Kyle Busch Wins Second Bristol Race of the Week

Kyle Busch
Brian Lawdermilk/Getty Images

Kyle Busch beat up on the NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers yet again with a domineering performance in Friday night's Food City 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway for second Bristol win of the week.

Busch led a race-high 186 laps including the final 81, and held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Suarez on a final restart with nine laps to go to take the checkered flag for the fifth time this season.

Suarez finished second, followed by Elliott Sadler, Ty Dillon and Justin Allgaier.

It was the 91st series win of the season for Busch, and his second win at Bristol in just three days after winning the Camping World Truck Series race on Wednesday night.

"All the guys at Joe Gibbs Racing did a phenomenal job and gave me a great NOS Energy Drink Camry," said Busch. "It's always fun to have a better house here at Bristol. There's nothing better than the night race at Bristol, so it's cool to win here."

He'll be looking to complete the Bristol trifecta – for the third time in his career – with a victory in Saturday night's Cup Series race.

"Want to thank the fans, of course the Rowdy Nation that's here, that's supporting this show, supporting this sweep so far," said Busch. "Hopefully we can close it out tomorrow."

Busch led from the pole and faced some strong challenges from Allgaier and opening segment before getting mailed for speeding on pit road at the end of the first stage, forcing him to the rear of the field for segment two.

Restarting in the back was more of an inconvenience than a challenge for Busch, who roared back through the field in just 60 laps to swipe the lead back from Suarez and win the second stage.

Suarez restarted as the leader for the final stage and led the opening 14 laps before giving way to Sadler on lap 187. Busch then powered past Sadler to retake the lead on lap 202.

Busch looked to have clear run to the finish before Brendan Gaughan crashed on the frontstretch with 15 laps to go, setting up the final dash to the checkers.

Kyle Busch beats Daniel Suarez to the finish at Bristol
Jerry Markland/Getty Images

On the restart, Busch easily cleared Suarez and checked out, beating the 2016 Xfinity Series champion by half a straightaway at the finish.

"(On the restart) I wasn't able to do anything at that point, but the guys made some adjustments and in the last run I had something for him (Kyle Busch), but in the last run right there at the end I felt like I used my tires a little bit too much and he was saving a little bit more than me," said Suarez. "I guess that's a little bit of experience, right. We'll get there."

Unlike the truck series race on Wednesday, Busch didn't have to slice his way back through the field in the last segment, but certainly had the car to do it.

"At least I didn't have to come through in the last stage because everybody was pretty fast there tonight in the last stage," said Busch. "I don't know if I would have been able to make it all the way back up through there. (Daniel) Suárez gave us a heck of a run there."

Brennan Poole, Daniel Hemric, Austin Dillon, Joey Logano and Cole Custer rounded out the top ten finishers. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. finished a lap down in 13th after getting into the wall near the halfway mark of the race.

Sadler's third-place showing allowed him to open up a 110-point lead over rookie William Byron, who cut a tire shortly after the final restart and was forced to pit, eventually limping home with a 19-place finish.

RACE RESULTS

Pos. # Driver Make Start Laps Led Status Points Playoff Points
1 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 1 300 186 Running 0 0
2 20 Daniel Suarez Toyota 7 300 24 Running 0 0
3 1 Elliott Sadler Chevy 8 300 15 Running 44 5
4 3 Ty Dillon Chevy 12 300 0 Running 0 0
5 7 Justin Allgaier Chevy 4 300 75 Running 50 8
6 48 Brennan Poole Chevy 3 300 0 Running 40 0
7 21 Daniel Hemric Chevy 16 300 0 Running 34 1
8 2 Austin Dillon Chevy 11 300 0 Running 0 0
9 22 Joey Logano Ford 2 300 0 Running 0 0
10 00 Cole Custer Ford 5 300 0 Running 28 0
11 42 Tyler Reddick Chevy 6 300 0 Running 35 0
12 5 Michael Annett Chevy 23 300 0 Running 25 0
13 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevy 17 299 0 Running 0 0
14 11 Blake Koch Chevy 13 299 0 Running 23 2
15 4 Ross Chastain Chevy 20 299 0 Running 22 0
16 14 JJ Yeley Toyota 25 299 0 Running 21 0
17 19 Matt Tifft Toyota 15 298 0 Running 20 0
18 51 Jeremy Clements Chevy 14 298 0 Running 19 0
19 96 Ben Kennedy Chevy 24 297 0 Running 18 0
20 33 Brandon Jones Chevy 9 297 0 Running 17 0
21 07 Ray Black Jr Chevy 34 297 0 Running 16 0
22 9 William Byron Chevy 19 297 0 Running 15 17
23 23 Spencer Gallagher Chevy 29 296 0 Running 14 0
24 28 Dakoda Armstrong Toyota 21 296 0 Running 13 0
25 90 Brandon Brown Chevy 38 294 0 Running 12 0
26 8 BJ McLeod Chevy 28 291 0 Running 11 0
27 52 Joey Gase Chevy 39 290 0 Running 10 0
28 40 Chad Finchum Chevy 31 289 0 Running 9 0
29 24 Jeb Burton Toyota 22 281 0 Accident 8 0
30 62 Brendan Gaughan Chevy 10 278 0 Accident 7 1
31 01 Harrison Rhodes Chevy 30 239 0 Suspension 6 0
32 39 Ryan Sieg Chevy 26 217 0 Running 5 0
33 78 Tommy Joe Martins Chevy 33 210 0 Accident 4 0
34 0 Garrett Smithley Chevy 35 204 0 Running 3 0
35 74 Mike Harmon Dodge 40 80 0 Suspension 2 0
36 13 Timmy Hill Dodge 37 56 0 Vibration 1 0
37 16 Ryan Reed Ford 27 38 0 Accident 1 5
38 98 Aric Almirola Ford 18 25 0 Accident 0 0
39 93 Jeff Green Chevy 32 18 0 Overheating 1 0
40 99 David Starr Chevy 36 11 0 Accident 1 0

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