Kurt Busch wins at Sonoma for first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory of year

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Kurt Busch was dominant Sunday in winning the NASCAR race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., his first Sprint Cup Series win of the season.

Busch and his No. 22 Penske Racing Dodge were followed by second place Jeff Gordon, who holds a record five wins at the 10-turn, 1.99-mile Infineon track.

‘Unbelievable day,’ Busch said. ‘Once we got into the groove with this car it seemed to get better.’

Carl Edwards finished third, Clint Bowyer fourth and Marcos Ambrose was fifth. Joey Logano, who started on the pole, finished sixth.

Tony Stewart and Brian Vickers were involved in the latest chapter of NASCAR’s ‘boys, have at it’ policy that left both of their cars heavily damaged.

On lap 37, Stewart pushed Vickers into a spin that triggered a multi-car crash that heavily damaged Vickers’ Toyota. Later, with 23 laps left, Vickers paid him back by turning Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet, sending Stewart crashing into the tire barriers next to the outside wall.

Vickers finished 36th and Stewart was 39th.

Fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. was finished before the race was half over when his No. 88 Chevrolet was one of several cars involved in a wreck on lap 37. The crash punched a hole in the radiator of Earnhardt’s car that damaged the engine. He finished 41st.

--Jim Peltz in Sonoma, Calif.