NASCAR Notes: Busch takes Xfinity race at Atlanta for 77th career win
Check another one off the list for Kyle Busch.
Less than 24 hours after losing the Sprint Cup pole, Busch claimed his first Xfinity Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday in Hampton, Georgia.
Busch and Kyle Larson pulled away from the field after the final yellow flag. Larson closed the gap to about a half-second in the closing laps, but the rally ended when he got caught up briefly behind the lapped car of Ryan Preece.
Busch crossed the line 0.466 seconds ahead of Larson, then did his customary burnout and bow in front of the main grandstand, holding the checkered flag. No one else was within 10 seconds of the first two cars.
The winner has plenty of experience celebrating in the second-tier series, claiming his 77th victory, though Atlanta was one of three active tracks where he’d never won an Xfinity race.
Not anymore.
“This is a pretty neat deal,” Busch said. “I’m glad to get it out of the way. I checked another off the list.”
The victory was especially sweet coming less than 24 hours after Busch surrendered the pole for Sunday’s Cup race when his car failed inspection.
He won the pole for the Xfinity race in the morning and then dominated on a sunny afternoon, leading 119 of 163 laps.
Of course, that didn’t lessen the disappointment of having to start from the back of the field Sunday.
“This is Xfinity, that’s Cup,” Busch said. “But it is what it is. It’s not that big a deal.”
Busch was thrilled to add another track to his victory list, especially since he had had five runner-up finishes in Atlanta. Watkins Glen and Las Vegas – site of next week’s event – are the only other active Xfinity tracks where he hasn’t won.
He’s looking forward to checking another off the list at his hometown track.
“I’ve not won at Vegas,” Busch said. “That seems kind of odd.”
Nemechek wins Truck series
John Hunter Nemechek emerged from the carnage that took out the front runners to win the NASCAR Truck series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia.
Nemechek, the son of longtime Cup driver Joe Nemechek, held off Cameron Hayley by 0.31 seconds to capture his second career Truck victory.
On a restart with two laps to go, the 18-year-old came through the trioval side by side with John Wes Townley. When Townley got loose, Nemechek pulled away to win for a team that lacks a major sponsor.
Matt Crafton led much of the race, only to get taken out in a huge wreck caused by Christopher Bell with 19 laps to go. The wreck also claimed Bell’s teammate, Daniel Suarez, who was running second.
Bell surged to the lead after the race was briefly halted and the wreckage cleared. But he cut a tire with seven laps remaining and slammed into the wall.
Nemechek credited his pit crew for continually helping him move through the field during pit stops.
Not bad for a low-budget team run by his father.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work with just a little funding,” the teenager said, “and we’ve come out and contended for wins.”
Crafton led 76 of 130 laps. After a restart, Suarez attempted to slide around Crafton on the outside coming out of turn two.
Suarez couldn’t get by and Bell clipped the Mexican driver, which sent him spinning into Crafton, who slammed head-on into the outside wall while Suarez’s truck skidded hard into the inside wall. Fortunately for Crafton, he hit the wall at a spot where extra padding was added over the past year, cushioning the blow. Both drivers were able to walk away.
“We were so, so fast,” Crafton said. “We definitely felt like we had a truck to win this race.”
Suarez was peeved at his teammate. It was the second week in a row that Bell was involved in a major crash, having endured a frightening barrel roll on the final lap of the season-opening Truck race at Daytona.
“We’ve got to take care of each other,” Suarez said.
Capps takes No. 1 spot at NHRA Funny Car
Points leader Ron Capps took the No. 1 qualifying position in Funny Car on Saturday at the CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Chandler, Arizona.
Coming off a Winternationals win two weeks ago in Pomona, Capps set a track record with a 3.925 second pass at 320.50 mph in his Dodge Charger, just .005 of a second better than Courtney Force’s 3.930 run on Friday. It is the 18th No. 1 of his career and third at this event.
“We’re not so naove to think this can keep up,” Capps said. “There’s too good of competition. We’ll just take it, we’ll take the wins and this is a great No. 1 qualifier and this sets us up great for Sunday.”
Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Bo Butner (Pro Stock) also will lead their categories into Sunday’s 11 a.m. eliminations as No. 1 qualifiers.
Kalitta powered his Kalitta Motorsports dragster to a 3.741 at 320.74 in the final round of qualifying to earn his 44th No. 1 and his fourth at Wild Horse Pass Motor Sports Park, holding off rival Antron Brown, whose improved time of 3.760 at 322.65 wasn’t enough as he sits in the second spot.
Butner claimed his first career No. 1 qualifying position in Pro Stock with his pass of 6.618 at 208.88 in a Chevy Camaro from Friday. Butner teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson qualified second and third in their Camaros.
Dillon fills in for Stewart
As an heir in one of stock car racing’s royal families, Ty Dillon longs to have a Sprint Cup ride of his own.
For now, he’ll have to settle for being a NASCAR sub.
Dillon is filling in for injured Tony Stewart in Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a chance to bolster his fledgling career behind the wheel of one of the sport’s most recognized machines.
“It gives me a chance to showcase what I can do in these cars,” he said. “Any time I can get more laps and more experience, it’s always going to help.”
Dillon celebrated his 24th birthday on Saturday by finishing fifth in the Xfinity race at Atlanta, a precursor to his ninth Cup event – and first in Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet.
Stewart is recovering from back surgery after wrecking an all-terrain vehicle last month, keeping him on the sideline at the start of his farewell season. Brian Vickers filled in at the season-opening Daytona 500, and now it’s Dillon stepping into the seat.
The youngster had hoped to at least have a part-time Cup deal this season, after finishing third in the Xfinity series a year ago. Being the grandson of longtime car owner Richard Childress and younger brother of Cup regular Austin Dillon would certainly seem to give one the inside track to a sponsorship deal.
But, showing just how tight dollars are these days, Ty Dillon was forced to settle for five races in the low-budget Circle Sport-Leavine Family Racing No. 95 car, with Michael McDowell handling the bulk of the races.
“It was a little bit of a sting,” Dillon conceded.
He drove the No. 95 in the Daytona 500, where he started 12th and finished 25th. Now, he’s taking over Stewart’s machine.
“It does take away a little bit of the sting from not running more of a schedule than I was hoping for this year in the Sprint Cup series,” he said. “Now that I have the opportunity, I can go out there and do what I want to do.”
Stewart made a surprise appearance in Atlanta, talking with Dillon after he took the 18th spot in qualifying.
For Dillon, this is a chance to spread his wings after spending his entire career racing for his grandfather or, in the case of the No. 95 car, a team allied with Richard Childress Racing.
“Everything is different for me,” Dillon said. “It’s helped me grow not just as a driver but as a person, and learning how to go about things different. I’m excited for what this brings.”
KVSH Racing hires Bourdais
Longtime IndyCar veteran Sebastien Bourdais was hired as a full-time driver KVSH Racing this season.
The team made the announcement after signing Hydroxycut to be the primary sponsor of the No. 11 car.
This will be the third season the 37-year-old French native will drive for the team co-owned by Kevin Kalkhoven, Jimmy Vasser and others.
Bourdais won four straight points championships in Champ Car before moving to the IndyCar Series in 2011.
He has 147 starts, won 34 times and captured 33 poles in 11 seasons combined with the two former rival open-wheel series. Bourdais also drove in Formula One for two seasons.
Last season was Bourdais’ best since moving to IndyCar in 2011. He won two races in 2015 and finished 10th in points.