Kyle Busch wins fourth Xfinity race of the season

Kyle Busch wins his fourth Xfinity race of the season
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

It was more of the same for Kyle Busch in Saturday's Indiana 250 NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but "more of the same" was anything but easy.

Busch held off Justin Allgaier by .132 seconds during a five-lap run to the finish at the 2.5-mile track, but only after a hard crash that took out frontrunners Christopher Bell and Tyler Reddick with seven laps left.

With a strong short-run car, combined with his unquestioned prowess on restarts, Busch took control after the final restart to win for the fourth time at the Brickyard, the fourth time in seven starts this season and the 96th time in his career, extending his series record.

In more ways than one, Busch benefited from the wreck that took out Bell and Reddick as they were battling for the lead. For one thing, it eliminated two of the strongest cars in the race. For another, it put Busch out front in clean air, greatly improving the handling of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Supra.

"It was really tough to pass, even when you had a run on a guy," Busch said in Victory Lane. "You could pass the guys who were set up for long-runs on the straightaways but some of those other guys, like (Bell, Brandon Jones) and the JGR guys, they were stupid fast.

"We got back in traffic and just really fought the handling of this thing and got stuck around fourth place. I'm real proud of this team. This Toyota Supra was awesome today, and glad we got to take it to Victory Lane."

Allgaier, the defending race winner, led a trio of JR Motorsports cars to top-five finishes, with Noah Gragson charging to third in the closing laps and Jeb Burton matching his career-best finish in his fifth start of the season. Justin Haley ran fifth and scored 35 points, enough to become the ninth driver to clinch a spot in the Xfinity Series Playoffs.

Three cautions in the final 14 laps doomed the chances of Allgaier, whose No. 7 Chevrolet was set up for long green-flag runs.

Kyle Busch (18) beats Justin Allgaier (7) to win at Indy
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images

"Kyle's great, especially on restarts," said Allgaier, who led three times for 24 laps, half the total recorded by the race winner. "That's what sets him apart in the Cup Series and here in the Xfinity Series. Our Suave Men Camaro was on rails, especially on the long runs…

"You don't realize what it means to you until you come that close to tasting those bricks again. We'll go to Vegas (for the regular-season finale) next week, finish out the regular season strong and take this momentum into the Playoffs."

Bell and Reddick were running up front after a restart on Lap 93 of 100, but Bell's Toyota broke loose under Reddick's Chevrolet in Turn 2, sending both cars hard into the outside wall and eliminating them from the race.

Bell finished 29th, one spot ahead of Reddick.

"Of all my NASCAR crashes, this one takes the cake," Bell said after visiting the infield care center. The wreck deprived him of a chance to win for the seventh time this season.

Brandon Jones recovered from a spin after contact with Austin Cindric's Ford on Lap 87 to finish sixth, one position ahead of six-time winner Cole Custer. Chase Briscoe, Austin Hill and Ryan Sieg completed the top 10.

Reddick retained the series lead by 50 points over Bell and can clinch the regular-season title next Saturday by scoring 11 points.

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Led Points Status
1 1 18 Kyle Busch(i) Combos Toyota 100 46 0 Running
2 8 7 Justin Allgaier Suave Men Chevrolet 100 24 50 Running
3 13 9 Noah Gragson # Switch Chevrolet 100 1 42 Running
4 12 8 Jeb Burton State Water Heaters Chevrolet 100 0 40 Running
5 7 11 Justin Haley # LeafFilter Chevrolet 100 0 35 Running
6 2 19 Brandon Jones First Foundation Toyota 100 8 47 Running
7 11 0 Cole Custer Haas Automation Ford 100 0 39 Running
8 9 98 Chase Briscoe # Ford Performance Ford 100 0 35 Running
9 17 61 Austin Hill(i) Aiisin Group Toyota 100 0 0 Running
10 10 39 Ryan Sieg Alabama Soda & Abrasive Blasting Chevrolet 100 0 29 Running
11 18 51 Jeremy Clements BRT Extrusions Chevrolet 100 0 26 Running
12 15 1 Michael Annett Pilot/Flying J Chevrolet 100 0 25 Running
13 16 8 Gray Gaulding PANINI Chevrolet 100 0 24 Running
14 32 0 Garrett Smithley teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 100 0 23 Running
15 20 90 Ronnie Bassett Jr Bassett Gutters and More Chevrolet 100 0 22 Running
16 34 4 Landon Cassill Flex Seal/Contec Chevrolet 100 0 21 Running
17 19 36 Josh Williams Harkin Construction Chevrolet 100 4 20 Running
18 29 35 Joey Gase MBM Motorsports Toyota 100 0 19 Running
19 22 99 Stefan Parsons Phoenix Construction Toyota 100 0 18 Running
20 26 7 Ray Black II ISOKERN Fireplaces & Chimneys Chevrolet 100 0 17 Running
21 23 93 Josh Bilicki InsuranceKing.com Chevrolet 100 0 16 Running
22 21 15 BJ McLeod teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 100 0 15 Running
23 30 1 Stephen Leicht teamjdmotorsports.com Chevrolet 100 0 14 Running
24 28 66 Tommy Joe Martins Diamond Gusset Jeans Toyota 100 0 13 Running
25 27 5 Matt Mills J.F. Electric Chevrolet 100 0 12 Running
26 35 78 Vinnie Miller Pit Viper Sunglasses Chevrolet 99 0 11 Running
27 6 22 Austin Cindric Menards/Richmond Ford 98 0 19 Engine
28 31 86 Brandon Brown # Vero Tru Social Chevrolet 97 0 9 Running
29 3 20 Christopher Bell Rheem/Parker Hannifin Toyota 92 15 17 Accident
30 4 2 Tyler Reddick Anderson's Maple Syrup Chevrolet 92 2 16 Accident
31 5 23 John Hunter Nemechek # Fire Alarm Services Inc. Chevrolet 79 0 6 Accident
32 37 74 Mike Harmon Chevrolet 42 0 5 Electrical
33 36 13 Chad Finchum CrashClaimsR.US Toyota 41 0 4 Transmission
34 14 10 Austin Dillon(i) Ellsworth Advisors Chevrolet 37 0 0 Fuel Pump
35 38 17 Kyle Weatherman RWR Chevrolet 35 0 2 Overheating
36 33 89 Morgan Shepherd Visone RV Chevrolet 34 0 1 Handling
37 25 52 David Starr Northern Builders Chevrolet 23 0 1 Engine
38 24 38 JJ Yeley RSS Racing Chevrolet 7 0 1 Suspension