Busch Sweeps at Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn.— For the second time in his career, Kyle Busch will sweep the August race weekend Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Man, it’s just great to have a guy like that. This M&M’s Caramel Camry was awesome tonight. Adam Stevens and these guys they never quit working on it. Every single pit stop we kept working on it, kept adjusting on it, so I can’t say enough about his Toyota Camry, everybody at TRD – want to thank Interstate Batteries, NOS Energy Drink, Cessna, DVX Sunglasses and of course the fans,” said Busch. “This is for Rowdy Nation. Rowdy Nation’s really what fuels us to get ‘em out, to get around and get along and all the noise is good noise, that’s how I feel about it. These M&M’s Caramels are going to be celebrating tonight.”
This is Ky. Busch’s second victory of 2017. This is his 14th top-10 finish of the season. This is his sixth career victory at Bristol.
After running up front all night and a late race charge to battle Ky. Busch, Erik Jones finished second.
“It’s a bummer, I mean you can’t lie. I thought we had a really good day and we fought hard all day. We had our ups and downs and led a lot of laps and didn’t have quite enough at the end,” said Jones. “Kyle (Busch) is really good here. But we had a good 5-Hour Energy Camry. Just needed a little more at the end. It’s just unfortunate we didn’t have it. I did what I could, but it just wasn’t quite enough.”
Being the silent contender most of the night in a satisfying yet disappoint finish, Denny Hamlin finished third.
“Half and half. Definitely with the track position, we definitely could have held those guys off. We caught them a little bit in that last run, but I restarted on the bottom so many times that it’s one of those weekends where I would love that cone rule where you can pick what lane you want to go in on restarts. I’d be willing to start 12th on the outside versus third on the inside. It’s just I got killed on restarts all day, but we did a really good job of bouncing back and good finish,” said Hamlin.
Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Ryan Newman, Trevor Bayne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson, and Ryan Blaney rounded out the top-10.
There were 21 lead changes six different drivers. Jones led the most laps at 260. The caution flag flew eight times for 53 laps. The average speed of the race was 95.970 mph. Ky. Busch and Kenseth won the first two stages. The time of race was two hours, 46 minutes, and 37 seconds.
Next up for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is an off weekend before the Official Throwback Weekend of NASCAR at Darlington Raceway for the Bojangles Southern 500.
Busch Wins UNOH 200 From Pole
BRISTOL, Tenn.— Despite getting a speeding penalty at the conclusion of the second stage, Kyle Busch was able to start from the pole to win the UNOH 200 from Bristol Motor Speedway.
“Well there was two (grooves). You know options, options are good and when you have options – you know when somebody is up high, you go down low and when somebody is down low, you go up high and it made for an interesting show that’s for sure. I didn’t want to. I’m sure NASCAR liked it. They wanted to, so truck yeah,” said Busch. “But pretty fun to be able to go out here and compete with these guys, compete with my guys and it was my late model team essentially you know. Just to go out here and have fun for Banfield, Banfield Pet Hospital team’s here and Cessna and Toyota, TRD, Rowdy Manufacturing, Joe Gibbs Racing Engines, NOS Energy Drink, everybody that’s a part of our team and makes our organization click.”
This is Ky. Busch’s third victory of 2017 and his fifth victory at Bristol.
After leading 90 laps and almost holding off Ky. Busch in the final 30 laps, Matt Crafton finished second.
“That last run we had really good speed. I found something right there at the end. I picked up two and a half tenths. When they were reading me lap times, I thought maybe we had something for them. Just a very good day. We will get one sooner or later here,” said Crafton.
John Hunter Nemechek finished in the third position.
“You never stop fighting until its over. We didn’t have the best qualifying spot. When the rain came, it washed most of the VHT off the bottom of the racetrack. After about five laps, the bottom rubbered up again. I am glad it rained because we were able to move to the middle and high lane. We didn’t have the best truck right off the lift gate, but we worked pretty hard to come home third. It’s a successful night,” said Nemechek.
Grant Enfinger, Ben Rhodes, Johnny Saucer, Christopher Bell, Parker Kligerman, Austin Cindric, and Brandon Jones rounded out the top-10 after the UNOH 200.
There were six lead changes among four different drivers. Ky. Busch led the most laps at 109. There were five cautions for 31 laps. The margin of victory was 0.962 seconds. The time of race was one hour, 16 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Chevrolet Silverado 250. The race will be on Sunday, September 3rd at 2:30 ET on Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network.
Busch Scores NCWTS Bristol Pole
BRISTOL, Tenn.— After setting a new track record in the final round of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying, Kyle Busch will start from the pole in tonight’s UNOH 200 from Bristol Motor Speedway.
Busch was fastest in the opening round of qualifying at 128.848 mph. Christopher Bell was second fastest at 128.485 mph. Ben Rhodes was third fastest at 128.425 mph. Austin Cindric was fourth fastest at 128.417 mph. Parker Kligerman rounded out the top-five at 128.374 mph. Chris Windom and Mike Senica were the two drivers who will not participate in tonight’s event.
In the second round of qualifying, Bell was fastest at 128.848 mph. Busch was second fastest at 128.632 mph. Johnny Sauter was third fastest at 128.365 mph. Noah Gragson was fourth fastest at 128.211 mph. Rhodes rounded out the top-five at 127.911 mph.
In the final round of qualifying, Busch scored the pole with a speed of 129.413 mph. Bell will start second at 128.606 mph. Sauter will start third at 128.271 mph. Gragson will start fourth at 128.253 mph. Brandon Jones will round out the top-five a 127.911 mph.
Matt Crafton, Grant Enfinger, Cody Coughlin, Rhodes, and Jesse Little rounded out the top-ten.
Busch, JGR Finally Win at Watkins Glen
After spinning out from the lead earlier in the race, Kyle Busch was able to recover to win the Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen International.
“Just finally being able to win here at Watkins Glen in the Xfinity Series is box we’ve been wanting to check off for a long, long time,” Busch said. “It feels good. It feels good in front of this crowd here at Watkins Glen.
I tried to screw it up a couple times but thankfully I was able to drive back up there and the pit strategy worked to our advantage,” Busch said.
This is Joe Gibbs Racing and Busch's first win at Watkins Glen. The organization broke the tie with Roush-Fenway Racing for the most wins in XFINITY competition. This was Busch's 90th win in the XFINITY Series.
For Joey Logano, the streak of winning three races in a row from the pole position ended today with a second place finish.
“It’s fun. Dang, I wish it was for the win and not for second. I had such a good short run car, just in the wrong position to start that last run. I feel like if I was second I could have won the race. I just had a really good short run car,” sad Logano. “Our long run speed was off a bit and that’s when the 18 and 22 would drive by us and we were a third-place car on the long run but probably a winning car on the short run. By time I cleared the 22 the 18 was gone. If we had another four or five laps (he would have drove off again). I needed a caution”
Despite having a strong car throughout the day, Brad Keselowski finish third.
“The Toyotas had the Fords and Chevy’s out-classed so bad on horsepower and downforce that they can spin out on their own and still win the race,” said Keselowski. “That just goes to show you how big a difference there is. I gave it all I had. Joey and I were racing for best in class and he did a good job. It was a heck of a race there at the end.”
Justin Allgaier, Paul Menard, Kevin Harvick, Ty Dillon, Erik Jones, Brendan Gaughan, and William Byron round out the top-10.
The race saw eight leaders among five different drivers. There were five cautions for 15 laps. The time of race was two hours 10 minutes and 13 seconds. The average speed was 92.569 mph. The margin of victory was 1.049 mph.
Next up for the NASCAR XFINITY Series is a trip to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Motor Racing Network and NBCSN will have the call beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET on August 12.
Logano Scores Third Straight NXS WGI Pole
For the third year in a row, Joey Logano will start from the pole in today’s Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen International.
In the first round of qualifying, Kyle Busch was fastest at 123.141 mph. Kyle Larson was second fastest at 123.038 mph. Logano was third fastest at 122.978 mph. Paul Menard was fourth fastest at 122.590 mph. Brad Keselowski rounded out the top-five at 122.548 mph. PJ Jones in the sole driver who will not be able to run in the race this afternoon. In the final moments of the opening round, Brandon Jones lost his quickest lap due to impeding the run of Brennan Poole entering in the bus stop.
In the second round of qualifying, Logano posted the pole winning speed of 124.185 mph. Ky. Busch will start second at 124.019 mph Larson will start third at 123.979 mph. Menard will start fourth at 123.327 mph. Keselowski rounded out the top-five at 122.973 mph. Erik Jones, Justin Allgaier. Daniel Hemric, Cole Custer, and Kevin Harvick has rounded out the top-five.
The Zippo 200 from Watkins Glen will be broadcasted on NBCSN and Motor Racing Network beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET .