Kyle Busch
Nationwide: Busch's weekend started off less-than-stellar in Busch standards. He was third and second in practices but started sixth. During the first round of green flag pit stops, he pitted earlier than everyone else and received a speeding penalty, putting him two laps down. He eventually made his way up to the front of pack, eventually taking over first place on lap 139 after a race off pit road. After 3 attempts at a finish, Busch held of Brad Keselowski to take the checkered flag after leading a total of only 30 laps of the race. This is Busch's fifth win of the season and sixth win at Charlotte, tying Mark Martin's record of Nationwide wins at the track. He leaves the race second in the points standings, but will not be racing next week and is not running for the championship.
Cup: Busch's Cup weekend started off terrible. He was 14th, 22nd and 20th in practices and started ninth. The first one hundred laps seemed to be going Busch's way, as he worked his way to the lead on lap 130. From there, his race went back to how his weekend started. While pitting during a caution, Busch got in an accident with Brad Keselowski on pit road, causing damage to both cars. On top of the damage, Busch also received a speeding penalty, leaving him in 24th place. The damage was too much for Busch to continue driving so he pitted twice, leaving him in 26th. After a caution with 123 laps left, he had only moved up to 24th. But he fought back and made it to 13th with 100 laps to go and after the next caution, with the two-tire strategy, moved up to sixth. He remained there and with 24 to go, after another caution, Busch had a miscue in the pits and ran over his own crew member yet came out fifth (his crew member is okay). Going three wide with Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton, he and Burton got together, cutting down Burton's tire and ruining any chance Burton had at contending for the win. After Busch came to the checkered flag third and having led the race twice for a total of 36 laps, the two exchanged words on pit road. Busch leaves the race second in points, gaining two spots, but 29 points behind leader Kevin Harvick.
Kurt Busch
The elder Busch had a roller coaster start to the weekend, with finishes of 11th, second and 17th in practices and qualified on the outside of the front row next to Ryan Newman. After the start of the race, he took over the lead from Newman on lap 12. He led a majority of the first 100 laps, and at lap 111, with Jimmie Johnson in the lead, Busch and his brother battled for second and third places. On lap 213, Busch lost his lead to Clint Bowyer but after a caution one lap later, he took his lead back after the restart. He kept his lead until lap 272, when Matt Kenseth came from behind and Busch fell to fourth. This again didn't last long, after a caution for Jimmie Johnson came out. Once again, he was first. On lap 299, Jamie McMurray, who was fighting for owner Chip Ganassi to have an Indy 500/Coca Cola 600 double win, took the lead back from Busch, driving for Ganassi's rival Roger Penske. McMurray and Busch went back and forth with the lead until 24 laps to go, when pit strategy gave Jeff Gordon the lead. However, without fresh tires, he didn't even last through the restart. Staying caution free, Busch held on to the lead all the way to the checkered flag, claiming his first Coca Cola 600 after leading a total of 252 laps and becoming the seventh driver to win both the All-Star Race and the Coca Cola 600. This is Busch's second win of the season and he is now sixth in the point standings, gaining three spots thanks to this win.
Brendan Gaughan
Gaughan had a rough start to his weekend, finishing 28th and 27th in practices and qualified 41st. It got even worse when he was involved in a wreck on lap 7 when Brian Scott couldn't get started during the restart after a caution, causing a chain reaction crash. After that, Gaughan stayed towards the back of the pack until around 50 laps to go, when Gaughan came to pit road and was pulled out of his car with carbon monoxide poisoning. He was immediately put on oxygen and taken to the infield care center. His replacement driver, Chase Miller, could not be found, so Mark Green, who was also involved in the wreck earlier, took the car back on the track while Gaughan was being observed. Green finished 32nd, 30 laps down in Gaughan's special Ab Circle Pro Toyota. After the race, Gaughan took to his Twitter to let his fans know he was okay. “Hey gang, I’m okay, thanks for checking on me, and a big thanks to Mark Green for finishing for the team!” Gaughan is now 14th in the point standings.
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