Mr. Sweep: Kyle Busch dominates at Texas Motor Speedway

Forget Rowdy. Kyle Busch should be known as Mr. Sweep.

The reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion swept a weekend for the second time in his career at Texas Motor Speedway, and for the second consecutive week on the circuit.

Busch pull away in dominate fashion to win the rain-delayed Duck Commander 500 on Saturday night, leading 34 laps for his second career Cup win and second sweep (along with the spring 2013 races) at TMS.

Busch did the same thing a week ago at Martinsville, and now has nine career Xfinity and Cup sweeps in his career. That’s more than any driver in history.

What’s the magic?

“I think the magic is Kyle Busch, but that’s just me. Right, Joe?” said Busch, laughing to the chagrin of team owner Joe Gibbs.

“I’m having a last, living the dream. It’s just fun right now. It’s all clicking and going together. Things are great for our team. Can’t say enough about our team. Cool to be here in Texas.”

Busch took the checkered flag at 12:12 a.m. Sunday following an almost two-hour delay to start the race. The track had been hit with on-and-off rain throughout the afternoon, delaying the start till 8:35 p.m. But Busch was more than happy to celebrate late into the night following a 3 hour, 37-minute race.

Of course, it should have come as no surprise to see Busch in Victory Lane with his No. 18 Interstate Batteries Toyota teammates, either. He has been riding one of the hottest streaks in recent memory, winning the past four national NASCAR events.

Arguably more impressive has been his ability to win seven Cup races since a horrific crash in the 2015 season-opening Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway left him with a broken right leg and left foot.

Busch missed 11 races before returning to his winning ways, capturing his first championship and continuing his tear into this season.

“I think it’s part of the whole team,” Busch said. “It’s not just me. It’s the organization and everyone rallying around us. It’s all worked real well, and it’s been exciting to have the success that we’ve had as of late. Let’s just keep it going.”

Busch extended his career win total to 36, tied for third-most among active drivers with Matt Kenseth. Only Jimmie Johnson (77) and Tony Stewart (48) have more.

With his career wins, coupled with a championship, Busch already has Hall of Fame credentials at age 30. But he spoke before the race of wanting to become one of the all-time greats, setting goals such as 100 Cup wins and five championships.

At the rate he’s going, it may not be as far-fetched as it seems.

“The guy is good,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished runner up. “He’s got a great team behind him and they put themselves in position at the end. I ain’t surprised by any means. We’ve just got to work to try and get that opportunity.”

Earnhardt passed Martin Truex Jr. late in the race for second, but didn’t have enough to threaten Busch for the win in the closing laps.

Busch had taken the lead from Truex with 33 laps left, and built an insurmountable cushion down the stretch.

Earnhardt felt bad for Truex, who led a race-high 141 laps but fell behind late on older tires than his competitors.

“The 78 [Truex] was very good,” Earnhardt said. “I didn’t think we were ever as good as he was. He just had such old tires there at the end.”

Busch proved to have things fall into the right place on this night, unlike some other traditional favorites at Texas.

Jimmie Johnson, who had won the three previous races at Texas, had the misfortune of a caution flag flying when he made a pit stop with 118 laps to go. That caused him to go a lap down, but he battled his way back for a fourth-place finish.

Pole-sitter and three-time Texas winner Carl Edwards, meanwhile, had the best car early on in the race, leading 124 laps. But his car slowed on Lap 224 following a faulty pit stop, forcing him to make another pit stop.

That essentially knocked Edwards out of contention for the win, but he managed to get back in the mix for a seventh-place finish.

In the end, the night belonged to Busch and his crew.

“Huge, huge night for us,” Gibbs said. “I wish everybody back home that works on the cars and do all that hard work at home, I wish they could be here with us and celebrate. I want to say thanks to them.”

This story was originally published April 10, 2016 at 1:12 AM with the headline "Mr. Sweep: Kyle Busch dominates at Texas Motor Speedway."