Kyle Busch dominates another XFINITY Series race, wins in Texas
Rinse, win, repeat.
That's what running in the XFINITY Series this season has been like for Kyle Busch, who dominated the field again Friday night to go to Victory Lane in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was Busch's fourth win in the series this season in five starts, with his only misstep coming when he was leading on the final lap at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., and suffered a tire failure.
No such calamity struck Friday night, as Busch led 151 of the 200 laps.
Yet Busch insisted it wasn't as easy as it looked, saying that much of the credit for his latest victory belonged to crew chief Chris Gayle for the adjustments he made to the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota throughout Friday's race.
"Chris Gayle, he got his money's worth tonight. He had to work on this thing for me and make it better all night long," Busch told FOX Sports in Victory Lane. "Overall, this is so good, so cool for all these guys. I think some people might have written Chris Gayle off a few years ago. We worked together last year and came out and won a few races.
"But to come out as strong as we have this year -- we could have had five in a row, you know -- we've certainly had a great season. He's a great leader and guys have done a great job following him.
Busch finished comfortably ahead of JGR teammate Erik Jones, who finished second. Brad Keselowski took third, with JR Motorsports teammates Chase Elliott and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounding out the top five.
Busch, the defending Sprint Cup champion, has led 100 laps or more in all five XFINITY Series races he has entered this season.
Jones tried to challenge Busch, and both Jones and Kyle Larson seemed to have cars capable of doing so midway through the race. But Jones' No. 20 JGR Toyota team was penalized for having a crewman go over the pit wall too soon on Lap 83 when he entered with the lead -- and although he drove from 18th after the penalty all the way up to second, he never was able to lead again.
Larson led laps for a stretch, too, but ultimately Busch's No. 18 JGR Toyota was too much for all comers in the field. As usual.
"There were points in the middle of the race when Erik Jones caught and passed me and when Kyle Larson was ahead of me that they were just a little bit better at those points," Busch said. "So we had to fine-tune and work on our balance a little bit."
It also was Busch's third consecutive NASCAR win across all three series, as he won both the Camping World Truck Series race and the Sprint Cup race last weekend at Martinsville Speedway when the XFINITY Series was off.
"Everybody (in the XFINITY Series) gets a break from Kyle at Richmond (on April 23). I've still got one more next week at Bristol, so we'll see how the heat races go. We'll see what's in store there," Busch said.
"I don't know if I get a cookie or what, but I've won a truck race, a Cup race and an XFINITY race, all three in a row."
When it was suggested someone might be able to retrieve him some cotton candy as a reward instead, Busch smiled and insisted: "No, I want a cookie right now."
He probably got it, too. He's been getting pretty much everything he wants in the XFINITY Series this season.
