RacinToday.com

Kyle Busch  cruised to victory in Friday night’s Xfinity Series race at Richmond International Raceway.

The victory came thanks to a quick early pitstop.

Busch entered the pits in fourth place under the first caution of the race after a tap from J.J. Yeley sent Justin Marks spinning into the frontstretch grass on Lap 48.

Busch was first off pit road and the race was basically over.

It was the Joe Gibbs Racing driver’s sixth series victory at Richmond, his eighth in 14 starts this season and the 84th of his career, extending his own series record.

Before the second caution flew on Lap 164 of 250, Busch had a lead of 7.312 seconds and had lapped up to eighth place in the running order before a cycle of green-flag stops began.

Busch finished 6.453 seconds ahead of teammate and runner-up Erik Jones. The victory marked a decisive return to form for the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion, who had crashed out of his two previous Xfinityraces.

“I just doubted our car today,” said Busch, who led 197 laps. “It just wasn’t right. We just kind of missed it all through practice. It wasn’t good there, and then we qualified, and it was just a handful in qualifying. We didn’t qualify very well—seventh. That’s not very well for my expectations.

“We worked on it there at the start of the race. We were really out of control and loose, and I got to fourth, I thought that was kind where we were going to be. But my guys had an awesome pit stop, got me out front, and (crew chief) Chris Gayle made some really smart adjustments to it that first time on pit road.

“After that, it was lights out. It was on a rail from there.”

###

 

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Virginia529 College Savings 250

Richmond International Raceway

Richmond, Virginia

Friday, September 09, 2016

1. (7) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 250.
2. (4) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 250.
3. (6) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 250.
4. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (18) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
7. (1) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 250.
8. (10) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 250.
9. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 250.
10. (31) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 250.
11. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 250.
12. (14) Darrell Wallace, Jr., Ford, 249.
13. (11) Gray Gaulding, Ford, 248.
14. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 248.
15. (5) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 248.
16. (9) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 247.
17. (12) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 247.
18. (20) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 247.
19. (13) Jeb Burton, Ford, 247.
20. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 246.
21. (27) David Starr, Chevrolet, 246.
22. (25) Justin Marks, Chevrolet, 246.
23. (33) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 245.
24. (15) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 245.
25. (29) Ray Black, Jr. #, Chevrolet, 245.
26. (16) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 244.
27. (22) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 244.
28. (21) Hermie Sadler III, Toyota, 244.
29. (26) Brandon Brown(i), Chevrolet, 243.
30. (28) Clint King, Ford, 243.
31. (32) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 243.
32. (39) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 239.
33. (34) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 238.
34. (35) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 236.
35. (36) Brandon Hightower, Dodge, 235.
36. (38) Alli Owens, Chevrolet, Clutch, 156.
37. (40) Austin Theriault(i), Chevrolet, Overheating, 84.
38. (37) Mike Harmon, Dodge, Oil Leak, 51.
39. (30) Timmy Hill(i), Dodge, Electrical, 21.
40. (24) Matt DiBenedetto(i), Toyota, Vibration, 4.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  103.687 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 48 Mins, 30 Secs. Margin of Victory:  6.453 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  2 for 14 laps.

Lead Changes:  3 among 3 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   A. Dillon(i) 1-51; K. Busch(i) 52-157; E. Jones # 158-159; K. Busch(i) 160-250.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  K. Busch(i) 2 times for 197 laps; A. Dillon(i) 1 time for 51 laps; E. Jones # 1 time for 2 laps.

Top 10 in Points: E. Sadler – 852; D. Suarez – 794; J. Allgaier – 786; T. Dillon – 777; B. Gaughan – 755; E. Jones # – 753; B. Poole # – 736; B. Jones # – 702; D. Wallace, Jr. – 659; R. Reed – 626.

No Comment