Kyle Busch Maybe Ends His Xfinity Career with Win at Atlanta

HAMPTON, GA – RIS – Kyle Busch in perhaps his last NASCAR Xfinity race won on Saturday for his record-setting 102nd career win. It wasn’t a runaway this time, though.  Although he led most of the race, it came down to several restarts and maybe a little luck.

Starting on the pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Busch won both stages and led 97 of 164 laps for his record-setting victory on NASCAR’s junior circuit.  t wasn’t easy for the two-time Cup Series champion, because he had to fend off spirited challenges by Daniel Hemric and Jeb Burton.  Teammate Hemric was the main challenger to Busch. What happened next decided the race. 

Busch took the lead on a restart with six laps to go when he made contact with Hemric in a push that sent his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate out of the lead and into the wall.

“I meant to push him, and I wanted to hit him, I just wanted to hit him forward and straight but turned him sideways a little bit, and I think he got more help on his right side,” Busch said.  “Just trying to help a teammate there, and that’s why I restarted behind him. Overall, great day for our 54 car, but (Hemric) was better and deserved this win. So, I’m sorry to Daniel and all those guys. I hate it that all that transpired.”

Hemric was stoic after the race seemingly accepting the fate many drivers have to expect when things go terribly wrong in a race.

“I know it was unintentional. Just steered me off the left rear. That was it. Just wasn’t meant to be,” Hemric said. 

It was the 362nd start of his career for Busch, who has no future races lined up and has said he intended to retire from Xfinity after his 100th victory (which he earned last month at Nashville Superspeedway), but he left the door slightly cracked.

“It’s never say never, but yeah, this is it,”

Busch entered his five races in the Xfinity Series and ended up winning them all.  Busch finished 0.550 seconds ahead of Jeb Burton for his 102nd Xfinity victory and 222nd overall in NASCAR’s three national series. Noah Gragson was third, followed by Justin Haley and Ty Dillon.

Unofficial Results: Inaugural Credit Karma Money 250: July 10, 2021, Atlanta Motor Speedway, 1.54 Mile Paved

Fin, Str, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status

1) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 54 Extra Gum Toyota, 164, 1, 1, 5, 97, , 0, Running

2) 11, Jeb Burton, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 164, , , 1, 1, , 35, Running

3) 9, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 164, 5, 3, 2, 5, , 48, Running

4) 7, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 164, 8, 9, , , , 38, Running

5) 30, Ty Dillon, No. 23 Childress Vineyards Chevrolet, 164, , 8, 1, 4, , 35, Running

6) 20, Brett Moffitt, No. 02 Concrete Supply Chevrolet, 164, 6, 7, , , , 40, Running

7) 8, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 hellowater Defense Chevrolet, 164, , 4, 1, 4, , 37, Running

8) 19, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 All South Electric Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 29, Running

9) 22, Sam Mayer #, No. 8 QPS Equipment Group Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 28, Running

10) 4, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Car Shop Ford, 164, , , , , , 27, Running

11) 6, Austin Dillon(i), No. 1 PFJ Spicy Chicken Sandwich Chevrolet, 164, 10, 10, , , , 0, Running

12) 16, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 A-Game/CMR Ford, 164, , , , , , 25, Running

13) 3, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Hyperice Chevrolet, 164, 2, 2, 2, 2, , 42, Running

14) 32, Ryan Vargas #, No. 6 MaintenX Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 23, Running

15) 17, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Larue Industrial Snowblowers Chevrolet, 164, 7, , , , , 26, Running

16) 14, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Diamond Gusset Jeans Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 21, Running

17) 27, Jade Buford #, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 20, Running

18) 18, Josh Williams, No. 92 Coolray Heating & AC Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 19, Running

19) 10, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 164, , , , , , 18, Running

20) 36, Colby Howard, No. 15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 17, Running

21) 15, Myatt Snider, No. 2 Crosley Furniture Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 16, Running

22) 37, Jeffrey Earnhardt, No. 0 superstratum Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 15, Running

23) 28, Josh Berry #, No. 31 Bommarito.com/Lucas Oil Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 14, Running

24) 5, Harrison Burton, No. 20 Offerpad Awesome Different Toyota, 164, 3, 6, 1, 3, , 26, Running

25) 33, Joe Graf Jr., No. 07 Z GRILLS Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 12, Running

26) 24, Matt Mills, No. 5 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 11, Running

