SRX: Kyle Busch makes it 2-for-2 at Berlin

The Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) made its debut at Berlin Raceway in Michigan Thursday night and Kyle Busch won for the 2nd straight week.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

After a late restart with 6 laps remaining, Busch beat Brad Keslowski, Ryan Newman and Marco Andretti. Busch is only running two SRX races this year, and he won both of them.

Saving tires for late in the race would be key this night.

At the beginning of the 100-lap feature, Keselowski and Busch battled for the lead with Newman also in the mix. Keselowski would gain the upper hand, leading for the early portion of the race, but Busch stayed right on his tail.

Following a competition caution on Lap 25, Keselowski tried to build some distance between him and Busch.

Helio Castroneves shot through the field on that restart, making his way up to second before the halfway mark of the race. Though he tested the Berlin dirt a couple of times, he was able to take the lead from Keselowski on Lap 51.

Another competition caution came on Lap 62, forcing Keselowski and Castroneves to restart side-by-side, but Castroneves sped back to the lead, with Busch and Keselowski battling for second.

Busch gained the spot from his NASCAR counterpart, and began challenging Castroneves around Lap 70, eventually gaining P1 on Lap 74, a lead he would never relinquish.

Busch, who has plenty of winning experience at Berlin, widened the gap between him and the field. However, the cushion was taken away with another caution with just 16 laps to go.

Busch got a great jump when the green flag dropped, and tried to leave the pack, but another caution came out with just six laps to go. However, Busch outlasted Keselowski one more time, grabbing his second win in as many weeks in the series.

“Great energy, great crowd here at Berlin,” Busch stated in victory lane. “It was amazing, was able to come out here and have some fun, and beat up on these guys, it was pretty cool.”

“This place is so tough, so challenging. Berlin’s one of the toughest short tracks we go to. Familiarity was key. I was super tight early on, so we made a lot of adjustments.”

RACE RESULTS – 100 LAPS

1. Kyle Busch

2. Brad Keselowski

3. Ryan Newman

4. Marco Andretti

5. Hailie Deegan

6. Ken Schrader

7. Tony Stewart

8. Helio Castroneves

9. Bobby Labonte

10. Kevin Harvick

11. Kasey Kahne

12. Johnny Benson Jr.