BRISTOL, TENN. (AP) - Long before Kyle Busch turned Bristol Motor Speedway into his own personal playground, it was his big brother who dominated the Tennessee bullring.
But it’s been seven years since Kurt Busch won his fifth Sprint Cup race at Bristol, and his last top-10 finish was in 2011.
Then came Sunday when the elder Busch looked comfortable again at Bristol. Busch staved off what could have been a disastrous day for a fourth-place finish, his best yet with new team Furniture Row Racing.
“We really poured it on at the end,” Busch said.
He had to to overcome early difficulties. He was running third on lap 220 when a loose wheel forced him to pit road, where he lost two laps and dropped to 29th. Although he got back onto the lead lap, Busch suffered damage to the left-front of his Chevrolet when he ran into Joey Logano with less than 50 laps remaining.
“We battled hard, and the poor No. 78 car, she’s used up,” Busch said. “When you fall two laps down, it’s almost like your day is over. But we kept at it and got those laps back, which gave us an opportunity to make another run to the front. We had a very fast car and to come home with a top-five is exactly what we needed.”
The finish moved Busch from 29th to 16th in the Sprint Cup standings, and in the 10 races with Furniture Row dating back to last season Busch now has four top-10s and one top-five.
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