HAMPTON, Ga.— Holding off lapped traffic and a late race charge by Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch was able to win the Rinnai 250 from Atlanta Motor Speedway. This is his 87th career victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. This is his second straight win at Atlanta.
“We weren’t great early on, and weren’t great for the middle. Scott Graves and these guys worked on it all day long,” said Busch after the race in victory lane.
Busch started the race from the pole. Busch as able to get a jump on the start of the race because the outside lane was unable to get moving. The caution flew for the first time of the race when Austin Dillon spun collecting Blake Koch coming off of the second turn. On the restart, Busch got the lead on the restart, but lost the lead coming off the backstretch to Brad Keselowski. Busch began to close in on Keselowski in the later laps of the opening stage as many drivers began to hit pit road. Keselowski won the stage, Busch finished second, Kevin Harvick finished third, Denny Hanlin finished fourth, and Daniel Hemric rounded out the top-five at the conclusion of the stage. All the leaders went down pit road to get four fresh Goodyear tires.
The second stage saw the outside lane get a terrible start as Keselowski would set sail with the lead. Busch and Harvick would battle for the second spot, but Busch was able to get the advantage. After pulling away from Harvick, Busch set his eyes on Keselowski. Busch was close to Keselowski but backed out to help conserve his tires for the end of the stage. Busch fell back to third after being passed by Harvick. Harvick went on to win the segment followed by Keselowski, Busch, Kyle Larson, and Denny Hamlin rounded out the top-five. Brendan Gaughan made contact with the wall on the frontstretch.
Busch was quiet during the opening laps of the final stage. Hamlin brought out the caution for a spin in one due to tire failure, something he was battling throughout the final stage. Busch restarted on the outside lane, but couldn’t get the momentum. The caution flew again for fluid on the track. Busch and the leaders went down pit road. Busch was able to grab the race lead off pit road. Busch received a great restart since the outside couldn’t get going. Towards the end of the run, Busch was entering lapped traffic and almost lost the lead as he almost made contact with Harrison Rhodes. Keselowski came close to battle Busch with the lead, but failed to do so giving Busch the victory.
Keselowski finished second, Larson finished third, Harvick finished fourth, and Elliott Sadler finished n the fifth position.
Next up for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is the Boyd Gaming 300.. Fox Sports 1 and Performance Racing Network will have the call beginning at 4:00 p.m. EST.
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- Busch Wins UNOH 200 From Pole - August 17, 2017
- Busch Scores NCWTS Bristol Pole - August 16, 2017