MIAMI, FL (Novermber 18, 2019)- Kyle Busch, driver of the No. 18 for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship of his career Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He is the 16th driver all-time with multiple MENCS championships and joins Jimmie Johnson as the only active drivers with multiple Cup series titles. On his way to winning the championship, Busch posted five wins, 17 top-five finishes, 27 top-10 finishes and one pole.
“Today we had a really good car and I could race around and move around,” said Busch. “That’s what’s so special about Homestead-Miami Speedway, is the ability to put on a show. I felt like we did that there racing those guys. I know it kind of dulled out towards the end. It was exciting enough from my seat. It was a lot of fun to cap off such an amazing year.”
Busch clinched his second MENCS title in the last five years by winning the Ford EcoBoost 400. Every year since introducing the current playoff format in 2014, the MENCS champion has also won the Ford EcoBoost 400 (Kevin Harvick, 2014; Kyle Busch, 2015; Jimmie Johnson, 2016; Martin Truex Jr., 2017; Joey Logano, 2018; Kyle Busch, 2019).
Championship 4 contenders Truex, Harvick and Denny Hamlin all led laps in today’s Ford EcoBoost 400. Truex won Stage 1 and Busch picked up Stage 2. Truex and Harvick finished second and fourth, respectively, while Hamlin came in 10th.
Joe Gibbs Racing earned its fifth MENCS owner’s championship and their 10th overall NASCAR national series owner’s championship (five MENCS, five NASCAR Xfinity Series). Joe Gibbs Racing began its MENCS program in 1992 at Daytona International Speedway with driver Dale Jarrett. Since then, the team has won 176 MENCS races.
Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric won the 2019 MENCS Sunoco Rookie of the Year.
With the season concluding at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Paul Menard and David Ragan finished 17th and 27th, respectively, in their final race as full-time competitors in the MENCS.
By Andrew Devlin / Homestead-Miami Speedway
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