Skip to main content

Kyle Busch 4th NASCAR Xfinity win of 2016 is 80th overall

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) Kyle Busch completed a NASCAR sweep in a week.

Busch led 150 of 200 laps at Texas on Friday night for the fourth victory in five Xfinity Series starts this season. After wins in the Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck races at Martinsville last weekend, he has won in each of NASCAR's top three series in a seven-day period.

''I wouldn't say it's easy, but it's certainly rewarding,'' Busch said. ''Definitely being able to accomplish the things that we've accomplished over the last seven days has been really good.''

Busch was the polesitter at Texas and led four times, including the last 81 laps, for his Xfinity-record 80th victory - he has won 25 percent of his 316 starts in that series. It was his eighth Xfinity win at the high-banked, 1 1/2-mile track in the Lone Star State.

Just like the Joe Gibbs Racing teammates started the race, Busch and Erik Jones were 1-2 in their Toyotas at the checkered flag. Jones finished 3.055 seconds back, with Brad Keselowski third and Chase Elliott fourth.

The 80 Xfinity wins give Busch 160 overall in the three series. He has won 35 Sprint Cup races and 45 truck races.

''Each and every event we enter, we try to win, try to do what we can, and hopefully we can again (Saturday),'' said Busch, who starts 15th in Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Texas.

Daniel Suarez, another JGR driver, held onto the Xfinity points lead despite finishing 16th. His 10-point lead over Elliott Sadler, who finished seventh, was trimmed to one point as the series returned to the track after a two-week break.

Busch has led 75 percent of the laps run (776 of 1,033) in the Xfinity Series this season, and that is even without him running the 120-lap opener at Daytona. He has led at least 119 laps in all five of his starts this season.

When he finished as the runner-up at California in the last race, he led 133 of 150 laps. He was about 2 miles from another win before a flat tire and still finished second to Austin Dillon.

Jones was leading when he came to pit road on lap 80 Friday night during a caution brought out after Suarez spun in Turn 4.

Busch led Jones off pit road, but Jones was dropped from second to 18th before the restart after a penalty for one of his crew members coming over the wall too quickly when he pulled up to his stall.

''It definitely didn't help by any means,'' Jones said, though insisting that the penalty didn't cost him a victory.

''I was fortunate in a way last year, I didn't have to race against Kyle in the Xfinity Series at all,'' Jones said. ''He's back, the man to beat and in old form again. It's not frustrating. I respect what he does.''

Kyle Larson took the lead off that restart, and stayed in front for 38 laps before Busch went low on the track for a pass - and he and Larson went on opposite sides of another car through Turn 4.

Jones led twice for 12 laps while that stretch was Larson's only in the lead before Busch took over for good.

Brandon Jones finished ninth in the No. 33 Chevrolet sponsored by the Texas Rangers. Jones threw out a ceremonial first pitch this week at one of the baseball team's games about 30 miles from the track.