 | Engine |
| 35 | 19 | 98 | Paul Menard | Ford | Quaker State / Menards | 58/0 | 263 | Engine |
| 36 | 15 | 16 | Greg Biffle | Ford | 3M Scotch-Blue Painter’s Tape | 55/0 | 245 | Running |
| 37 | 42 | 7 | Kevin Conway | Toyota | Extenze | 52/0 | 162 | Transmission |
| 38 | 34 | 87 | Joe Nemechek | Toyota | FrontRowJoe.com | 49/0 | 161 | Clutch |
| 39 | 23 | 46 | Michael McDowell | Chevrolet | Whitney Motorsports | 46/0 | 160 | Electrical |
| 40 | 38 | 36 | J.J. Yeley | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing | 43/0 | 152 | Electrical |
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