Busch Dominates Atlanta Xfinity Race

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HAMPTON, GA - RIS - Kyle Busch led 119 of the 163 laps enroute to a victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series Heads Up Georgia 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch and Kyle Larson pulled away from the field after the final yellow flag. Larson closed the gap to about a half-second in the closing laps, but the rally ended when he got caught up briefly behind the lapped car of Ryan Preece.

Busch crossed the line 0.466 seconds ahead of Larson, then did his customary burnout and bow in front of the main grandstand, holding the checkered flag. No one else was within 10 seconds of the first two cars. It was Busch's 77 th career Xfinity win, and first ever in an Xfinity race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"This is a pretty neat deal," Busch said. "I'm glad get it out of the way. I checked another off the list."

The victory was especially sweet coming less than 24 hours after Busch surrendered the pole for Sunday's Cup race when his car failed inspection. He won the pole for the Xfinity race in the morning and then dominated on a sunny afternoon in nearly perfect weather.

Of course, that didn't lessen the disappointment of having to start from the back of the field Sunday.

"This is Xfinity, that's Cup," Busch said. "But it is what it is. It's not that big a deal."

Busch was thrilled to add another track to his victory list, especially since he had had five runner-up finishes in Atlanta. Watkins Glen and Las Vegas -- site of next week's event -- are the only other active Xfinity tracks where he hasn't won.

He's looking forward to checking another off the list at his hometown track.

"I've not won at Vegas," Busch said. "That seems kind of odd."

Unofficial Race Results for the 25Th Annual Heads Up Georgia 250

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, Pts, Bns, Tms, Laps, Status
1) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, 163, 0, , 2, 119, Running
2) 4, Kyle Larson(i), No. 42 ENEOS Chevrolet, 163, 0, , , , Running
3) 2, Erik Jones #, No. 20 Hisense USA Toyota, 163, 38, , , , Running
4) 11, Paul Menard(i), No. 2 Richmond/Menards Chevrolet, 163, 0, , , , Running
5) 6, Ty Dillon, No. 3 Rheem Chevrolet, 163, 36, , , , Running
6) 7, Brad Keselowski(i), No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, 163, 0, , 2, 28, Running
7) 3, Daniel Suarez, No. 19 ARRIS Toyota, 163, 34, , , , Running
8) 12, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 TaxSlayer.co Chevrolet, 163, 34, 1, 1, 15, Running
9) 16, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 OneMain Chevrolet, 163, 32, , , , Running
10) 15, Jeb Burton, No. 43 J Streicher Ford, 163, 32, 1, 1, 1, Running
11) 19, Brandon Jones #, No. 33 Roland Chevrolet, 163, 30, , , , Running
12) 10, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 88 Bad Boy Off Road Chevrolet, 162, 0, , , , Running
13) 9, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Chevrolet, 162, 28, , , , Running
14) 5, Brennan Poole #, No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, 162, 27, , , , Running
15) 17, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes/American Diabetes Association Ford, 162, 26, , , , Running
16) 8, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 162, 25, , , , Running
17) 14, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 AllSouthElectric.com/BRT Extrusions Chevrolet, 162, 24, , , , Running
18) 18, Darrell Wallace Jr, No. 6 Ford EcoBoost Ford, 162, 23, , , , Running
19) 22, JJ Yeley, No. 14 Toyota, 162, 22, , , , Running
20) 13, Blake Koch, No. 11 Leaf Filter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 161, 21, , , , Running
21) 20, Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 Winfield Be Greater Toyota, 160, 20, , , , Running
22) 21, Ryan Preece #, No. 01 Kubota Chevrolet, 159, 19, , , , Running
23) 23, Corey Lajoie, No. 24 JGL Young Guns Toyota, 159, 18, , , , Running
24) 26, Garrett Smithley #, No. 0 Instalco Chevrolet, 159, 17, , , , Running
25) 32, Mario Gosselin, No. 90 BuckedUp Apparel/CrashClaimsR.Us Chevrolet, 158, 16, , , , Running
26) 29, BJ McLeod #, No. 78 Batteries Plus Bulbs Ford, 157, 15, , , , Running
27) 34, Derrike Cope, No. 70 Adrenalin Power Sports/Ice-Aid Chevrolet, 156, 14, , , , Running
28) 24, Ross Chastain, No. 4 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 152, 13, , , , Running
29) 40, Chris Cockrum, No. 25 Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet, 152, 12, , , , Running
30) 36, Mike Harmon, No. 74 Dodge, 151, 11, , , , Running
31) 37, Cody Ware #, No. 15 BeHere2Hero.com/X-Aviation Chevrolet, 151, 10, , , , Running
32) 33, Joey Gase, No. 52 LifeLinkFoundation.org Chevrolet, 127, 9, , , , Suspension
33) 27, Ray Black Jr #, No. 07 ScubaLife Chevrolet, 113, 8, , , , Running
34) 38, Josh Reaume, No. 13 Dodge, 87, 7, , , , Suspension
35) 25, Harrison Rhodes, No. 97 VroomBrands Chevrolet, 68, 6, , , , Rear Gear
36) 30, Carl Long, No. 40 Toyota, 29, 5, , , , Handling
37) 39, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Chevrolet, 25, 4, , , , Overheating
38) 35, Todd Peck, No. 99 Batteries Plus Bulbs Ford, 15, 3, , , , Engine
39) 28, David Starr, No. 44 Zachry Toyota, 7, 2, , , , Engine
40) 31, Jeff Green, No. 10 Toyota, 1, 1, , , , Electrical

#: Rookie
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Heads Up Georgia 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 77th career NASCAR XFINITY Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field: No. 25 (unapproved adjustments).
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 49 Mins, 53 Secs.
Average Speed: 137.065 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.466 Seconds
Caution Flags: 5 for 21 laps: Laps: 9-12 (Fluid on backstretch from #44 [None]); 16-18 (#25 spin turn 2 [None]); 50-54 (Debris turn 2 from #07 [97]); 124-127 (#52 accident turn 3 [33]); 130-134 (Fluid in turn 2 [3]).
Lead Changes: 5 among 4 drivers: K. Busch(i) 1-28; B. Keselowski(i) 29-50; J. Burton 51; J. Allgaier 52-66; B. Keselowski(i) 67-72; K. Busch(i) 73-163.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) E. Sadler 70;(2) D. Suarez 67;(3) T. Dillon 65;(4) B. Jones # 64;(5) J. Allgaier 63;(6) B. Gaughan 60;(7) D. Wallace Jr 58;(8) B. Koch 53;(9) R. Reed 51;(10) J. Clements 50.
Coors Light Pole Award: Kyle Busch, #18 185.499 mph
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race": Kyle Busch, #18
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race: Joe Gibbs Racing Engines - Mark Cronquist, #18
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, #18
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Erik Jones, #20

Ron Fleshman with John Davison

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2016, Issue 2, Posted 7:33 PM, 02.27.2016