Kyle Busch Wins Xfinity Race at Chicagoland But Inspection Finds Car Too Low

Getty Images/NASCAR

JOLIET, IL – RIS – Kyle Busch survived a torrid effort by Matt Kenseth to pass him for the lead, but held on for the victory in the NASCAR Xfinity race at Chicagoland Speedway.  Part of the story is that Busch’s Toyota Camry was found to be low on all four corners which tainted the win.

The race was a Joe Gibbs Racing benefit as Busch and Kenseth combined to lead 186 of the 200 scheduled laps.

The two then dueled over the closing laps, with Kenseth sliding past Busch for the lead with two laps remaining. Kenseth had to race his way around Chase Elliott and John Wes Townley to make the sweeping pass of his teammate.

Busch immediately answered, snatched the lead back, and sailed off to his record 74th career Xfinity Series victory. Kenseth was stuck behind Townley over the final lap, which held him up and prevented him from making another attempt at the win.

Kenseth was obviously disappointed in defeat.

"The best car didn't win tonight, the best driver did," said Kenseth. "Kyle just did a better job driving than I did and I had the fastest car. I just took too long to get to the top (lane) and try to make that work. So anyway, we got beat. It's a bummer to be second."

Busch's car failed postrace inspection for the body of car being too low to the ground. NASCAR likely will not take a win for the relatively minor infraction -- it is typically considered a P2 penalty on NASCAR's crew chief. Any penalties would be announced Tuesday.

Darrell Wallace Jr. finished third in a Ford and was followed by the Chevrolets of Paul Menard and Ty Dillon. Daniel Suarez, in the third JGR Toyota in the field, finished sixth.

Kyle Larson finished 22nd after running out of fuel in the closing laps for the second time Saturday. He was leading the Truck Series race Saturday morning and was headed to the victory when he ran out of fuel.  He had earlier found himself short of fuel in the Camping World truck race earlier in the day.

Unofficial finishing order:

 Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 1 54 Kyle Busch(i) Monster Energy Toyota 200 0 146.1 $91,612 Running 5 102
2 2 20 Matt Kenseth(i) Reser's Main Street Toyota 200 0 136.1 $63,647 Running 5 84
3 12 6 Darrell Wallace Jr. # Roush Performance Ford 200 42 1 101.2 $62,603 Running 1 3
4 7 33 Paul Menard(i) Richmond/Menards Chevrolet 200 0 109.6 $38,368 Running
5 4 3 Ty Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Chevrolet 200 39 103.9 $40,385 Running
6 3 18 Daniel Suarez # ARRIS Toyota 200 39 1 111.0 $37,001 Running 1 2
7 8 60 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 200 37 93.6 $34,943 Running
8 19 1 Elliott Sadler OneMain Financial Ford 200 36 89.0 $33,833 Running
9 9 7 Regan Smith TaxSlayer Bowl Chevrolet 200 35 97.2 $32,734 Running
10 11 62 Brendan Gaughan South Point Chevrolet 200 34 88.6 $32,818 Running
11 10 16 Ryan Reed Lilly/American Diabetes Association Ford 200 33 82.0 $31,338 Running
12 14 88 Kasey Kahne(i) Great Clips Chevrolet 200 0 85.5 $24,784 Running
13 16 25 John Wes Townley(i) Zaxby's Chevrolet 199 0 77.1 $30,230 Running 1 1
14 17 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 199 30 80.8 $30,716 Running
15 18 43 Dakoda Armstrong WinField Ford 199 29 68.7 $29,577 Running
16 25 4 Ross Chastain # teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 199 29 1 62.5 $29,241 Running 1 1
17 13 2 Brian Scott Jewel-Osco/Kraft Singles Chevrolet 199 28 1 95.5 $28,753 Running 2 7
18 26 39 Ryan Sieg RSS Racing Chevrolet 199 26 63.3 $28,491 Running
19 22 28 JJ Yeley JGL Racing Toyota 199 25 70.2 $28,280 Running
20 15 51 Jeremy Clements AllSouthElectric.com/RepairableVehicles.com Chev 199 24 65.3 $28,568 Running
21 23 8 Blake Koch LeafFilter Gutter Protection Toyota 199 23 57.5 $27,957 Running
22 6 42 Kyle Larson(i) ENEOS Chevrolet 199 0 105.2 $21,841 Running
23 30 44 David Starr Zachry Toyota 196 21 52.5 $27,705 Running
24 32 97 Mason Mingus(i) Vroom Brands Chevrolet 195 20 50.3 $27,595 Running
25 27 0 Michael Self Auto Remote Warehouse Chevrolet 194 19 54.0 $27,608 Running
26 31 15 Jimmy Weller Engine Parts Plus Chevrolet 194 18 46.2 $27,347 Running
27 34 24 Eric McClure Reynolds Wrap Toyota 193 17 41.9 $27,237 Running
28 33 52 Joey Gase Donate Life Chevrolet 193 16 43.8 $27,115 Running
29 37 90 Martin Roy Gamache Truck Center Chevrolet 190 15 42.5 $26,964 Running
30 39 13 Josh Reaume # Braille Battery/Grafoid Chevrolet 182 14 37.7 $27,153 Running
31 35 70 Derrike Cope Delta-Therm/The Champagne Lodge Chevrolet 174 13 36.3 $26,697 Running
32 21 01 Landon Cassill Gerber Collision & Glass Chevrolet 142 12 60.7 $26,586 Engine
33 20 14 Cale Conley # IAVA Toyota 140 11 59.5 $26,470 Overheating
34 38 74 Mike Harmon Dodge 129 10 32.5 $26,358 Engine
35 5 22 Ryan Blaney Discount Tire Ford 108 9 68.3 $26,671 Accident
36 24 66 Benny Gordon SomersetRegionalWaterResources/MotorHoney Toyota 105 8 45.3 $18,040 Rear Gear
37 40 40 Derek White Braille Battery/Grafoid Dodge 14 7 27.3 $17,040 Electrical
38 36 26 TJ Bell(i) JGL Racing Toyota 13 0 29.2 $16,040 Vibration
39 28 92 Dexter Bean Chevrolet 6 5 25.8 $15,040 Suspension
40 29 19 Jeff Green Premier Barter Exchange Toyota 3 4 23.2 $14,040 Vibration