Kyle Busch boosted his NASCAR record Xfinity Series win total with a 99th career victory in Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniforms 250 Powered by Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen at Texas Motor Speedway.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion held off veteran series regular Justin Allgaier by a mere 0.433-of-a-second in overtime to earn his second series win in as many races this year.
Busch led the last 32 laps but had to negotiate three late restarts including the last in overtime. It technically marked his second victory of the day as John Hunter Nemechek pulled into SpeedyCash.com Victory Lane in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
“All in all, such a good car,’’ Busch said, noting he thought Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet was just as good as his Toyota on Saturday.
“I was just able to think through a few things there on a couple restarts that may or may not work but there at the end they did.’’
Busch, who led a race best 94 of the 171 laps, noted the good pushes from behind he got on the restarts from the current Xfinity Series championship leader Austin Cindric, who finished third. The two driver each won a stage.
At the end of the day, Busch is hopeful the lessons he learned Saturday and the good outcome he enjoyed will be beneficial in Sunday night’s 37th running of the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race to be held for the first time at Texas Motor Speedway.
It’s Busch’s 10th overall Xfinity Series win on the 1.5-mile Texas high banks, where he also has four NASCAR Cup Series and five NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victories. The trophy on Saturday marks the 300th win for Joe Gibbs Racing in the Xfinity and Cup ranks.
Just behind Allgaier and Cindric at the checkered flag were Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones rounding out the Top-5. A.J. Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Michael Annett completed the Top 10.
The Top 10 was especially significant for Gragson, driver of the No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. His work at Texas from a 30th-place start to seventh-place finish was a solid rebound from a series of rough outings. He was running as high as fourth when he spun his tires on the next to last race restart. His seventh-place work halts a streak of three consecutive DNFs.
There were 14 lead changes among eight drivers and 10 caution periods for 52 laps.
Next is the NASCAR All-Star Open (5 p.m. CT on FS1, MRN and 95.9 The Ranch) followed by the NASCAR All-Star Race (7 p.m. CT on FS1, MRN and 95.9 The Ranch).
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Tickets for Texas Motor Speedway’s 2021 major event season, including the June 13 NASCAR All-Star Race, are on sale now at http://www.texasmotorspeedway.com.
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