Kyle Busch Gives Toyota First Sprint Cup Victory

by nascanner | March 9, 2008 at 08:29 pm | 310 views | 1 comment

Kyle Busch Gives Toyota First Sprint Cup Victory

Joe Gibbs Racing is having a great day in Atlanta. Kyle Busch No. 18 screams to the Victory Circle. Scanner fans heard Kyle screaming, "the 18 is back in Atlanta".

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Mar 9, 7:10 PM (ET)

By MIKE HARRIS

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -It was like the good old days for Joe Gibbs Racing on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway when newcomer Kyle Busch put the No. 18 in the Winner's Circle.

But there was a new twist - the first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory for Toyota. And Busch and teammate Tony Stewart also gave the Japanese automaker its first 1-2 finish.

It was the first win in 40 Cup starts for Toyota and it confirmed that the company's signing of the powerhouse Gibbs team over the winter will make its Camrys, which struggled in their 2007 debut, competitive with the other top teams.

"We were all apprehensive at the start of the year," said team owner Gibbs, who returned to racing full-time after retiring late last year as coach of the Washington Redskins. "There was a huge amount of work we had to go through."

The win put the No. 18 back on top at Atlanta, where former Gibbs driver Bobby Labonte won six races in that car and was a perennial contender.

The significance was not lost on Busch.

"The 18! The 18! The 18 is back at Atlanta," Busch screamed on the radio after crossing the finish line ahead of teammate Tony Stewart. "Congratulations, (crew chief Steve) Addington, it's your first one."