In an event that bore notable similarities to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race a week earlier, Denny Hamlin won Saturday’s Hisense 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway with a pass on the last lap.
Hamlin’s fresh rubber trumped the old tires of Kyle Larson and Joey Logano, who restarted ahead of Hamlin in overtime at the 1.5-mile track.
In fact, Hamlin restarted sixth on lap 205 after coming to pit road for four new tires under the eighth and last caution of the race, brought out when polesitter Erik Jones, Hamlin’s teammate, slammed the outside wall and performed the coup de grâce on his already wounded No. 20 Toyota. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, poses with the Coors Light Pole Award after qualifying for the pole position for the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Sports Day Powered By The Dallas Morning News Qualifying Day at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, leads the field past the green flag to start the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, leads the field at the start of the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, celebrates with the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2016 Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Kyle Busch broke his NASCAR XFINITY Series ‘losing streak’ on Friday night and in the process moved into rarefied air in the Lone Star State.
With a dominating victory from the pole in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, Busch won for the fourth time in five XFINITY starts this year. His only loss in that stretch was a second-place run after a late blown tire robbed him of victory in his last outing at Auto Club Speedway.
But on Friday night, Busch was back to his winning ways, leading a race-high 150 laps at the 1.5-mile track, notching his record eighth victory at Texas and extending his own series record to 80 triumphs. Continue reading →
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, stands on the grid during qualifying for the NASCAR XFINITY Series Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 25, 2015 Photo – Andy Lyons/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, continued his streak of excellence in the sport of NASCAR by winning the Lilly Diabetes 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon. With a last lap pass on Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney, the win gave Busch his second win at Indianapolis in three years.
This victory came after overcoming multiple problems throughout the day. First issue was a communication problem resulting in not pitting at the beginning of the race. Busch was noticeably upset over the radio, forcing his team to use a different strategy which actually ended up playing in his favor.
“The caution flew about Lap 23, and pit road wasn’t open till about Lap 26,” noted crew chief Chris Gayle. “That then put us on a one stop strategy to where we could make it to the end even with the misunderstanding communication wise.”
Busch went on to lead 53 laps the rest of the day, collecting his second win and fourth top-ten of 2015.
Busch also battled the heat all day, noting that he…
‘melted inside the car, the whole race.’
Busch also mentioned that the car had no openings for air, which obviously did not help the heat situation. When asked, Busch talked about having NASCAR make a change that would make the air openings fair for everybody.
One of the ideas Busch suggested was for NASCAR to mandate an eight inch opening on the right side window that every team could use.
Battling through the obstacles, Busch was still able to overcome the odds of a pit road misunderstanding and excessive heat all day by ensuing a last lap pass for the lead.
“I just got close enough to make him (Blaney) mess up and he got tight off (turn) two and then I was able to capitalize underneath him losing his momentum off of two and being able to get under him,” said Busch. “Can’t say enough about Chris Gayle and all these guys on this Monster Energy Camry. It was the class of the field, we should have won this thing going away, but I guess we had to make it exciting.”
That pass came at the expense of 21-year-old Ryan Blaney.
“It’s my fault, obviously. You saw it. I screwed up,” Blaney said. “This team doesn’t deserve that. I dropped the ball for them today and I take full responsibility. It’s my fault.”
Blaney was able to beat Busch on the final restart of the race on lap 76 and maintain a lead through the next 24 laps with limited pressure from Busch.
“There was no pressure for 24 laps and the last one I just made a mistake,” said Blaney post race.
Being the competitor that he is, Blaney was tremendously hard on himself after race as he kept highlighting on his mistake time and time again. Many fans and drivers offered their support to Blaney after the race.
Although there were problems for Busch and his team, they overcame their issues to continue their amazing streak of excellence.
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, approaches the finish-line to win the NASCAR XFINITY Series Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway on June 13, 2015 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway on June 13, 2015 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, waves the checkered flag after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway on June 13, 2015 Photo – Robert Laberge/Getty Images
Kyle Busch, driver of the #54 Monster Energy Toyota, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR XFINITY Series Great Clips 250 Benefiting Paralyzed Veterans of America at Michigan International Speedway on June 13, 2015 Photo – Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images
In his first NASCAR XFINITY Series race back from a broken right leg and left foot, Kyle Busch proved conclusively that he hasn’t lost a step.
Taking advantage of contact between the Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick and the Ford of polesitter Joey Logano—as those two drivers were battling for the lead—Busch passed Chase Elliott for the lead on lap 122 of 125 and held on to win Saturday’s Great Clips 250 at Michigan International Speedway. Continue reading →
