NASCAR Driver Busch Wins Winston Cup Sirius 400

Topics:  Sirius 400, Kurt Busch

VOA Sports
June 16, 2003

NASCAR driver Kurt Busch overcame caution flags and a late charge by Bobby Labonte Sunday to win the NASCAR Winston Cup Sirius 400 race at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Michigan.

The victory was the seventh of his career and allowed him to become the first driver with three wins this season. Labonte, who started from the pole position, finished 0.774 seconds behind Busch. Jeff Gordon was third with Matt Kenseth and Michael Waltrip rounding out the top five.

Gordon took the lead on lap 160 when he beat Tony Stewart out of the pits during the sixth caution period of the afternoon. He remained up front until Busch passed him with 23 laps to go.

Busch had to survive caution stretches on laps 178 and 191. There were nine caution flags, tying the Winston Cup track record. Kenseth remains atop the Winston Cup standings with 2,275, 185 ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished seventh. Gordon has 2,052 points while Labonte 1,998.