Rowdy Roughs Up COTA Xfinity Competitors

(AUSTIN, TX – MAY 22, 2021 – RIS) Kyle "Rowdy" Busch never looked like being challenged at the first NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in the Pit Boss 250 today. Busch scored his career win number 98 in the series after starting on the pole after qualifying was held under wet conditions. The race started on an almost dry track with all teams electing to mount slicks instead of rain tires and the weather never threatened the race.

Busch's dominance started with the drop of the green flag, never challenged in on-track green flag runs. Daniel Hemric had repeated shifter problems requiring pit stops, which dropped him to 29th at the finish after a late stop for the woes. The only times Busch did not lead appeared to be after pit stop cycles. At the finish, he led AJ Allmendinger by over seven seconds.

Busch has won a NASCAR National series race (Trucks, Xfinity and Cup) in each of the last 17 seasons and has a career total of 217 combined wins in all three series.

"I have to give a huge shoutout to all the machine guys, the CNC guys, as well as the carbon guys. They helped me be able to get comfortable in the car for this weekend and be able to come out here and run on the road course again," said Busch. "A little bit of 2015 started to flare up this past week, so [to] be able to keep that under control and get out here today and have such an amazing car to drive," he added, apparently referring to some pain from the broken leg suffered at Daytona that year. "It's really, really cool to come here for the first race at a new track and win, I'm kicking myself right now because I never won at Montreal, but I won at every other road course I've raced at, so it's kind of a bummer, but overall real proud of the effort. This Skittles Gummies Supra was super. It was just awesome. I did a burnout in front of our friends over there at the Skittles Bus. Appreciate all those guys being here too."

Unofficial Results: Inaugural Pit Boss 250 - May 22, 2021 - Circuit of The Americas - Austin, TX - 3.41 - Mile Paved

Fin, St, Driver, Car, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 54 Skittles Gummies Toyota, 46, , 5, 3, 35, , 0, Running
2) 7, AJ Allmendinger, No. 16 Pit Boss Grills Chevrolet, 46, 1, 8, 1, 3, 1, 48, Running
3) 9, Justin Allgaier, No. 7 BRANDT Chevrolet, 46, 6, 7, 1, 3, , 43, Running
4) 12, Kevin Harvick(i), No. 5 Rush Truck Centers Ford, 46, 7, 9, , , , 0, Running
5) 8, Austin Cindric, No. 22 Menards/Richmond Ford, 46, 9, , 1, 2, , 34, Running
6) 10, Harrison Burton, No. 20 DEX Imaging Toyota, 46, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 3, Cole Custer(i), No. 17 Production Alliance Group Ford, 46, , , , , , 0, Running
8) 5, Tyler Reddick(i), No. 31 Bommarito Automotive Group Chevrolet, 46, 2, , , , , 0, Running
9) 6, Justin Haley, No. 11 LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet, 46, , 1, 1, 3, 1, 38, Running
10) 11, Jeb Burton, No. 10 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 35, Michael Annett, No. 1 Pilot Flying J myRewards Plus Chevrolet, 46, , 2, , , , 35, Running
12) 21, Brett Moffitt, No. 02 SOKAL Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 25, Running
13) 17, Austin Dillon(i), No. 77 Maestro's Classic Chevrolet, 46, 8, 4, , , , 0, Running
14) 22, Preston Pardus, No. 91 Chinchor Electric/Danus Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 18, Jade Buford, No. 48 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Chevrolet, 46, , 3, , , , 30, Running
16) 29, Riley Herbst, No. 98 Monster Energy Ford, 46, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 19, Brandon Jones, No. 19 YeeYee Toyota, 46, 3, , , , , 28, Running
18) 13, Andy Lally, No. 23 The A Team/MFI Fantasy Racing Chevrolet, 46, 4, , , , , 26, Running
19) 16, Spencer Pumpelly, No. 6 Fast Life/GridRival Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 18, Running
20) 4, Alex Labbe, No. 36 Can-Am Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 23, Myatt Snider, No. 2 Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 30, Landon Cassill, No. 4 Voyager Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 33, Jeremy Clements, No. 51 One Stop/ASE Chevrolet, 46, 5, 6, , , , 25, Running
24) 31, Ryan Ellis, No. 99 CorvetteParts.net/Keen Parts Toyota, 46, , , , , , 13, Running
25) 34, Ryan Sieg, No. 39 A-Game/CMR Construction and Roofing Ford, 46, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 14, Brandon Brown, No. 68 Good Sam Club Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 25, Gray Gaulding, No. 52 Panini America Chevrolet, 46, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 27, Colby Howard, No. 15 Project Hope Foundation Chevrolet, 46, , 10, , , , 10, Running
29) 26, Daniel Hemric, No. 18 Poppy Bank Toyota, 46, , , , , , 8, Running
30) 2, Ross Chastain(i), No. 07 G Coin Chevrolet, 36, , , , , , 0, Running
31) 24, Boris Said, No. 13 Whataburger Toyota, 35, , , , , , 6, Running
32) 36, Kris Wright(i), No. 26 Boot the Ban Toyota, 29, , , , , , 0, Engine
33) 28, Timmy Hill(i), No. 66 CrashClaimsR.US Toyota, 29, , , , , , 0, Engine
34) 15, Miguel Paludo, No. 8 BRANDT Chevrolet, 25, 10, , , , , 4, Rear Gear
35) 32, Tommy Joe Martins, No. 44 Diamond Gusset Jeans Chevrolet, 19, , , , , , 2, Engine
36) 20, Noah Gragson, No. 9 Bass Pro Shops/TrueTimber/BRCC Chevrolet, 13, , , , , , 1, Engine
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 9 Mins, 25 Secs.
Race Length: 46 Laps, 156.86 Miles
Average Speed: 72.723 MPH
Margin of Victory: 11.024 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 16, 31, 19, 23, 51, 7, 5, 77, 22, 8
Stage 2 Top 10: 11, 1, 48, 77, 54, 51, 7, 16, 5, 15

Comments: Kyle Busch won the Pit Boss 250, his 98th career NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 26 and 39 (engine change) and No. 18 (transmission change).

Failed to Qualify: (7) 0 Jeffrey Earnhardt, 78 Jesse Little, 47 Kyle Weatherman, 61 Stephen Leicht, 92 Josh Williams, 90 Caesar Bacarella, 74 Bayley Currey(i).

Caution Flags: 4 for 7 laps;
Laps: 12-13 (No. 99 and 13 Stalled on Track [None]);
16-17 (Stage 1 Conclusion [99]);
21-22 (Fluid in Turn 6 from No. 44 [26]);
32-32 (Stage 2 Conclusion  [None]).

Lead Changes: 6 among 5 drivers;
K. Busch(i) 1-11;
A. Allmendinger 12-14;
J. Allgaier 15-17;
A. Cindric 18-19;
K. Busch(i) 20-27;
J. Haley 28-30;
K. Busch(i) 31-46.

John Davison

Long-time RIS staffer, beginning in the mid-80s. Charlotte, NC area local contact.

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Volume 2021, Issue 5, Posted 9:03 PM, 05.22.2021