Kyle Busch Wins Atlanta Truck Race But Fails Post-Race Inspection

AP Photo/John Amis

HAMPTON, GA – RIS - Kyle Busch cruised to his second straight Atlanta victory in the Xfinity series Saturday. With a helping hand from lapped cars, the pole-winner was able to hold off fellow Cup driver Brad Keselowski by 0.606 seconds.  The rest of the field were several seconds behind Busch and his runner-up.

Before the 2016 race, Busch had five runner-up finishes, plus third- and fourth-place showings on the 1.54-mile trioval.

"It took so long to get here to begin with," Busch said in Victory Lane. "Now we've won two in a row. That feels so good."

Post-race inspection was a little bit harder.  Busch’s Toyota failed post-race inspection.  At press time, NASCAR announced that they would deal with this after the NASCAR Camping World truck race.  The two races were promoted as a double header.  NASCAR doesn’t usually announce penalties until the week after the race.

Keselowski won the first 40-lap stage, while Kevin Harvick took the next 40-lap phase. But it was Busch was leading at the end — a promising start to a busy weekend in Atlanta, where he was competing in all three of NASCAR's top series.

After celebrating with his team and making a brief stop in the media center, he hustled back to pit road for the Truck Series race.

"It's kind of a refresher course each and every year to run Saturday and get what I need to know on Sunday," he said. "I learned a couple of things that I might've forgotten about. Hopefully I can use some of those things in my Cup car."

Harvick led 64 laps — more than any driver — but got shuffled back to fourth at the finish. He will start from the pole in the Cup race. Cu; regular Kyle Larson, was third.

Lapped cars prevented Keselowski from mounting a serious challenge to Busch in the closing laps.

"It's always a game of cat and mouse, but sometimes it feels like chicken," Keselowski said. "I kept losing one or two car lengths every time I'd go through traffic.To get second is kissing your sister but it is still better than nothing I guess. Kyle and I had a great battle there at the end. It was just a matter of kind of catching the breaks in traffic and making the right moves. I thought we were a tiny bit faster than Kyle but I kept catching traffic in the wrong spot."

Elliott Sadler was the top-finishing Xfinity Series regular in fifth place, followed by fellow series drivers Darrell Wallace Jr. and William Byron.

It was an impressive run by the 19-year-old Byron, whose radio did not work properly. He was able to hear his crew but wasn't able to speak with them, forcing the team to work out a system where he signaled them coming into the pits to indicate what adjustments he needed.

"I would stay on the yellow line a certain way," Byron said. "It was actually pretty seamless. But hopefully I don't have that issue next week."

It remains to be seen what penalty, if any Busch will receive for his failure in inspection, but NASCAR usually does not erase a win because of a post-race inspection.

