By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Busch boosted his NASCAR record Xfinity Series win total with a 99th career victory in Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniform 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion held off veteran series regular Justin Allgaier by a mere .433-seconds in overtime to earn his second series win in as many races this year.
Busch led the last 32 laps but had to negotiate three late restarts including the last in overtime. It technically marked his second victory of the day as John Hunter Nemechek won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a truck owned by Busch.
“Just being with a great group of guys and Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty awesome to drive to drive these Toyota Supras here in the Xfinity Series,’’ Busch said after an extended victory burnout the crowd enjoyed from the series all-time winningest driver.
“All in all, such a good car,’’ Busch added, noting he thought Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsport Chevrolet was just as good as his Toyota on Saturday.
“I was just able to think through a few things there on a couple restarts that may or may not work but there at the end they did.’’
Busch, who led a race best 94 of the 171 laps, noted the good pushes from behind he got on the restarts from the current Xfinity Series championship leader Austin Cindric, who finished third. The two driver each won a stage.
At the end of the day, Busch is hopeful the lessons he learned Saturday and the good outcome he enjoyed will be beneficial in Sunday night’s NASCAR Cup Series All Star Race at the track.
It’s Busch’s 10th overall Xfinity Series win on the 1.5-mile Texas high banks, where he also has four NASCAR Cup Series and five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories. The trophy on Saturday marks the 300th win for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity and Cup ranks.
Just behind Allgaier and Cindric at the checkered flag were Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones rounding out the Top-5. A.J. Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Michael Annett completed the Top-10.
The Top-10 was especially significant for Gragson, driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. His work at Texas from a 30th place start to seventh place finish was a solid rebound from a series of rough outings. He was running as high as fourth when he spun his tires on the next to last race restart. His seventh-place work halts a streak of three consecutive DNFs.
The series next race is the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville (Tenn.) Speedway (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Cindric’s third place effort is his 10thTop-5 effort in 14 races gives him a commanding 108-point advantage over Allmendinger in the championship standings.
Interviews:
NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner Kyle Busch (No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race – 25th Annual Alsco Uniforms 250
Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Texas
Saturday, June 12, 2021
1. (14) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 171.
2. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 171.
3. (4) Austin Cindric, Ford, 171.
4. (5) Daniel Hemric, Toyota, 171.
5. (3) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 171.
6. (1) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 171.
7. (30) Noah Gragson, Chevrolet, 171.
8. (19) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 171.
9. (2) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 171.
10. (6) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 171.
11. (9) Ryan Sieg, Ford, 171.
12. (12) Riley Herbst, Ford, 171.
13. (7) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 171.
14. (20) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 171.
15. (22) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 171.
16. (13) Jade Buford #, Chevrolet, 171.
17. (11) Josh Williams, Chevrolet, 171.
18. (10) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 171.
19. (28) Josh Berry #, Chevrolet, 171.
20. (31) David Starr, Toyota, 171.
21. (36) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 171.
22. (38) Ronnie Bassett Jr., Chevrolet, 171.
23. (34) Brandon Gdovic, Toyota, 171.
24. (15) Ryan Vargas #, Chevrolet, 171.
25. (27) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 171.
26. (24) Matt Mills, Toyota, 171.
27. (40) Matt Jaskol, Toyota, 168.
28. (26) Colby Howard, Chevrolet, 167.
29. (25) Jesse Little, Chevrolet, 166.
30. (18) Harrison Burton, Toyota, Accident, 163.
31. (35) Joe Graf Jr, Chevrolet, 162.
32. (8) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 159.
33. (17) Myatt Snider, Chevrolet, Accident, 156.
34. (32) Jordan Anderson(i), Chevrolet, 120.
35. (37) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, Accident, 110.
36. (33) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, Accident, 107.
37. (29) Kyle Weatherman, Chevrolet, Fuel Pump, 100.
38. (23) Gray Gaulding, Chevrolet, Accident, 89.
39. (21) Tanner Berryhill, Chevrolet, Accident, 88.
40. (39) Bayley Currey(i), Chevrolet, Electrical, 0.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 107.773 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 48 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.433 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 10 for 52 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Allmendinger 1-8;B. Jones 9-24;K. Busch(i) 25-28;A. Cindric 29-42;J. Haley 43;D. Hemric 44-47;K. Busch(i) 48-82;H. Burton 83;K. Busch(i) 84-88;D. Hemric 89-97;K. Busch(i) 98-110;H. Burton 111;K. Busch(i) 112-116;J. Allgaier 117-139;K. Busch(i) 140-171.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Kyle Busch(i) 6 times for 94 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 23 laps; Brandon Jones 1 time for 16 laps; Austin Cindric 1 time for 14 laps; Daniel Hemric 2 times for 13 laps; AJ Allmendinger 1 time for 8 laps; Harrison Burton 2 times for 2 laps; Justin Haley 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 22,18,54,19,11,16,7,1,20,9
Stage #2 Top Ten: 54,18,22,20,9,7,16,8,98,1
