Kyle Busch Dominates the Overton’s 200 at NHMS

Column By: AMY HARROP / RPW – LOUDON, NH – The front row in the NASCAR XFINITY Series Overton’s 200 on Saturday was reserved for Monster Energy Cup drivers Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. Both drivers are past XFINITY Series winners at New Hampshire, with Kyle Busch holding 5 wins in the series.

The #18 of Busch maintained the lead through the first lap, but Brad Keselowski was holding tight to his inside. Keselowski charged ahead to the lead on lap 2 in turn 3, running away with the top spot. Busch got loose and wiggled, falling to third place in the opening laps. By lap 6, Busch had found his groove again, making his way to the inside of Larson for the runner-up spot on lap 6 in turn 2. He charged up to the front once more on lap 7, clearing the #22 of Keselowski on the inside for the top spot in turn 2. After falling back to third, Larson found his way back up to second on lap 12. But, Keselowski wasn’t letting him go easy, stealing the spot away from Larson again on lap 18. By lap 20, the leaders were already lapping the cars at the rear of the field, setting the pace. By lap 22, the #7 of Justin Allgaier powered his way up to 6th place, gaining 5 positions from where he started the race in 11th. The #22 of Keselowski was all over Busch’s bumper once again on lap 27, clearing him for the lead in turn 4. As he started to pull away, the rain started to come down hard on lap 30 in turns one and two and then made it’s way over the entire racing surface, drawing out the red flag. All drivers pulled into the pits and parked their cars, with their teams covering up the cars to protect them from the passing showers overhead.

After a 54 minute rain delay, the cars pulled back onto the track. Justin Allgaier and Elliott Sadler were among the drivers that elected to stay out, fighting to earn stage points. The two drivers managed to stay side-by-side for several laps, making slight contact on lap 37 in turn 4. Sadler took over the lead, but Allgaier wasn’t giving up, pulling to his inside. Kyle Larson made it a 3-way battle for the lead on lap 39 in turn 4 with Allgaier and Sadler, later capturing the lead on lap 40 in turn 4. Ryan Preece was making moves, battling his way up to second place by lap 40 in his #20 car. Larson went on to win the first stage, followed by Ryan Preece, Kyle Busch, Elliott Sadler and Brad Keselowski. After electing to stay out after the rain delay to earn playoff points, Sadler and Allgaier decided to pit this time around, while others like Larson and Preece elected to stay out due to their fresher tires.

Larson elected the outside line for the restart on lap 51. But, Preece had 4 fresh tires opposed to Larson’s 2, so he was able to propel himself into the top spot on lap 51 in turn 3. Kyle Busch battled his way to the front once again, eventually clearing Preece for the lead on lap 53 in turn 3. Keselowski joined in on the fun, finding Preece’s rear bumper on lap 57. He cleared him on lap 58, while Larson later cleared Preece for the third spot on lap 59. By lap 62, the leaders had caught up to the tail end of the field once again, running into slower traffic. The slower traffic allowed Keselowski to catch back up to Busch, cutting his lead down to .2 seconds. He was all over his back bumper on lap 71, later beginning a side-by-side battle with the #18 on lap 72. Keselowski cleared Busch for the top spot on lap 23, gaining a .78 second lead over the #22 of Brad Keselowski by lap 81. The #7 of Justin Allgaier, who has performed well at NHMS in recent years, faced troubles on lap 83 when he was met with transmission issues. He brought his #7 car behind the wheel, ending his chance to contend for the win. Brad Keselowski ran away with the stage win, followed by Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Ryan Preece and 19-year-old William Byron.

