Kyle Busch Wins Second Straight 2019 Xfinity Series Race at Phoenix

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AVONDALE, AZ – RIS – Kyle Busch dominated the NASCAR Xfinity Series  iK-9 Service Dog 200 at ISM Raceway on Saturday.  He led 116 of the 200 laps en route to his win.  It was career win No. 94 in the series, and the 198th NASCAR national series victory. His 11th win at ISM ties Mark Martin (Rockingham) for the most NXS wins at a single track.

“Can’t say enough about our guys at Joe Gibbs Racing, they build really fast Supras,” Busch said “Christopher (Bell), I hate he got caught up in that mess, it was going to be a really fun to the end.”

Two potential contenders were eliminated late in the race on lap 130 when Stephen Leicht suffered a blown engine and the oil left on the track caught Justin Allgaier and Bell. Both suffered damage to their cars and were eliminated from competing for the win.

“I saw him blow up going into one and I figured it was going to be slick, I saw the 7 (Allgaier) car start sliding and I started sliding and as soon as I entered the smoke wall, I couldn’t see anything,” explained Bell who was the pole sitter for the race.

“I lost my bearings of where I was and the next thing you know, I was in the wall. Frustrating and very disappointing because our Rheem Supra was extremely strong. I don’t know, it was weird.”

Ryan Truex, Tyler Reddick, Cole Custer and Austin Cindric rounded out the top five.

“Just want to thank everyone at JR Motorsports,” said Truex Jr., who made his first start of the season for the team and tied his career-best finish with the runner-up performance. “Look forward to more days like today and hopefully getting a win.

“I guess it’s good when you lose to Kyle Busch. I Just got us too far behind early on, we were too free. We worked hard all day to get it back…Our car was just so good on the long runs.”

Chase Briscoe, Brandon Jones, Michael Annett, John Hunter Nemechek and Ryan Sieg completed the first 10 finishers.

Cindric and Bell won the day’s first two stages.

Next week, the Xfinity Series heads to California’s Auto Club Speedway on Saturday, March 16th.

Unofficial Race Results for the 15th Annual iK9 Service Dog 200 - March 9, 2019 - ISM Raceway - 1 Mile Paved
Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 3, Kyle Busch(i), No. 18 Extreme Concepts/iK9 Toyota, 200, 3, 2, 4, 116, , 0, Running
2) 9, Ryan Truex, No. 8 MTJ Fdtn./ShrryStrng/CtwlkfraCas Chev, 200, 8, 9, , , , 40, Running
3) 2, Tyler Reddick, No. 2 Hurdl Chevrolet, 200, 5, 3, , , , 48, Running
4) 4, Cole Custer, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 200, , 7, 2, 2, , 37, Running
5) 8, Austin Cindric, No. 22 MoneyLion Ford, 200, 1, 6, 1, 13, 1, 47, Running
6) 12, Chase Briscoe #, No. 98 Nutri Chomps Ford, 200, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 11, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Juniper Toyota, 200, , , , , , 30, Running
8) 5, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet, 200, 4, , , , , 36, Running
9) 13, John Hunter Nemechek #, No. 23 Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet, 200, 6, , , , , 33, Running
10) 15, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Lombard Bros Gaming Chevrolet, 200, , 8, , , , 30, Running
11) 6, Noah Gragson #, No. 9 Switch Chevrolet, 200, 7, 5, 1, 1, , 36, Running
12) 10, Justin Haley #, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 200, 10, 10, , , , 27, Running
13) 14, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 RepairableVehicles.com Chevrolet, 200, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 7, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 199, 9, 4, , , , 32, Running
15) 19, Brandon Brown #, No. 86 Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 17, Gray Gaulding, No. 08 GGPure.com/Flywheel Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 16, Ross Chastain, No. 4 RM Parks/EZ Angus Ranch Chevrolet, 199, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 18, Ray Black II, No. 07 ISOKERN Frplcs&Chmnys/ScbLf Chev, 199, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Chad Finchum, No. 42 Amana/Smithbilt Homes Toyota, 197, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 27, Tyler Hill(i), No. 66 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 197, , , , , , 0, Running
21) 25, BJ McLeod, No. 15 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 28, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 34, Vinnie Miller, No. 78 Koolbox Chevrolet, 196, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 21, Joey Gase, No. 35 Donate Life Arizona Toyota, 195, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 35, Mike Harmon, No. 74 Time for a Hero Chevrolet, 192, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 22, Josh Bilicki, No. 93 Sierra Auction Chevrolet, 189, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 30, David Starr, No. 52 Whataburger Chevrolet, 188, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 31, Matt Mills, No. 5 JF Electric Chevrolet, 182, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 32, Josh Williams, No. 36 Chevrolet, 173, , , , , , 8, Ignition
30) 1, Christopher Bell, No. 20 Rheem Toyota, 130, 2, 1, 5, 68, 1, 26, Accident
31) 26, Stephen Leicht, No. 01 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 129, , , , , , 6, Engine
32) 36, Ronnie Bassett Jr, No. 90 Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet, 61, , , , , , 5, Brakes
33) 23, Jeff Green, No. 38 RSS Racing Chevrolet, 59, , , , , , 4, Vibration
34) 33, Morgan Shepherd, No. 89 Visone RV Chevrolet, 56, , , , , , 3, Brakes
35) 29, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 99 Diamond Gusset Jeans Toyota, 49, , , , , , 2, Fuel Pump
36) 37, Stan Mullis, No. 13 Street Toys/LasVegas.net Toyota, 35, , , , , , 1, Carburetor
37) 24, Bayley Currey(i), No. 17 Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet, 30, , , , , , 0, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie
Time of Race: 1 hr, 59 min, 30 sec
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 200. Miles
Average Speed: 100.897 mph
Margin of Victory: 3.025 sec
Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 20, 18, 1, 2, 23, 9, 8, 7, 11
Stage 2 Top 10: 20, 18, 2, 7, 9, 22, 00, 39, 8, 11
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the 15th running of the iK9 Service Dog 200 at ISM Raceway, his 94th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 90 (backup car). 
Caution Flags: 4 for 35 laps; Laps: 33-39 (#17 Incident Turn 4 [01]); 47-53 (Stage 1 Conclusion [0]); 92-100 (Stage 2 Conclusion [01]); 131-142 (#01 Fluid Turn 3; 7, 20, 00 Incident in Turn 3 [None]).
Lead Changes: 12 among 6 drivers; C. Bell 1-34; C. Custer 35; A. Cindric 36-48; C. Bell 49-52; K. Busch(i) 53-57; C. Bell 58; K. Busch(i) 59-69; C. Bell 70-94; N. Gragson # 95; C. Bell 96-99; K. Busch(i) 100-132; C. Custer 133; K. Busch(i) 134-200.