NASCAR All-Star Race 2017 results: Kyle Busch scores first All-Star Race win

Kyle Busch got the better restart over Jimmie Johnson with 10 laps remaining and that proved to be the difference in Busch winning NASCAR’s All-Star Race Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Johnson and Busch were second and third, respectively, and the highest running drivers who had just pitted for four fresh tires entering the final 10-lap segment to determine who’d win the $1 million prize. But it was Busch who got the jump, quickly dispatching leader Brad Keselowski, who didn’t pit, and building up a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Kyle Larson, who started on the pole and led the opening 40 laps in winning the first two stages, finished second, followed by Johnson, Kurt Busch, and Jamie McMurray.

The win was Busch’s first in the annual exhibition race featuring a select field of drivers, and his first Monster Energy Cup Series win of any kind at Charlotte. The series champion did a celebratory fist pump when he stepped out his No. 18 car after parking it on the frontstretch to grab the checkered flag.

“We’ve never won at Charlotte in a Cup car so we finally achieved that goal tonight, and won the All-Star race and won a million bucks, so there’s reason to celebrate and to celebrate big,” Busch said. “We weren’t quite the fastest car, but we made the right changes when it mattered most. We made the right moves when it mattered most and we got the most out of our night tonight and got here to victory lane.

“Feel so relieved, alluded, proud and excited all in the same time.”

NASCAR introduced a single set of soft compound tires that teams could use at its discretion. The tires were designed to provide additional grip over short runs, though with greater falloff than the normal harder compound.

Three of the four drivers who earned their entry into the main event by winning stages in the preliminary Open -- Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott, and Daniel Suarez -- started the All-Star Race on the softer tires. The other teams all utilized its soft tires in the second and third segments.

And while there was a noticeable speed differential between the two compounds, ultimately track position and clear air played the biggest factors in deciding the outcome.

Larson had the fastest car all evening, but a slow final pit stop had him lined up fifth on the decisive final restart. Mired in traffic and dirty air, he struggled to maneuver around cars. Meanwhile, once Busch seized the lead he took advantage of being out front out and pulled away.

“We came down pit road the leader and three people passed up,” Larson said. “That was pretty much the difference. With 10 laps, track position is huge and we just didn’t have it at the end. We had the best car out there for sure.”