Joe Gibbs Racing’s Kyle Busch grabbed the lead off pit road barely 50 circuits into the event and never looked back. Busch went on to take the checkered flag in dominating fashion at Richmond Raceway on Friday night.
The defending Sprint Cup Series champion led 197 of the 250 laps turned at Richmond Raceway. The triumph on Friday was Kyle Busch’s 84th victory in the NASCAR Xfinity Series.
He also captured the win for the eighth time in 14 starts in 2016. Furthermore, this was the savvy driver’s sixth win at Richmond Raceway and first since winning in Indianapolis.
The event was only scarred by two cautions. During those stoppages, Kyle Busch built leads as high as seven seconds or more. As a result, he put all but five cars a lap down as the race continued on.
Kyle Busch finished an impressive 6.453 seconds ahead of his teammate Erik Jones. Jone’s mimicked Busch’s #18 Nos Toyota’s set up and reeled in a second place finish. The win was a nice change of pace for Kyle Busch. The wily veteran had wrecked his hot-rod in the previous two NASCAR Xfinity Series events.
“We just kind of missed it all through practice. It wasn’t good there, and then we qualified and it was also just a handful in qualifying. We didn’t qualify very well. Seventh, it’s not very well for my expectations, but we just worked on it. There at the start of the race we were really out of control and loose. I got to fourth but I also thought that was where we were going to kind of be. But then my guys had an awesome pit stop and got me out front. After that it was lights out, man. It was on a rail from there.” Busch said.
Brad Keselowski ran third in his Roger Penske/Fleetwood Rv Ford. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular was followed by Xfinity mainstays Elliott Sadler and Justin Allgaier. The fourth and fifth place showings were also a nice finish for the JR Motorsports teams.
Pole sitter Austin Dillon led 51 laps at Richmond Raceway. He finished one spot behind his younger brother in seventh. Ty Dillon still remains win-less in 2016. Even though he hasn’t captured a win yet, he still is managing to turn in impressive performances. The event at Richmond Raceway on Friday night was no different. Dillon muscled his #3 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet into sixth.
Daniel Suarez was able to hold on for another top ten performance. The Mexican born speedster finished out the race in the seventh position. He was followed by Alex Bowman in ninth.
Brennan Poole and his DC Solar Chevrolet started 31st for the Virginia 529 at Richmond Raceway. The determined driver also moved his way into the top 10 at the contest’s half-way point. He ran in the top 10 for the remainder of the event and finished in the 11th spot.
Ryan Reed was the last competitor to remain on the lead lap when Kyle Busch took the checkered flag. As a result, he finished in 11th and became the 10th series driver to lock himself into the series playoffs with one race left in the regular season. The last race will take place at Chicagoland Speedway on September 17th.
The 36th Annual Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond Raceway took one hour and 48 minutes to complete. The average speed of the field was 103.687 miles per hour and the margin of victory was 6.453 seconds.
There were only two cautions for 14 laps and three lead changes between three different drivers. Austin Dillon took home the Coors Light Pole Award for his qualifying efforts earlier on Friday. Erik Jones won the Sunoco Rookie of the Race honors.
The Final Top 20 for the Virginia 529 at Richmond Raceway:
1. (7) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 250.
2. (4) Erik Jones, Toyota, 250.
3. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 250.
4. (8) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 250.
5. (3) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 250.
6. (18) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
7. (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 250.
8. (10) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 250.
9. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 250.
10. (31) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 250.
11. (17) Ryan Reed, Ford, 250.
12. (14) Darrell Wallace, Jr., Ford, 249.
13. (11) Gray Gaulding, Ford, 248.
14. (19) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 248.
15. (5) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, 248.
16. (9) Dakoda Armstrong, Toyota, 247.
17. (12) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 247.
18. (20) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 247.
19. (13) Jeb Burton, Ford, 247.
20. (23) JJ Yeley, Toyota, 246.
