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Kyle Busch wins at Sonoma; the race to the top 30 is on
Kyle Busch has his win for Chase qualification. Now he needs to get into the top 30 in points.
Busch held off his brother Kurt for the win Sunday at Sonoma, his second-career win at the California road course.
Kyle restarted seventh when the race went back to green with eight laps to go because of Casey Mears' broken axle. More importantly, Busch was the second driver with fresh tires. Clint Bowyer was the only driver who pitted under the caution flag that started ahead of Busch.
Busch got past Bowyer three turns after the restart when Bowyer made contact with Busch's teammate, Matt Kenseth. Busch then went on a tear, passing drivers one-by-one until he got to leader Jimmie Johnson, who he dispatched with ease with six laps to go.
Kurt Busch got past Bowyer with a few laps to go but could get close enough to his brother's back bumper to make a challenge for the lead. It's the first time the two have finished 1-2 in a Sprint Cup Series race.
Kyle Busch missed the first 11 races of the season after he crashed in the Xfinity Series race at Daytona. After trying to work his way to the front with teammate Erik Jones, Busch's car spun and went sliding into the Daytona infield. His hit into a bare concrete wall broke his right leg and left foot. When he returned, NASCAR waived the requirement that he had to attempt every Sprint Cup Series race to make the Chase.
However, he still had plenty of work to do. Drivers with a win are virtually guaranteed a berth in NASCAR's playoffs; assuming those drivers are in the top 30 in points. By missing 11 races, Kyle Busch had an uphill climb to get into the top 30.
And the hlll had gotten steeper since his return. In his first four races back, Kyle finished 36th and 43rd in two of them. To get to the Chase based off the points pace of 30th-place Justin Allgaier, he had to average an 11th-place finish over the final 11 races of the regular season.
Oh, and get a win too. He now has that. But the points are still not in his favor. Cole Whitt is now in 30th with 261 points. Busch has 125 points. He needs to make up 136 points over the next 10 races.
Can he do it? It's a tall task. His race to the top 30 is now a big storyline for a series that's been deprived of them so far in 2015.
With the way Busch drove at Sonoma, we know better than to count him out of making the Chase. But one bad finish could ruin those Chase hopes. The next race on the Sprint Cup schedule? Yup, Daytona. A place where every driver knows just how quickly good runs can become bad finishes.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