The majority of the leaders elected to pit this time around. But, Brad Keselowski had a slow pit stop, losing 3 positions under the caution. Kyle Busch elected the inside for the restart this time around, pulling away with the lead coming out of turn 4 on lap 96. Meanwhile, Brad Keselowski powered around Kyle Larson for the runner-up spot on lap 97, fighting for more. He found the lead once again on lap 101, extending his lead to 1 second over the #18 car by lap 105. The #7 of Justin Allgaier made his way back onto the track on lap 109, 26 laps down after making a transmission change. By lap 122, Keselowski extended his lead over Busch to 1.5 seconds, leaving the field completely spread out by lap 125. William Byron broke the top 3 by lap 140, while the #20 of Ryan Preece fell back to fourth. Busch managed to cut Keselowski’s lead down to .65 seconds on lap 140. As they approached the slower traffic on lap 144, Busch made his way to Keselowski’s outside. But, Keselowski got a good run off of turn 4, pulling away from the #18 once again. By lap 168, Brad Keselowski put the lead lap car count down to 10 cars, successfully lapping ¾ of the pack. Kyle Busch pulled down to the pits on lap 169 for 4 tires and fuel. Keselowski followed suit on lap 170, stopping for 4 tires and fuel as well. He was forced to pit sideways and upon exit, his fuel can left his pit stall, resulting in the #22 having to serve a pass-through penalty. This incident lost the #22 four positions, dropping him down to fifth. Kyle Busch broke into a 9 second lead on lap 180, dominating the rest of the field. By lap 195, Busch extended his lead to 9.5 seconds over the #20 of Ryan Preece and dropping the lead lap car count down to 6 cars, completely running away with it. Busch, the Xfinity Series’ winningest driver, ran away with the victory, followed by Ryan Preece, William Byron, Kyle Larson and Brad Keselowski. Upon winning the race, Busch put on a smoke show in front of the flag stand and did his traditional bow in front of the stands. In his victory speech, he praised his Joe Gibbs racing team, saying, “You can’t always count on the fastest car winning the race, but you can count on teamwork.”

Due to a fast car and the help of some luck, Kyle Busch wound up on top tonight, earning his 6th XFINITY Series win at New Hampshire. This win will give him some momentum coming into tomorrow’s Overton’s 301, where he will making his way up to the front from his 7th place starting position, eyeing his third win at NHMS in the Cup Series.

NASCAR XFINITY Series Race – Overton’s 200
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
Loudon, New Hampshire
Saturday, July 15, 2017

1. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 200.
2. (6) Ryan Preece, Toyota, 200.
3. (7) William Byron #, Chevrolet, 200.
4. (3) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 200.
5. (2) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 200.
6. (13) Ben Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 200.
7. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 199.
8. (12) Ty Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 199.
9. (10) Cole Custer #, Ford, 199.
10. (9) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 199.
11. (4) Matt Tifft #, Toyota, 199.
12. (5) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 199.
13. (14) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 199.
14. (19) Ryan Reed, Ford, 198.
15. (21) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 198.
16. (23) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 198.
17. (16) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 197.
18. (24) Harrison Rhodes, Chevrolet, 197.
19. (18) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 197.
20. (20) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 197.
21. (26) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 197.
22. (39) Dylan Lupton, Toyota, 196.
23. (25) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, 195.
24. (15) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 195.
25. (34) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 195.
26. (27) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, 194.
27. (32) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 193.
28. (33) Timmy Hill, Dodge, 186.
29. (31) Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, 185.
30. (28) David Starr, Chevrolet, 184.
31. (38) Mike Harmon, Dodge, 178.
32. (11) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 173.
33. (37) Martin Roy, Chevrolet, Engine, 163.
34. (22) Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, 157.
35. (17) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, Suspension, 156.
36. (36) Carl Long, Chevrolet, Electrical, 67.
37. (35) Morgan Shepherd, Chevrolet, Suspension, 59.
38. (30) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, Electrical, 15.
39. (29) Reed Sorenson(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 7.
40. (40) John Jackson, Dodge, Vibration, 4.

Average Speed of Race Winner: 109.276 mph.

Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 56 Mins, 11 Secs. Margin of Victory: 10.425 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 3 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers.

Lap Leaders: K. Busch(i) 1-2; B. Keselowski(i) 3-7; K. Busch(i) 8-27; B. Keselowski(i) 28-33; J. Allgaier 34-35; E. Sadler 36-40; K. Larson(i) 41-51; R. Preece 52-53; K. Busch(i) 54-71; B. Keselowski(i) 72-93; K. Busch(i) 94-101; B. Keselowski(i) 102-170; M. Tifft # 171; K. Busch(i) 172-200.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): B. Keselowski(i) 4 times for 102 laps; K. Busch(i) 5 times for 77 laps; K. Larson(i) 1 time for 11 laps; E. Sadler 1 time for 5 laps; R. Preece 1 time for 2 laps; J. Allgaier 1 time for 2 laps; M. Tifft # 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 42,20,18,1,22,7,48,3,9,19
Stage #2 Top Ten: 22,18,42,20,9,1,3,19,48,2