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Kyle Busch sends Kyle Larson sideways to win in crazy last lap at Chicago

Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson provided NASCAR fans with the lap of the 2018 season at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday.

“I don’t know what you all are whining about,” Busch said to booing fans after emerging from his car. “If you don’t like that kind of racing don’t even watch.”

Larson, who had hit the wall with eight laps to go while running the high groove, chased down Busch as Busch got trapped in some lapped traffic over the final laps. Larson was within striking distance as the two drivers took the white flag and dove to the bottom of the track in an attempt to pass Busch.

He didn’t make the pass work and hit Busch. Busch went into the wall. The two drivers slowed and drag-raced down the backstretch. Larson took the lead into turn 3 and Busch then drove into Larson’s bumper, spinning Larson and hitting the wall again himself.

But Busch had enough speed to get to the finish line first and took home his fifth win of the season.

Watch the end here. It’s as crazy as we described.

Larson still somehow finished second because third-place Kevin Harvick was too far behind the two drivers to take advantage of the calamity.

“I had no clue where third-place was, I just thought it was a race between Larson and I,” Busch said.

“When you start banging doors on each other that’s what it turns the race into and it’s fair game after that.”

Larson wasn’t upset with the actions Busch took in turns 3 and 4 given what Larson tried in turn 2.

“I’m not upset. I had an opportunity there to slide in front of him and I figured I wouldn’t clear him or I would allow him to drive back underneath me so I tried to get to his door. And you know, I opened the door for him to retaliate against me. It was free game. I ran into him first, he got me after that, maybe a little worse than I got him. But that’s alright. I love racing Kyle.”

Larson’s attitude is the right one. The finish was fantastic because it was two drivers without grudges racing hard for the win — especially with Larson fully realizing that he was going to be on the receiving end of some dirty tactics given what had gone on in the previous two corners.

Had Busch pulled the move he did on Larson without the preceding event in turn 2, then the finish is a different story. But Larson’s action deserved a reaction. And what Busch did wasn’t detrimental either as Larson ended up making it in front of the finish line in front of Harvick.

It’s probably the best final lap in NASCAR since the 2016 race at Sonoma (where Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin exchanged the lead on the last lap) or even the 2012 race at Watkins Glen where oil on the track created a frenetic finish among Busch, Brad Keselowski and eventual race winner Marcos Ambrose.

It’s also the second time that Busch and Larson have made contact late in a race this season. Busch tapped Larson out of the way with less than six laps to go at Bristol. Busch won that race.

(via Fox)
(via Fox)

Busch’s fifth win ties him with Harvick for the most of any driver in 2018. But since Harvick lost the points from one of his wins due to an inspection failure, Busch is credited with more official wins than Harvick is. Busch now has 30 playoff points through 17 races, three more than Harvick does.

Here’s the full results from Sunday’s race:

1. Kyle Busch
2. Kyle Larson
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Martin Truex Jr.
5. Clint Bowyer
6 .Erik Jones
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Joey Logano
9. Brad Keselowski
10. Alex Bowman
11. Daniel Suarez
12. Jamie McMurray
13. Paul Menard
14. Jimmie Johnson
15. Ryan Newman
16. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
17. Kurt Busch
18. Ryan Blaney
19. Chase Elliott
20. William Byron
21. Michael McDowell
22. Chris Buescher
23. Darrell Wallace Jr.
24. AJ Allmendinger
25. Aric Almirola
26. Trevor Bayne
27. Kasey Kahne
28. Ty Dillon
29. Matt DiBenedetto
30. Ross Chastain
31. Gray Gaulding
32. Reed Sorenson
33. Kyle Weatherman
34. Corey LaJoie
35. BJ McLeod
36. Landon Cassill
37. Austin Dillon
38. David Ragan
39. Timmy Hill

NASCAR Cup series points leader Kyle Busch survived final lap contact with Kyle Larson at Chicagoland to take his fifth win of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing
NASCAR Cup series points leader Kyle Busch survived final lap contact with Kyle Larson at Chicagoland to take his fifth win of the season for Joe Gibbs Racing

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Nick Bromberg is a writer for Yahoo Sports.