Michael Satterfield
TGR Staff
Toyota Camry driver Kyle Busch was crowned the 2018 MENCS regular-season champion after leading 27 laps (of 160) at Indy – where he finished eighth in Monday’s rain-delayed race.
En route to the regular-season title, Busch claimed six victories and 17 top-five finishes in the season’s first 26 races. He enters the Cup Playoffs tied for the points lead with Kevin Harvick, and 15 points ahead of Toyota teammate and third-place Martin Truex Jr.
“They give away a trophy and we were able to go out and get it,” Busch said of the regular-season title. “Everybody on this team, they work so hard all year long and to get us to where we’re at here today, it was certainly hard-fought. Overall it’s pretty good to be in this spot with having those extra bonus points and having some new hardware to go home with us.”
Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Erik Jones (second) and Denny Hamlin (third) tried to hold off race-winner Brad Keselowski but settled for their career-best finishes at the 2.5-mile race track. For Hamlin, it was the third time he collected a third-place finish at the Brickyard in 13 track Cup starts.
Truex (third), Jones (10th) and Hamlin (13th) will accompany Busch in the Cup Playoffs, which are set to begin this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In Monday’s rain-delayed NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) race at Indy, Toyota drivers Christopher Bell (seventh) and Brandon Jones (10th) earned top-10 finishes behind Xfinity race winner Justin Allgaier.
The series also heads to Vegas later this week to close out their regular season where Toyota drivers Bell and B. Jones are locked into the NXS Playoffs, which begin in two weeks at Richmond Raceway.