27) 29, Ronnie Bassett Jr., No. 90  Chevrolet, 164, , , , , , 10, Running

28) 31, Jesse Little, No. 78  Toyota, 164, , , , , , 9, Running

29) 23, Mason Massey, No. 99 Anderson Power Services Toyota, 164, , , , , , 8, Running

30) 2, Daniel Hemric, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota, 164, 4, 5, 3, 45, , 20, Running

31) 12, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Baby Doge Coin Chevrolet, 163, , , , , , 6, Accident

32) 38, Kyle Weatherman, No. 47 Axe Crossbows Chevrolet, 162, , , 1, 3, , 5, Accident

33) 25, Santino Ferrucci, No. 26 Manatawny Still Works Toyota, 162, , , , , , 4, Running

34) 39, Bayley Currey(i), No. 74 Forth Worth Screen Printing Chevrolet, 162, , , , , , 0, Running

35) 40, Gray Gaulding, No. 52 Panini America Chevrolet, 160, , , , , , 2, Running

36) 26, Carson Ware, No. 17 Jacob Companies Chevrolet, 139, , , , , , 1, Accident

37) 34, CJ McLaughlin(i), No. 66 SA Recycling/SciAps Ford, 139, , , , , , 0, Running

38) 21, Landon Cassill, No. 4 Voyager Chevrolet, 128, , , , , , 1, Running

39) 13, Brandon Jones, No. 19 Toyota Toyota, 118, 9, , , , , 3, Accident

40) 35, David Starr, No. 61 Whataburger Toyota, 50, , , , , , 1, Accident

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time: 2 Hrs, 18 Mins, 59 Secs

Length: 164 Laps, 252.56 Miles

Average Speed: 109.032 MPH

Margin of Victory: 0.550 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 54, 16, 20, 18, 9, 02, 36, 11, 19, 1

Stage 2 Top 10: 54, 16, 9, 7, 18, 20, 02, 23, 11, 1

Comments: Kyle Busch won the Inaugural Credit Karma Money 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 102nd victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.

Prior to the start, the following car dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 1 (driver change).

Failed to Qualify: (1) 13 Timmy Hill(i).

Lap, Running Order (1-10), Speed, Rng, Out, OLL

40, 54, 16, 20, 18, 9, 02, 36, 11, 19, 1, 140.451, 40, 0, 36

80, 54, 16, 9, 7, 18, 20, 02, 23, 11, 1, 119.204, 39, 1, 36

164, 54, 10, 9, 11, 23, 02, 7, 51, 8, 22, 109.032, 35, 5, 30

Caution Flags: 10 for 43 laps;

Laps: 22-24 (Competition Caution [0]);

42-46 (Stage 1 Conclusion [78]);

52-55 (No. 61, 5 Incident Frontstretch [98]);

64-66 (No. 31 Spin Turn 4 [99]);

82-86 (Stage 2 Conclusion [31]);

97-101 (No. 52 Incident Backstretch [90]);

120-124 (No. 19, 39 Incident Turn 3 [99]);

148-152 (No. 17 Incident Backstretch [78]);

154-157 (No. 47, 68 Incident Turn [90]);

159-162 (No. 18, 54, 16 Incident Turn 1 [47]).

Leaders (9)

#, Car, Driver, Times, Laps

1, 54, Kyle Busch(i), 5, 97

2, 18, Daniel Hemric, 3, 45

3, 9, Noah Gragson, 2, 5

4, 7, Justin Allgaier, 1, 4

5, 23, Ty Dillon, 1, 4

6, 47, Kyle Weatherman, 1, 3

7, 20, Harrison Burton, 1, 3

8, 16, AJ Allmendinger, 2, 2

9, 10, Jeb Burton, 1, 1

Lead Changes: 16 among 9 drivers;

K. Busch(i) 1-43;

H. Burton 44-46;

N. Gragson 47-48;

K. Busch(i) 49-65;

A. Allmendinger 66;

K. Busch(i) 67-97;

N. Gragson 98-100;

J. Allgaier 101-104;

D. Hemric 105-120;

T. Dillon 121-124;

D. Hemric 125-148;

K. Weatherman 149-151;

D. Hemric 152-156;

A. Allmendinger 157;

K. Busch(i) 158-161;

J. Burton 162;

K. Busch(i) 163-164.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Kyle Busch, No. 54

Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Sam Mayer, No. 8