Kyle Busch 1 away from 100 Xfinity wins after Alsco 250 victory

Kyle Busch has remarked in the past that if he hits 100 NASCAR Xinity Series victories, the two-time Cup Series champion would stop dabbling in the lower tier. After win #99 in Saturday’s Alsco Uniforms 250 at Texas Motor Speedway, the racing world is one victory away from seeing if he will live up to his word.

Busch started fourteenth while last week’s winner A.J. Allmendinger was on the pole. Allmendinger led the first eight laps before Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing team-mate Brandon Jones took the lead and held it until the competition caution. Busch briefly led before Austin Cindric and fellow JGR driver Daniel Hemric overtook him and finished ahead at the end of the first stage. Jones, Justin Haley, Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier, Michael Annett, Harrison Burton, and Noah Gragson rounded out the top ten.

The entirety of Stage #2 was dominated by Busch. The lone incident came on lap 62 when Jeb Burton spun after contact from Josh Berry, resulting in an apology from the latter and a post-race conversation. Busch, Hemric, Cindric, Burton, Gragson, Allgaier, Allmendinger, Berry, Riley Herbst, and Annett comprised the top ten for the stage.

Drama ramped up in the final stage with numerous wrecks that resulted in six cautions. In the midst of the carnage, JGR drivers dominated much of the segment as Busch, Burton, and Hemric traded the position. Allgaier broke up the JGR party at the front when he took the lead on lap 117 following a restart, and he led until Jones spun on lap 139. The ensuing caution enabled Jones’ JGR ally Busch to take the lead for the next restart. While Burton’s wreck on lap 165 resulted in overtime, Busch held off Allgaier to claim his second win of 2021.

It is Busch’s tenth Xfinity victory at Texas, and he would have been riding a four-race win streak at the track had he not been disqualified in 2020. He still has enough eligibility to run three more races in 2021, giving him plenty of chances to break the 100-win mark.

But does he plan on ending his Xfinity career once he gets that hundredth?

“So here’s the problem: Joe (Gibbs) already sold me for 2022 so I don’t know. We’re going to have to talk about that. I better get a pay raise, that’s for sure. Racing for free ain’t fun no more—I’m just kidding.”

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