Kyle Busch wins Sprint Cup title as Jeff Gordon says goodbye to NASCAR racing

Kyle Busch began the 2015 NASCAR season in a Florida hospital bed because of a mangled leg and broken foot.

He finished it in Victory Lane in Florida as the last man standing.

The 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion celebrated with a swig of an energy drink, some candy, a slice of pizza and a big trophy that defines his improbable comeback.

“Pretty unbelievable, I guess,” Busch said. “It’s a dream of a lifetime, a dream come true. I can’t believe it with everything that happened this year. It’s awesome, awesome, awesome.”

Busch completed a comeback Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, outgunning the three other Championship 4 contenders to win his first NASCAR Cup title. He won the Ford EcoBoost 400 race as well.

He easily maintained a gap between his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and defending champion Kevin Harvick’s Chevy after a restart with eight laps to go. Harvick, who finished second in the race and in the Cup standings, never seriously challenged after the final restart.

“You always want to win, but I’ve learned not to get greedy,” Harvick said. “After last year, I felt like we had everything go our way, and tonight it didn’t go our way. But just congratulations to the No. 18 team and everything they did.”

Busch, 30, slammed into an unprotected inside wall at Daytona International Speedway during the Xfinity Series opener in February, suffering a double compound fracture in his right leg and a fracture of his left foot.

Although he sat out 11 races, Busch was granted a waiver from NASCAR, making him eligible as long as he won a race and finished the regular season within the top 30 in points. He won four races, starting in June at Sonoma Raceway, before moving on and advancing to each round in the Chase elimination series.

“I’ll say it again,” Busch said. “The rehab of getting back, getting ready and focused -- all that was the hardest part and the hardest thing I have ever gone through.”

Busch’s victory zapped the title hopes of the favorite, Harvick, and the sentimental storyline involving retiring NASCAR icon Jeff Gordon, who finished sixth, and Martin Truex Jr., the fourth Championship 4 qualifier in the postseason elimination format.

Truex finished 24th in points last season before his resurgence with Furniture Row Racing. He led one lap last season. He finished 12th on Sunday.

For Gordon, who was making his last run on the NASCAR circuit, it was nothing but a usual day, although he did stick to his routine of getting a massage before the race. Everything else was sentimental.

Racing icon Mario Andretti asked to take a photo with Gordon. So did Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton, who walked toward Gordon’s pit stall at the end of the track, a ceremonial thing for the Championship 4, and peeked in the car while Gordon’s daughter Ella explained all the do-hickeys in a stock car.

Gordon said he was able to keep his emotions in check all day, except for the morning when his mother showed up at his motorhome. He said he thanked her over and over again for all the sacrifices through the years.

“Boo-hooing as loud as a person could boo-hoo,” Gordon said. “It didn’t take the championship for me to come out there feeling like I’m on top of the world.”