Busch rallies to win Xfinity race
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — If Kyle Busch seemed to need a bit longer to take his customary bow after a NASCAR victory, it was understandable.
It’s nice to savor milestones.
Busch recovered from a spinout and a penalty on pit road, then survived a late restart to win the Zippo 200 on Saturday, his first triumph at Watkins Glen International in the Xfinity Series. It was also the first Xfinity victory at the track for Joe Gibbs Racing and the company’s 139th win overall in the series, breaking a tie with Roush Fenway Racing for the top spot.
“It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been so close so many times,” Busch said. “I knew I just had to not screw it up.”
Busch topped the Penske Racing duo of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski and easily beat them on a restart with three laps to go for his 90th series win. The Glen and Pocono Raceway were the only tracks currently on the Xfinity schedule where Busch had not won. He has won on every track in the top-tier Cup Series except Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Logano was second in his bid to win this roadcourse race for the third straight time from the pole and Keselowski was third, followed by Justin Allgaier and Paul Menard.
Logano and Keselowski had dominated the previous two Xfinity races at Watkins Glen. In 2015, Logano led 39 laps, one fewer than his teammate, and they finished first and second. A year ago Logano led 67 laps, including the final 27.
“Maybe one more restart and one of those green-white-checkered things would have been nice,” Logano said. “Overall, to start on the pole and be the runner-up doesn’t always feel good, but we did learn some things for tomorrow.”
Busch started second, quickly passed Logano for the lead and led the first 16 laps before wheel-hopping his No. 18 Toyota and spinning out on the first turn, a 90-degree right-hander that points downhill, on the 17th lap.
Keselowski won the opening 20-lap stage under caution and gained a big advantage over Busch, who drove through too many pit stalls (four) during his first pit stop and was penalized. He restarted near the back of the 40-car field.
“You’ve just got to get through it, but unfortunately I screwed up early and I got us behind,” Busch said. “But the guys gave me such an awesome race car that we could make it back up.”
For the second straight weekend, NASCAR has compressed its Cup Series schedule, with qualifying for that race about three hours before the green flag drops this afternoon. Logano would like to find his way to victory lane if possible, because although he isn’t quite ready to push the panic button as the postseason looms, he acknowledges he’s “getting closer to that point.”
Logano has a Cup Series victory already this season, which typically means making the playoffs, but NASCAR ruled that his win at Richmond in April was “encumbered” and won’t count toward a postseason berth.
Logano has become a fixture in the playoffs and has made the final round two times in the past three years, failing only when he was intentionally wrecked by Matt Kenseth at Martinsville in 2015. That year, he led the series with six wins and appeared to be the driver to beat.
But this summer hasn’t been kind to him. In the past 10 races, Logano has six finishes outside the top 20, and last week at Pocono the No. 22 Penske Ford team self-destructed with pit road problems. Logano had to make three stops late and finished 27th, leaving him 69 points behind Kenseth in the race for the final berth in the playoffs.