Kyle Busch drove to his first victory at Martinsville Speedway in the 18th Annual Alpha Energy Solutions 250. The defending Sprint Cup Series Champion led a race high 123 out of 255 laps, but needed overtime to collect the coveted grandfather clock that goes to the victor. It was Kyle Busch’s first victory as a driver at the track dubbed “The Paperclip”.
“This is just a day we’ve been looking for for a long, long time,” Kyle Busch said. “We’ve never necessarily had all the pieces go together like we should have. And I didn’t know the pieces were going to go together today, the way the cautions (11 of them) played out, the way the tire strategy was playing out — when to pit, when not to pit, how to do all that. Wes and I both leaned on each other, and we both had no idea, so we just dumbed into this, I think, but it all worked out.”
Busch’s pit strategy paid off in spades Saturday thanks to his ability to pull away on the re-starts. Busch’s team decided to forgo the last two pit stops under caution and take his chances on worn tires. The #18 Toyota last came to the pits on lap 135 and passed on new tires during the 186th and 199th laps of the contest. There were 11 cautions for a total of 68 laps so having the strongest hot-rod off the re-starts was a huge advantage.
John Hunter Nemechek finished in an impressive second place. The NEMCO Motorsport’s #8 Chevrolet made the outside lane work in the final laps of overtime and held of William Byron’s Liberty University Toyota. The second place finish helped Nemechek keep a slim hold on the Camping World Truck Series point standings. Nemechek failed to lead a lap during the race but found the right combination of speed and handling to finish well.
“I was able to hang tough on the outside, get around William there at the end,” Nemechek said. “That was the big key for us to finish second — if not we were probably going to lose a couple spots. Those restarts were hectic at the end. I just kept spinning the tires on the restarts. We’ve got to go back and look at some things. I could never get to Kyle.”
Kyle Larson’s Chevrolet was in the top five for the better part of the afternoon. The #24 McDonalds sponsored speed machine led 79 laps in the race and finished in the fourth position. From the midway point of the race till the final re-start, Larson and race winner Kyle Busch went back and forth exchanging the lead.
Ben Rhodes and his Alpha Energy Solutions sponsored truck showcased some speed in Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250. The #41 Toyota started on the pole position and led the first 42 laps of the contest. Rhodes was strong throughout the race but got caught up with Justin Haley with six laps to go and triggered the red flag that set-up the overtime showdown. Rhodes finished in a disappointing 16th place.
Overall the race was filled with aggressive driving and a lot of bumping and banging. The fans were treated to highly contested race that was action packed from the beginning till the end. There were eight lead changes and 11 cautions. The winning margin was only .425 seconds. The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville took a little over 2:10 minutes to complete and the competitors averaged 61.811 MPH around the .526 mile paved oval.
Final Results for the 18th Annual Alpha Energy Solutions 250:
1. (2) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 255.
2. (8) John H Nemechek, Chevrolet, 255.
3. (7) William Byron #, Toyota, 255.
4. (5) Kyle Larson(i), Chevrolet, 255.
5. (16) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 255.
6. (11) Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, 255.
7. (10) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 255.
8. (25) Parker Kligerman, Ford, 255.
9. (4) Cameron Hayley, Toyota, 255.
10. (20) Rico Abreu #, Toyota, 255.
11. (15) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 255.
12. (18) Ryan Truex, Toyota, 255.
13. (13) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 255.
14. (23) Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, 255.
15. (24) Austin Wayne Self, Toyota, 255.
16. (1) Ben Rhodes #, Toyota, 255.
17. (28) Shane Lee, Toyota, 255.
18. (6) Daniel Suarez(i), Toyota, 255.
19. (14) Christopher Bell #, Toyota, 255.
20. (9) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 255.
21. (21) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 255.
22. (17) Daniel Hemric, Ford, 253.
23. (32) Bryce Napier, Chevrolet, 249.
24. (29) Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, 248.
25. (30) Paige Decker, RAM, 246.
26. (22) Justin Haley, Toyota, Accident, 244.
27. (31) Claire Decker, Chevrolet, 243.
28. (27) Spencer Boyd, RAM, Accident, 237.
29. (12) Cole Custer #, Chevrolet, Accident, 235.
30. (26) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, Electrical, 115.
31. (19) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, Accident, 91.
32. (3) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, Accident, 43.
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