Kyle Busch Wins at Road America Xfinity Race

ELKHART LAKE, WI – RIS – Kyle Busch won his 101st NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America on Saturday afternoon.  It was his fourth Xfinity race he has entered this year...  After spinning off course twice, Busch rallied in the final stage and led the final five laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

“Obviously, tires. That was the saving grace for us,” said Busch, who was among a large group of drivers to pit on Lap 37 for new tires. “We had a set of tires left over and (Allmendinger) didn’t.

“When we did put our last set of tires on, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get through that many cars. I don’t know what happened on those last couple of restarts. I couldn’t really see what was happening.

“We were fortunate to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without any damage to our race car.”

NASCAR only allows Cup Series drivers to compete in five Xfinity and five Truck Series races a year. Busch is scheduled to enter his final Xfinity event of the season next week at Atlanta. Busch edged teammate Daniel Hemric by 3.522 seconds, with Michael Annett third, AJ Allmendinger fourth and the Gibbs driver and Harrison Burton fifth. Road America has had a different winner in each of its 12 Xfinity events. Completing the top-10 were Kevin Harvick, Riley Herbst, Austin Cindric, Noah Gragson and Justin Haley

Allmendinger won the first two stages, giving up the lead when Busch went past him on the right in the closing laps. 

Austin Cindric, the 2020 winner on the 4.048-mile course, led Saturday, but his Ford suffered damage in a wreck that began when Myatt Snider spun off course coming out of a restart. Cindric ended up in eighth. The culprit was a pit stop with nine laps remaining for tires that left Cindric back in the pack and led to a collision with Justin Allgaier.

In the final stage was pivotal.   On the restart on Lap 23, Allgaier was followed by Busch and Ty Gibbs.On Lap 24, Cindric got around Allgaier to take the lead for the first time in the race. With 20 laps remaining, Cindric maintained about a 4-second lead over Gragson while Allgaier ran third and Busch fourth. On Lap 27, Spencer Pumpelly, who had just returned to the race from the garage, went into Turn 1 with no brakes and slammed hard into the retaining wall and tire barrier, lifting his No. 6 car several feet into the air.

On the restart on Lap 38, Gragson was followed by Allmendinger and Haley. Cindric lined up 10th, the first car among those who pit. As the field went through Turn 1, Myatt Snider got turned into the inside wall after contact with Kaz Grala then crossed back onto the track which triggered a big wreck and brought out another caution. Among those involved were Cindric, Allgaier, Busch, Jones Harrison Burton, Kris Wright and Cody Ware, who plowed through several signs.

 This Xfinity Series race capped an eventful day for Busch.  Although he had the second-fastest time in practice for the Cup race Sunday, Busch crashed his Toyota and will have to use a backup car Sunday. That means he will start Sunday’s race in the back of the pack.

Unofficial Results, 12th Annual Henry 180, July 3, 2021, Road America - Elkhart Lake, WI - 4.048 - Mile Road

