The 2017 Winston Cup Series: Busch sweeps Bristol

Kyle Busch does a symbolic broom sweep after winning the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race. It's his 40th Cup win, and his sixth at Bristol.

     Love him or hate him, Kyle Busch dominated this weekend at Bristol, winning in all three series to complete the weekend sweep. "Rowdy" won in the Truck series Wednesday night, the Xfinity series Friday night, and won the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race Saturday night in the Cup series. Rookie and Michigan native Erik Jones won the pole for the Cup race, led 260 laps, but couldn't hold off Kyle Busch in the homestretch. A dejected Jones settled for a career-best 2nd place, ahead of Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch. Other notable finishers include Trevor Bayne with a good 7th place finish, Kyle Larson in 9th, and Chase Elliot, who had a great car, but faded and finished 18th. Brad Keselowski had a rough night, finishing 29th.

Erik Jones makes a pit stop during the Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race at Bristol. Jones led 260 of 500 laps, and finished in 2nd place.

     For Kyle Busch, it's his second weekend sweep including all three series; he's also the only one to accomplish it. Busch now leads outright among active drivers with Cup six wins at Bristol; his brother Kurt has five. And in classic points, Busch's win means he gained plenty of ground on Martin Truex Jr., who finished 21st after an unscheduled pit stop, and a penalty on pit road. The race was fairly clean for a Bristol race aside from a few incidents; Austin Dillon and Jeffrey Earnhardt wrecked out together on lap 233, and in a single-car incident, Landon Cassill crashed hard with about 80 laps to go. Aside from that, it was a rather dull Bristol race from a fan's perspective, which used to be loaded with cautions and multi-car wrecks. The finish did prove exciting though, as the last 79 laps were caution-free. It set up a good duel between Busch, Jones, and Kenseth.

Jeffrey Earnhardt drives his #33 Hulu Chevrolet to the garage after a crash on lap 233. Earnhardt collided with Austin Dillon's #3 Dow Chevrolet when Dillon blew a tire in turns 3 and 4.

Classic points after Bristol
(click for a closer look)

     So here's a look at the standings. Truex Jr.'s lead has been cut down to only 26 points over Harvick, and 29 over Kyle Busch. Hamlin assumes 4th in points over Kyle Larson, then there's a substantial gap back to Keselowski in 6th place. Despite their lack of wins, Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Elliott, and Kenseth have all had consistent seasons, and round out the top-10. Ryan Newman's 4th place at MIS last week, and 6th at Bristol helped him move to 11th in points ahead of Daniel Suarez. You'll notice Dale Earnhardt Jr. is a long ways down the list, tied for 26th. He hasn't had a top-10 finish since Sonoma in June, with an average finish of 23.0 in the last eight races. Earnhardt Jr. is on-pace for his worst full season since 2009, when he recorded no wins, only five top-10's, and finished 25th in points. It's definitely not the season Jr. wanted to say goodbye with, but his fans couldn't care less, seeing the tribute they performed for his final Bristol race.

Fans give Dale Earnhardt Jr. a fitting farewell, before his final race at Bristol Motor Speedway. Dale Jr. came home in 23rd, 3 laps down.

     The Cup drivers are heading into an off-weekend, while the Xfinity Series travels to Wisconsin for an intriguing race at Road America. Up next for the Cup Series is Darlington's Southern 500. Only one active driver has won at Darlington more than once; Jimmie Johnson with 3 victories. Truex Jr. is the defending Southern 500 champion, and has a good chance to extend his point lead on Labor Day weekend...