Unofficial Race Results for the 26Th Annual Rinnai 250 - Saturday, March 4, 2017

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St 1, St 2, Pts, Status, Tms, Laps, Playoff Pts
1) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 18 NOS Energy Drink Toyota, 163, 2, 3, 0, Running, 2, 26, 
2) 3, Brad Keselowski(i), No. 22 Discount Tire Ford, 163, 1, 2, 0, Running, 2, 53, 
3) 4, Kyle Larson(i), No. 42 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 163, 8, 4, 0, Running, 1, 20, 
4) 12, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 41 Textron Off Road Ford, 163, 3, 1, 0, Running, 2, 64, 
5) 22, Elliott Sadler, No. 1 Hunt Brothers Pizza Chevrolet, 163, 10, 7, 37, Running, , , 2
6) 13, Darrell Wallace Jr, No. 6 Leidos Ford, 163, , , 31, Running, , , 
7) 2, William Byron #, No. 9 Liberty University Chevrolet, 163, 7, 6, 39, Running, , , 
8) 17, Austin Dillon(i), No. 2 Rheem Chevrolet, 163, , 10, 0, Running, , , 
9) 6, Daniel Hemric #, No. 21 Blue Gate Bank Chevrolet, 163, 5, 9, 36, Running, , , 
10) 8, Cole Custer #, No. 00 Haas Automation Ford, 163, 6, 8, 35, Running, , , 
11) 11, Brennan Poole, No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, 163, , , 26, Running, , , 
12) 7, Matt Tifft #, No. 19 NBTS BrainTumor.org Toyota, 163, , , 25, Running, , , 
13) 9, Brendan Gaughan, No. 62 South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet, 163, , , 24, Running, , , 
14) 30, Brandon Jones, No. 33 Anderson's Maple Syrup Chevrolet, 163, , , 23, Running, , , 
15) 18, Michael Annett, No. 5 Pilot Flying J Chevrolet, 163, , , 22, Running, , , 
16) 19, Corey Lajoie(i), No. 24 JGL Racing Young Guns Toyota, 163, , , 0, Running, , , 
17) 14, Ty Dillon(i), No. 3 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats Chevrolet, 163, 9, , 0, Running, , , 
18) 10, Ryan Reed, No. 16 Lilly Diabetes Ford, 163, , , 19, Running, , , 5
19) 15, Aric Almirola(i), No. 98 Fresh From Florida Ford, 163, , , 0, Running, , , 
20) 5, Denny Hamlin(i), No. 20 Hisense Toyota, 162, 4, 5, 0, Running, , , 
21) 23, Dakoda Armstrong, No. 28 JGL Racing Toyota, 162, , , 16, Running, , , 
22) 28, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 Crazy Vapors Chevrolet, 161, , , 15, Running, , , 
23) 33, Brandon Brown, No. 90 SunFrog/CCU/Metalworks Graphics Chevrolet, 161, , , 14, Running, , , 
24) 35, Harrison Rhodes, No. 01 Kubota Chevrolet, 160, , , 13, Running, , , 
25) 24, Ross Chastain, No. 4 GK Services Chevrolet, 160, , , 12, Running, , , 
26) 32, Jeff Green, No. 8 Triple R Containers Chevrolet, 160, , , 11, Running, , , 
27) 29, Garrett Smithley, No. 0 teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet, 160, , , 10, Running, , , 
28) 21, Spencer Gallagher #, No. 23 Allegiant Airlines Chevrolet, 160, , , 9, Running, , , 
29) 36, Ray Black Jr, No. 07 Scuba Life Chevrolet, 159, , , 8, Running, , , 
30) 16, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 Brandt Professional Agriculture Chevrolet, 159, , , 7, Running, , , 
31) 37, Joey Gase, No. 52 LifeLinkFoundation.org Chevrolet, 158, , , 6, Running, , , 
32) 38, David Starr, No. 99 Striping Technology Chevrolet, 158, , , 5, Running, , , 
33) 31, Timmy Hill, No. 40 CrashClaimsR.Us Toyota, 156, , , 4, Running, , , 
34) 39, Chris Cockrum, No. 25 Advanced Communications Group Chevrolet, 156, , , 3, Running, , , 
35) 34, Clint King, No. 78 Warehouse Design Inc Chevrolet, 139, , , 2, Rear Gear, , , 
36) 20, JJ Yeley, No. 14 Superior Essex/Accu-Tech Toyota, 128, , , 1, Engine, , , 
37) 27, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Rinnai Chevrolet, 76, , , 1, Suspension, , , 
38) 40, Stephen Leicht, No. 97 VroomBrands Chevrolet, 24, , , 1, Brakes, , , 
39) 26, Jordan Anderson(i), No. 93 Chevrolet, 2, , , 0, Ignition, , , 
40) 25, Blake Koch, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 2, , , 1, Accident, , ,

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series; # = Rookie
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 57 Mins, 16 Secs; Average Speed: 128.435 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.605 Seconds

Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Rinnai 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 87th victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #33, 28 (Unapproved Adjustments).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 13, 74, 89.
Caution Flags: 5 for 26 laps: Laps: 3-6 (#3, 11 Incident in Turn 2 [None]); 42-47 (Stage 1 conclusion [0]); 82-88 (Stage 2 conclusion [3]); 119-123 (#20 Spin Turn 1 [3]); 144-147 (Oil on the track from #78 [62]).
Lead Changes: 6 among 4 drivers: K. Busch(i) 1-7; B. Keselowski(i) 8-42; K. Harvick(i) 43; B. Keselowski(i) 44-61; K. Harvick(i) 62-124; K. Larson(i) 125-144; K. Busch(i) 145-163.
Duralast Brakes "Brake in the Race": Kyle Busch, #18