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 5, Kyle Busch(i), No. 54 M&M's Ice Cream Toyota, 45, , 5, 1, 5, , 0, Running
2) 4, Daniel Hemric, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota, 45, 6, 3, 1, 3, , 48, Running
3) 12, Michael Annett, No. 1 Allstate Peterbilt Group 50th Chevrolet, 45, 8, , , , , 37, Running
4) 3, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet, 45, 1, 1, 3, 12, 2, 53, Running
5) 10, Harrison Burton, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 45, , 9, , , , 34, Running
6) 20, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 99 Henry Repeating Arms Ford, 45, , , , , , 0, Running
7) 34, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 45, 10, 10, , , , 32, Running
8) 2, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford, 45, 2, 8, 3, 10, , 41, Running
9) 36, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 45, 5, , 1, 4, , 34, Running
10) 13, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 45, 4, 4, , , , 41, Running
11) 19, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Sim Seats Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 26, Running
12) 6, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 45, 7, 2, 2, 5, , 38, Running
13) 15, Andy Lally, No. 5 Alpha Prime Regimen Toyota, 45, , , , , , 24, Running
14) 8, Jeb Burton, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 45, 3, , , , , 31, Running
15) 33, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Gilreath Farms Red Angus Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 16, Preston Pardus, No. 90 Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 30, Josh Williams, No. 92 Alloy Employer Services Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 20, Running
18) 7, Kaz Grala(i), No. 31 Ruedebusch.com Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 0, Running
19) 21, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota Toyota, 45, , 6, 1, 4, , 23, Running
20) 29, Timmy Hill(i), No. 42  Toyota, 45, , , , , , 0, Running
21) 22, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Can-Am Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 26, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 CMR Construction and Roofing/A-Game Ford, 45, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 27, Myatt Snider, No. 2 Shore Lunch Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 17, Cody Ware, No. 17 Nurtec ODT Ford, 45, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 25, Kris Wright(i), No. 26 Wright Automotive Toyota, 45, , , , , , 0, Running
26) 31, Stephen Leicht, No. 13 Janiking Toyota, 45, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 32, Landon Cassill, No. 4 Voyager Chevrolet, 45, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 9, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 Whitetail Smokeless Chevrolet, 44, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 14, Josh Bilicki(i), No. 07 Insurance King/DITEC Chevrolet, 42, 9, , , , , 0, Accident
30) 28, Ryan Ellis, No. 78 Rich Mar Florist Toyota, 42, , , , , , 7, Accident
31) 24, Brett Moffitt, No. 02 Our Motorsports Chevrolet, 41, , , , , , 6, Accident
32) 35, Natalie Decker, No. 23 NERD Focus Chevrolet, 38, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 1, Ty Gibbs #, No. 81 Monster Energy Toyota, 34, , 7, 1, 2, , 8, Transmission
34) 11, Jade Buford #, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 16, , , , , , 3, Suspension
35) 23, Sam Mayer #, No. 8 QPS Employment Group Chevrolet, 12, , , , , , 2, Accident
36) 18, Spencer Pumpelly, No. 6 TeamJDMotorsports.com Chevrolet, 11, , , , , , 1, Accident
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 25 Mins, 47 Secs.
Race Length: 45 Laps, 182.16 Miles
Average Speed: 74.972 MPH
Margin of Victory: 3.522 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 22, 10, 11, 9, 18, 7, 1, 07, 98
Stage 2 Top 10: 16, 7, 18, 11, 54, 19, 81, 22, 20, 98

Comments: Kyle Busch has won the Henry 180 at Road America, his 101st victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty: No. 9 (engine change), No. 98 (backup car), Nos. 02, 23, 78 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify (7):
No. 66 Matt Jaskol,
No. 52 Gray Gaulding,
No. 0 Jeffrey Earnhardt,
No. 15 Colby Howard,
No. 61 Boris Said,
No. 47 Kyle Weatherman,
No. 74 Bayley Currey(i).

Caution Flags: 7 for 11 laps;
Laps: 7-8 (No. 6 Stopped Turn 14 [None]);
12-12 (Stage 1 Conclusion [None]);
14-15 (No. 8, 90 Incident Turn 12 [None]);
22-22 (Stage 2 Conclusion [None]);
28-29 (No. 6 Incident Turn 1 [None]);
36-37 (No. 81 Stopped Turn 6 [51]);
39-39 (No. 2, 7, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 26, 39, 54 Incident Turn 1 [51]).

Lead Changes: 12 among 8 drivers;
T. Gibbs # 0;
T. Gibbs # 1-2;
A. Allmendinger 3-10;
A. Cindric 11-12;
D. Hemric 13-15;
J. Allgaier 16-17;
A. Allmendinger 18-20;
J. Allgaier 21-23;
A. Cindric 24-26;
B. Jones 27-30;
A. Cindric 31-35;
N. Gragson 36-39;
A. Allmendinger 40;
K. Busch(i) 41-45.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, No. 54
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Ty Gibbs, No. 81