Kyle Busch wins at Atlanta in perhaps his final Xfinity race, blasts track repave plans

Kyle Busch won his fifth Xfinity Series race in the five he has entered this season. He scored his 102nd victory in the series at Atlanta Motor Speedway. But Busch said it didn’t feel like a mic-drop moment.

“A little bit of a somber win I guess,” Busch said. “Not for it being the last one, but for the way it happened.”

A late-race caution forced a restart with less than 10 laps remaining. Busch was lined up to push his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric in the lead. Instead of a straight shot when the race went green, Hemric wiggled from the contact on his bumper and sailed up the track. His car tagged the outside wall, and Hemric’s chances at his first win this season were shot. The caution flag came back out and another victory for Busch, who led 98 laps of the 164-lap race, appeared inevitable.

He took the checkered flag with around a half second lead over Jeb Burton in second. Noah Gragson finished third. Hemric finished 30th.

Busch said post-race that he was trying to push Hemric forward but they hit a bump in the track leading to Turn 1 at the same time, sending Hemric’s car wiggling. He attempted to dispel the notion that he initiated the spin on purpose.

“Kid’s going for his first win. I’m going for 102,” Busch said. “I’ve been there, done that. I don’t need it.”

Regardless of intention, trends continued with another Busch win and so-close moment for Hemric, who has five top-three finishes this year. He led the second-most laps of the race (45) and saved his car from a full spin after the contact with Busch with his impressive handling. Hemric is still seeking his first-ever win in the series and has his best shot this year driving full-time for JGR.

He said he wondered what could have been.

“What else are you gonna do?” Hemric said on PRN. “I think he was gonna push me into (Turn) 1. And not sure if he missed the line when he latched on, but as soon as he touched me it steered me off into the fence and killed it. Just wasn’t meant to be.”

The victory sealed Busch’s dominance in NASCAR’s lower-level series and likely marks an end to his Xfinity participation. NASCAR caps full-time Cup drivers’ entry in five races per season in the Xfinity and Trucks Series. Busch, whose presence in the series has generated both tickets and ire among the split fan base, maxed out his five with wins in all events this year and said he doesn’t plan to return after this season. He reflected on the camaraderie with with team members in the series and said he’ll miss helping develop upcoming talent, including crew chiefs, crew members and engineers.

“I may or may not have gotten a few of them fired,” he said with a laugh. “Sorry. But I’ve also gotten a hell of a lot more of ‘em moved up and I work with them on Sundays, so it’s been a cool part of the series and what it’s all about.”

Busch sounds off on Atlanta reconfiguration

During his post-race press conference on Saturday, Busch went from laughing to agitated in a matter of seconds, expressing his dislike of the upcoming changes to Atlanta Motor Speedway. The 1.54-mile track will undergo a repave and reprofile after this weekend’s slate of NASCAR races. Track officials announced the project earlier this week.

As part of the changes to the 24-year-old surface, banking will widen from 24 degrees to 28 degrees — the highest of any intermediate track on the current NASCAR circuit. Additionally, the surface will be narrowed from 55 feet to 40 feet (52 feet on the frontstretch, 42 feet on the back stretch and 40 feet in the turns).

The changes are intended to facilitate “close, competitive racing,” according to speedway officials, but drivers have expressed opposition to project. Busch said he considered the track in Hampton, Georgia, to rank pretty high on his list of stops, but “come Monday pretty low.” He specifically questioned the decision to narrow the track.

“You’re going to tell me that the next cars that we’re going to have are gonna have more tire, wider tire, everything (and) we’re not gonna go faster?” Busch said.

“All we’ve done at every single racetrack that we’ve gone to over the years is try to widen the racing groove, right?” Busch said. “What do you think the PJ1 (stuff) is for?

He continued: “You want pack racing, two-wide? Who’s gonna pass? Where are the lanes gonna go?”

Busch said he learned of the changes when it was made public and seconded teammate Denny Hamlin’s frustration over a lack of driver consultation on the plans.

“With all due respect. This same group has reconfigured Texas, Kentucky, Bristol with 0 driver input,” Hamlin wrote in a tweet. “One of those lost a race, other one we don’t race anymore and last one we put dirt over it. But hey, what do the drivers know.”

Busch closed his remarks by saying he was glad to win his final Xfinity Series race “on a real Atlanta racetrack.

“Because the next one is just going to be a showpiece, and it’s going to be sh--.”

On the way out, he asked a Speedway Motorsports executive in press room for a piece of the track.

“So I can cherish what the real Atlanta is like.”

NASCAR at Atlanta Xfinity race results

This story was originally published July 10, 2021 at 6:35 PM.

Alexandra Andrejev

The Charlotte Observer

NASCAR and Charlotte FC beat reporter Alex Andrejev joined The Observer in January 2020 following an internship at The Washington Post. She is a two-time APSE award winner for her NASCAR beat coverage and National Motorsports Press Association award winner. She is the host of McClatchy’s podcast “Payback” about women’s soccer. Support my work with a digital subscription