By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Busch boosted his NASCAR record Xfinity Series win total with a 99th career victory in Saturday afternoon’s Alsco Uniform 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion held off veteran series regular Justin Allgaier by a mere .433-seconds 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 won the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in a truck owned by Busch.
“Just being with a great group of guys and Joe Gibbs Racing is pretty awesome to drive to drive these Toyota Supras here in the Xfinity Series,’’ Busch said after an extended victory burnout the crowd enjoyed from the series all-time winningest driver.
“All in all, such a good car,’’ Busch added, noting he thought Allgaier’s No. 7 JR Motorsport Chevrolet was just as good as his Toyota on Saturday.
“I was just able to think through a few things there on a couple of 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 drivers 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 NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race at the track.
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.
The series next race is the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway (Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Cindric’s third-place effort is his 10thTop-5 effort in 14 races gives him a commanding 108-point advantage over Allmendinger in the championship standings.
NASCAR Xfinity Series Race Number 14
Race Results for the 25th Annual Alsco Uniforms 250 – Saturday, June 12, 2021
Texas Motor Speedway – Fort Worth, TX – 1.5 – Mile Paved
Total Race Length – 171 Laps – 256.5 Miles
1 14 54 Kyle Busch(i) Twix Toyota 171 3 1 0 Running 6 94
2 16 7 Justin Allgaier Dollar Shave Club Unilever Chevrolet 171 7 6 44 Running 1 23
3 4 22 Austin Cindric Odyssey Battery Ford 171 1 3 52 Running 1 14 1
4 5 18 Daniel Hemric Poppy Bank Toyota 171 2 2 51 Running 2 13
5 3 19 Brandon Jones Menards/Pelonis Toyota 171 4 39 Running 1 16
6 1 16 AJ Allmendinger Hyperice Chevrolet 171 6 7 40 Running 1 8
7 30 9 Noah Gragson Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet 171 10 5 37 Running
8 19 02 Brett Moffitt Our Motorsports Chevrolet 171 29 Running
9 2 11 Justin Haley LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 171 5 34 Running 1 1
10 6 1 Michael Annett Pilot Flying J Chevrolet 171 8 10 31 Running
11 9 39 Ryan Sieg CMR Construction and Roofing/A-Game Ford 171 26 Running
12 12 98 Riley Herbst Monster Energy Ford 171 9 27 Running
13 7 68 Brandon Brown Brandonbilt Motorsports Chevrolet 171 24 Running
14 20 51 Jeremy Clements Straitline Chevrolet 171 23 Running
15 22 6 Landon Cassill Solomon Plumbing Chevrolet 171 22 Running
16 13 48 Jade Buford # Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet 171 21 Running
17 11 92 Josh Williams Required Team Gear/Alloy Chevrolet 171 20 Running
18 10 36 Alex Labbe Larue Industrial Snowblowers Chevrolet 171 19 Running
19 28 8 Josh Berry # Tire Pros Chevrolet 171 8 21 Running
20 31 66 David Starr Whataburger Toyota 171 17 Running
21 36 44 Tommy Joe Martins Discover Denton Texas Chevrolet 171 16 Running
22 38 90 Ronnie Bassett Jr. Jerry Hunt Supercenter/East Coast Wings 171 15 Running
23 34 26 Brandon Gdovic SnapMobile Toyota 171 14 Running
24 15 4 Ryan Vargas # Swann Security/Best Buy Chevrolet 171 13 Running
25 27 17 Garrett Smithley Trophy Tractor Chevrolet 171 12 Running
26 24 5 Matt Mills J.F. Electric Toyota 171 11 Running
27 40 61 Matt Jaskol Auto Parts 4 Less Toyota 168 10 Running
28 26 15 Colby Howard Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet 167 9 Running
29 25 78 Jesse Little APEX Wireless Chevrolet 166 8 Running
30 18 20 Harrison Burton Offerpad Toyota 163 9 4 16 Accident 2 2
31 35 07 Joe Graf Jr G Coin Chevrolet 162 6 Running
32 8 10 Jeb Burton Titan XC Chevrolet 159 5 Running
33 17 2 Myatt Snider TaxSlayer Chevrolet 156 4 Accident
34 32 31 Jordan Anderson(i) Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet 120 0 Running
35 37 99 Stefan Parsons SOKAL Digital Chevrolet 110 2 Accident
36 33 0 Jeffrey Earnhardt ForeverLawn Chevrolet 107 1 Accident
37 29 47 Kyle Weatherman Duke + Boone Hunting Supply Chevrolet 100 1 Fuel Pump
38 23 52 Gray Gaulding Panini America UFC Prizm Chevrolet 89 1 Accident
39 21 23 Tanner Berryhill Eclipse Claims Consulting Chevrolet 88 1 Accident
40 39 74 Bayley Currey(i) Electric Fence REEL Chevrolet 0 0 Electrical
Kyle Busch won the Alsco Uniforms 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, his 99th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.
Prior to the start of the race, the following car dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason indicated: #4 (unapproved adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 13 Timmy Hill(i), 77 Dillon Bassett.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 22 Mins, 48 Secs. Average Speed: Margin of Victory:
10 for 52 laps; Laps: 22-25 (Competition Caution [26]); 42-47 (Stage 1 Conclusion [07]); 62-66 (#10, #8 Incident Backstretch [26]); 82-88 (Stage 2
Conclusion [23]); 91-97 (#5, #6, #23, #52 Incident Frontstretch [None]); 111-115 (#0, #99 Incident Backstretch [None]); 122-126 (#15 Incident Turn 2 [4]);
135-138 (#19 Spin Turn 4 [5]); 159-162 (#2, #8 Incident Backstretch [5]); 165-169 (#20 Incident Turn 2 [61]).
Caution Flags:
14 among 8 drivers; A. Allmendinger 1-8; B. Jones 9-24; K. Busch(i) 25-28; A. Cindric 29-42; J. Haley 43; D. Hemric 44-47; K. Busch(i) 48-82; H. Burton 83;
K. Busch(i) 84-88; D. Hemric 89-97; K. Busch(i) 98-110; H. Burton 111; K. Busch(i) 112-116; J. Allgaier 117-139; K. Busch(i) 140-171.
Lead Changes:
107.773 MPH 0.433 Seconds
Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 18, 22, 20, 9, 7, 16, 8, 98, 1
Stage 1 Top 10: 22, 18, 54, 19, 11, 16, 7, 1, 20, 9
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Next Race: June 19, 2021 – Nashville Superspeedway
Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography