The final few laps of the Boyd Gaming 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway were indeed a race to the finish. Kyle Busch managed to hold off his teammates and get the checkered flag in front of his hometown crowd. The driver of the No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota led an amazing 199 of 200 laps across 300 miles. In fact, Busch and his Toyota teammates dominated the field, starting in the first three and ending in the first three positions.
The last few laps proved to be a nailbiter for Busch. “We were worried about fuel, but more so, we were worried about (Daniel) Suarez,” he said in the Toyota post-race press release. “He was on me there at the end, he was really, really fast. He was faster than us when he got a clean track. Everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing prepares some really fast Camrys and this one was the best.”
Suarez took over the NASCAR Xfinity points lead with his second-place run in the No. 19 ARRIS Toyota. Erik Jones suffered an early pit road penalty but he rebounded back to a third-place finish in the No. 20 Interstate Batteries Toyota.
Suarez did his best to run down Busch but in the end, he came up short. “It took me too much time to figure out how to be fast with a loose race car in traffic,” Suarez said in a FS1 post-race interview. “I’m super proud of Joe Gibbs Racing. The car was one of the fastest all day long.”
There was not enough time for Justin Marks to make a split-second decision when he was involved in an incident with Cody Ware and Darrell Wallace Jr. that brought out a red flag at lap 137. ” I’m fine. When a car spins out and stays up at the wall like that it makes everybody’s decision pretty easy but when that car starts sliding down the race track off the wall, we have to make a decision pretty quick,” Marks said in a PRN interview after the wreck. “It was a matter of luck. The 16 and 98 barely got through as one went high and one went low. Darrell went low and got into it and I went high and got into it.”
Wallace Jr. suffered heavy damage when he clipped the No. 25 Chevrolet of Marks. “It’s just unfortunate”, he said in a post-crash Ford release. “We were making gains on our Ford Mustang all day and getting it better and better. By the time I slowed down, it just jumped out from under me. Just unfortunate circumstances.”
Next week, the Series heads to Phoenix International Raceway. The race is scheduled to start at 12:30 PM MT (track time), 2:30 PM ET on FOX, MRN and Sirius XM Channel 90.
Final Results
1. Kyle Busch
2. Daniel Suarez
3. Erik Jones
4. Chase Elliott
5. Austin Dillon
6. Brandon Jones
7. Ty Dillon
8. Elliott Sadler
9. Justin Allgaier
10. Brendan Gaughan
I didn’t decide I wanted to pursue a career in NASCAR until the summer of 2012. I’m not a wrench head or strong enough for a pit crew so media was the next best thing. At the beginning of 2013, I started going to races and making connections within the sport. I also studied Motorsports Management at Sports Management Worldwide. Although I love what happens on the track, I’ve always been interested in what goes on behind the scenes and I’ve gotten to know many people throughout the radio, TV and digital media world.
While I’m a long time writer, 2015 was my first year actually covering the sport with www.nascarfemale.com . I also became a media correspondent for Raceline. I’ve been able to help the TV show gain recognition on social media. My current goal is to acquire more experience in covering NASCAR and move up the media ladder. Outside of motorsports, I have been an equine-sports statistician for 16 years.
I currently reside in Gillette, WY where I’m still involved with horses. I enjoy riding them, rodeo, swimming, traveling and meeting people.
Email Me
- NXS: Hamlin Handles the Field in Irish Hills 250 - June 17, 2017
- NXS: Busch Scores Irish Hills 250 Pole - June 17, 2017
- NXS: Irish Hills 250 Preview - June 16, 2017