SPARTA, KY – Kurt Busch left the Daytona International Speedway fuming. He was leading when NASCAR came over the radio saying that they were going to go green in a couple of laps. Busch’s crew chief Matt McCall called him down pit lane to top off fuel and to get fresh tires.

After all, they thought they were going back to green. Instead, after they pitted, lightning stuck near the danger zone and a red flag was displayed. Unfortunately, they’d never go back to green as Busch went from a prime position to win to a dunce award. So much so, McCall took to social media to make light of his decision.

Both he and Busch were on the same page as both said that they were going to pit if told they were going to go back green. In their defense, NASCAR said they were going to restart the race, so why not?

It cost him a guaranteed playoff spot.

Until this week.

Busch, came from fourth to first on the final restart in overtime for Saturday night’s Quaker State 400 and won his first race of the 2019 season, making him playoff eligible after all.

It was a pit call from his crew chief that got him the win, not cost him the win, this week.

On his final stop, McCall called Busch down pit road for four fresh tires. Almost everyone else took two. It appeared that Busch would lose the race again after being in prime position to win. He was outside of the top five in the closing laps until Darrell Wallace Jr. lost a tire and brought out the final caution on Lap 260 of 267. That bunched up the field again.

Busch, would restart fourth, on the outside lane, and go high in Turn 1 to make it three-wide with him, his little brother Kyle Busch and race leader Joey Logano for the win.

The elder Busch, stormed by both and had a final two lap battle with his little brother for the win. Kurt Busch held off Kyle Busch by just 0.076-seconds en route to his 31st career Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win and first since Bristol last August (30 races). It was also Chevrolet’s first win in nine tries at Kentucky and Chip Ganassi Racing’s first victory in nearly two years.

Busch, looks the part now as he has three top 10 finishes in his No. 1 Chevrolet in his last five starts on the season. He beat Kyle by a race record 0.076-seconds for his fourth top 10 finish in his last five Kentucky starts.

For Kyle Busch, it was his third straight top five finish at Kentucky as he led a race-high 72 of 269 laps run.

Erik Jones finished third in his No. 20 Toyota for his third top 10 finish in as many Kentucky starts while Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top five. Busch