Kyle Busch Puts on Clinic in XFINITY Race at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga.– Stop me if you’ve heard this before; Kyle Busch wins in XFINITY.

The driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota led 119 of the 163 laps on his way to scoring his 76th career victory in the NASCAR XFINITY Series.

“Just to accomplish some of my goals that I have in racing (is special),” said Busch. “Being in Atlanta – I have never won here before (in the XFINITY Series), so I can’t say enough about JGR engines. I’m glad to get it out of the way and checked off the list.”

Kyle Larson closed into within half a second of Busch in the closing laps, but got caught off guard by a lapped car and had to settle for runner-up in his No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.

“We were a little bit better than I thought we were going to be. I thought we’d be a fourth-, fifth-, sixth-place car, and we were definitely second-best, I thought,” Larson said.

Erik Jones had a strong car today but had to serve a pass-through penalty after beating Busch to the line on the initial start. He would go on to finish third in his No. 20 JGR Toyota. Paul Menard finished fourth in his No. 2 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet. Ty Dillon rounded out the top-five in his No. 3 RCR Chevrolet.

Brad Keselowski finished sixth in his No. 22 Team Penske Ford.

“We just weren’t as strong as we wanted to be and needed to be,” Keselowski said. “We’ll work on it from there and try to find a little bit more speed.”

Daniel Suárez finished seventh in his No. 19 JGR Toyota. Justin Allgaier finished eighth in his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Elliott Sadler finished ninth in his No. 1 JRM Chevrolet. Jeb Burton rounded out the top-10 in his No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford.

“I was having fun today,” Burton said. “We did a good job. I felt like we lost some spots on that last restart. The longer we went, the tighter we got. It seemed like later in the day we just kept getting tighter and tighter. I’m really proud of the guys. They worked really hard this week, considering 14 days ago this team didn’t exist. I’m really proud of that and I feel like we’ll get better each week.”

The race lasted one hour, 49 minutes and 53 seconds at an average speed of 137.065 mph. There were five lead changes among four different drivers. There were five cautions for 21 laps.

Complete Finishing Order – NXS Heads Up Georgia 250 – Atlanta Motor Speedway

1. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 163.

2. (4) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 163.

3. (2) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 163.

4. (11) Paul Menard(i), Chevrolet, 163.

5. (6) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 163.

6. (7) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 163.

7. (3) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 163.

8. (12) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 163.

9. (16) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 163.

10. (15) Jeb Burton, Ford, 163.

11. (19) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 163.

12. (10) Kevin Harvick(i), Chevrolet, 162.

13. (9) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 162.

14. (5) Brennan Poole #, Chevrolet, 162.

15. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 162.

16. (8) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 162.

17. (14) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 162.

18. (18) Darrell Wallace Jr, Ford, 162.

19. (22) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 162.

20. (13) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 161.

21. (20) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 160.

22. (21) Ryan Preece #, Chevrolet, 159.

23. (23) Corey Lajoie, Toyota, 159.

24. (26) Garrett Smithley #, Chevrolet, 159.

25. (32) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 158.

26. (29) BJ McLeod #, Ford, 157.

27. (34) Derrike Cope, Chevrolet, 156.

28. (24) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 152.

29. (40) Chris Cockrum, Chevrolet, 152.

30. (36) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 151.

31. (37) Cody Ware #, Chevrolet, 151.

32. (33) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, Suspension, 127.

33. (27) Ray Black Jr #, Chevrolet, 113.

34. (38) Josh Reaume, Dodge, Suspension, 87.

35. (25) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 68.

36. (30) Carl Long, Toyota, Handling, 29.

37. (39) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Overheating, 25.

38. (35) Todd Peck, Ford, Engine, 15.

39. (28) David Starr, Toyota, Engine, 7.

40. (31) Jeff Green, Toyota, Electrical, 1.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of SpeedwayMedia.com

Tucker White
Tucker White
I've followed NASCAR for well over 20 years of my life, both as a fan and now as a member of the media. As of 2024, I'm on my ninth season as a traveling NASCAR beat writer. For all its flaws and dumb moments, NASCAR at its best produces some of the best action you'll ever see in the sport of auto racing. Case in point: Kyle Larson's threading the needle pass at Darlington Raceway on May 9, 2021. On used-up tires, racing on a worn surface and an aero package that put his car on the razor's edge of control, Larson demonstrated why he's a generational talent. Those are the stories I want to capture and break down. In addition to NASCAR, I also follow IndyCar and Formula 1. As a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, I'm a diehard Tennessee Volunteers fan (especially in regards to Tennessee football). If covering NASCAR doesn't kill me, down the road, watching Tennessee football will. I'm also a diehard fan of the Atlanta Braves, and I lived long enough to see them win a World Series for the first time since 1995 (when I was just a year old). I've also sworn my fan allegiance to the Nashville Predators, though that's not paid out as much as the Braves. Furthermore, as a massive sports dork, I follow the NFL on a weekly basis. Though it's more out of an obligation than genuine passion (for sports dorks, following the NFL is basically an unwritten rule). Outside of sports, I'm a major cinema buff and a weeb. My favorite film is "Blazing Saddles" and my favorite anime is "Black Lagoon."

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