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Kyle Busch wins NASCAR XFINITY race at Watkins Glen

by Mike Haag | Posted on Saturday, August 5th, 2017

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – With a victory in Saturday’s Zippo 200, Kyle Busch continued to tick items off his bucket list.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Recovering from a wheel-hop and spin in Turn 1 on Lap 17 of 82 along with a penalty for driving through too many pit boxes, Busch claimed his first NASCAR XFINITY Series win at the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International road course, beating polesitter Joey Logano to the finish line by 1.049 seconds.

“The cars have really been working for me here and it just feels so good to finally win an XFINITY race here,” said Busch, who won last week at Pocono for the first time in a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series car.

“We’ve been so close so many times. One of my favorite runs here was in a Zippo car (in 2008) and being in the Zippo race today that’s kind of ironic – I guess they sponsor it every year — but being with (owner) Eddie D’Hondt and the Zippo car, I remember we were really, really fast and wish we would’ve got that one.”

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, crosses the finish line to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

In winning for the fourth time this season and the 90th time in his career, Busch grabbed the lead when Brad Keselowski and Logano came to pit road together on Lap 49.

Busch gained time by staying on the track for five more laps, and by the time he exited pit road on lap 55, he was 1.2 seconds ahead of Keselowski and more than 10 seconds ahead of Logano, who had a lengthy pit stop because of a stuck lug nut.

“Pit road was pretty good for us,” Busch said. “We stayed out long on that one run, and we were able to cycle back up to the lead. It worked two weeks in a row that way. I don’t know how much longer we can do that before they figure it out, but it’s been working for us, so we’ll take it.”

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

Busch held the top spot the rest of the way, surviving a restart with three laps left after Casey Mears ran out of fuel and stalled on the track to bring out the fifth and final caution of the afternoon. Busch chose the inside lane for the restart to control the preferred line into Turn 1.

The restart brought Logano back near the front of the field, and on the next-to-last lap, he passed Keselowski, his Team Penske teammate, for the runner-up spot.

“Dang, I wish it was for the win and not for second,” Logano said of the battle with Keselowski. “I had such a good short run car, just in the wrong position to start that last run. I feel like, if I was second, I could have won the race. I just had a really good short-run car.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“Our long-run speed was off a bit, and that’s when the 18 (Busch) and 22 (Keselowski) would drive by us, and we were a third-place car on the long run, but probably a winning car on the short run. By the time I cleared the 22, the 18 was gone. If we had another four or five laps, (he would have drove off again). I needed a caution.”

Keselowski ran third, followed by Just Allgaier, Paul Menard and Kevin Harvick. Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Brendan Gaughan and William Byron completed the top 10.

Following the event, Byron’s No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro was found to be too low in the rear during post-race inspection.

Note: Busch has indicated he plans to “retire” from NASCAR XFINITY Series racing when he reaches 100 victories. That will take at least until 2019. According to rules being implemented for the 2018 season, Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series veterans can compete in only seven XFINITY races during the year. … The victory was the 139th in the series for Joe Gibbs Racing, breaking a tie with Roush Fenway Racing for most in XFINITY history.

Race results, click here.

Media Center Interviews:

Kyle Busch – 

 

Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski and William Byron

 

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, and Joey Logano, driver of the #12 Snap-On Ford, lead the field to the green flag to start the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)

 

Brad Keselowski, driver of the #22 REV/Fleetwood Ford, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

 

Kevin Harvick, driver of the #41 FIELDS Ford, and Cole Custer, driver of the #00 Haas Automation Ford, are involved in an on-track incident during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

 

Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Rowdy Toyota, leads a pack of cars during the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

 

Joey Logano, driver of the #12 Snap-On Ford, poses for a photo after winning the pole award during qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Zippo 200 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on August 5, 2017 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images)

 

 

About the Author

Mike Haag has covered motorsports in San Antonio and South Texas for more than 36 years. In addition to covering motorsports for the San Antonio Express-News for nearly 28 years, Mike also has co-hosted TrackSmack with Dawn Murphy for 18 race seasons. In addition to being a writer, Mike taught high school English and Journalism for 30 years before retiring in May, 2020.