The top full-time drivers in the NASCAR Xfinity Series threw their shares of haymakers at the No. 54 of Kyle Busch during Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 at Texas Motor Speedway.
It wasn’t enough to keep Busch out of victory lane, however, as he came out on the winning end of a back and forth duel with Justin Allgaier during the final stage. Busch, who conceded the lead to Allgaier on restarts with 52 and 41 laps to go, got the lead when it mattered most, making the pass with 29 circuits to go and stay there the rest of the way.
Busch had to make two final stands in the final laps to sew up the win. After a caution came out with less than 10 laps to go on a spin by Myatt Snider, Busch built a strong gap as the race resumed, using the inside line to his advantage. That went for naught as Harrison Burton took a hard hit to the outside wall after washing up high off the PJ1 traction compound. It was the same song but a different verse in overtime with Busch getting a lead on the restart and pulling away, bettering Allgaier to claim his 10th Xfinity win at Texas and 99th overall in the series.
“All in all, such a good car,” Busch told NASCAR on Fox following his win. ” I was just able to think through a few things there on a couple of restarts that may or may not work, but there at the end, they did.”
Allgaier finished second, followed by Austin Cindric, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones to round out the top five. Behind them were AJ Allmendinger, Noah Gragson, Brett Moffitt, Justin Haley and Michael Annett. Cindric was strong early, winning the first stage with Busch taking the second one.
“We were already on the verge of being really tight, it just got worse at the end,” Allgaier told Performance Racing Network following the race. “It was nice to go out there and have a really solid day. We had a good day and made Kyle beat us. He’s a really good driver and he just beat us today.”
The race had eight on-track cautions. Other than Snider’s and Harrison Burton’s late spins, the only caution involving drivers toward the front of field came on lap 60 when contact from behind by Josh Berry sent Jeb Burton into a spin. Berry would continue and finished 19th with Burton ending up 32nd.
Here's what happened at Texas between Jeb Burton and Josh Berry: https://t.co/mY1JwiLzRV pic.twitter.com/03RKMuXNW9
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) June 12, 2021
The two shared words after the race, as well…
Jeb Burton had a chat with Josh Berry with Berry still in the car. pic.twitter.com/rqCuy9GC5z
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) June 12, 2021
“We had a decent car. We were going to be top ten, top six and we got taken out,” Burton said. ” Very frustrated, our guys work way too hard to be run over like that. I said my peace and it is what it is.”
The race’s other multi-car incident came during a frenzied start to the third stage. While Busch, Allgaier, and Cindric were going three wide for the lead, Gray Gaulding, Tanner Berryhill and Matt Mills got together as part of a three-car melee.
The NASCAR Xfinity Series returns next Saturday for the Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway. Green flag is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on NBCSN.
Brad joined Frontstretch.com in 2020 and contributes to the site's 5 Points To Ponder column and other roles as needed. A graduate of the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady School of Journalism and Mass Communication, he has covered sports in some capacity for more than 20 years with coverage including local high school sports, college athletics and minor league hockey. Brad has received multiple awards for his work from the Georgia Press Association.