RACING roundup

NASCAR XFINITY

HAMPTON, GA.

Check another one off the list for Kyle Busch. Less than 24 hours after losing the Sprint Cup pole, Busch claimed his first Xfinity Series victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Busch and Kyle Larson pulled away from the field after the final yellow flag. Larson closed the gap to about a half-second in the closing laps, but the rally ended when he got caught up briefly behind the lapped car of Ryan Preece. Busch crossed the line 0.466 seconds ahead of Larson, then did his customary burnout and bow in front of the main grandstand, holding the checkered flag. No one else was within 10 seconds of the first two cars. The winner has plenty of experience celebrating in the second-tier series, claiming his career-best 77th victory, though Atlanta was one of three active tracks where he’d never won an Xfinity race. Not anymore. “This is a pretty neat deal,” Busch said. “I’m glad get it out of the way. I checked another off the list.” The victory was especially sweet coming less than 24 hours after Busch surrendered the pole for today’s Cup race when his car failed inspection. He won the pole for the Xfinity race in the morning and then dominated on a sunny afternoon, leading 119 of 163 laps. Of course, that didn’t lessen the disappointment of having to start from the back of the field today. “This is Xfinity, that’s Cup,” Busch said. “But it is what it is. It’s not that big a deal.” Busch was thrilled to add another track to his victory list, especially since he had had five runner-up finishes in Atlanta. Watkins Glen and Las Vegas — site of next week’s event — are the only other active Xfinity tracks where he hasn’t won. He’s looking forward to checking another off the list at his hometown track. “I’ve not won at Vegas,” Busch said. “That seems kind of odd.” Starting from the outside of the front row, Erik Jones nudged ahead of Busch when the green flag waved — a rules violation that earned Jones a drive-through penalty. Busch said it was his fault. He got bumped from behind by Daniel Suarez and spun his wires.

NASCAR TRUCKS

HAMPTON, GA.

John Hunter Nemechek emerged from the carnage that took out the front runners to win the NASCAR Truck series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Nemechek, the son of longtime Cup driver Joe Nemechek, held off Cameron Hayley by 0.31 seconds to capture his second career Truck victory. On a restart with two laps to go, the 18-year-old came through the trioval side by side with John Wes Townley. When Townley got loose, Nemechek pulled away to win for a team that lacks a major sponsor. Matt Crafton led much of the race, only to get taken out in a huge wreck caused by Christopher Bell with 19 laps to go. The wreck also claimed Bell’s teammate, Daniel Suarez, who was running second. Bell surged to the lead after the race was briefly halted and the wreckage cleared. But he cut a tire with seven laps remaining and slammed into the wall. Nemechek credited his pit crew for continually helping him move through the field during pit stops. Not bad for a low-budget team run by his father. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work with just a little funding,” the teenager said, “and we’ve come out and contended for wins.” Crafton led 76 of 130 laps. After a restart, Suarez attempted to slide around Crafton on the outside coming out of turn two. Suarez couldn’t get by and Bell clipped the Mexican driver, which sent him spinning into Crafton, who slammed head-on into the outside wall while Suarez’s truck skidded hard into the inside wall. Fortunately for Crafton, he hit the wall at a spot where extra padding was added over the past year, cushioning the blow. Both drivers were able to walk away. “We were so, so fast,” Crafton said. “We definitely felt like we had a truck to win this race.” Suarez was peeved at his teammate. It was the second week in a row that Bell was involved in a major crash, having endured a frightening barrel roll on the final lap of the season-opening Truck race at Daytona. “We’ve got to take care of each other,” Suarez said. The 20-minute caution clock was used for the first time in the Truck series. It wasn’t needed at Daytona; there were too many wrecks and yellow flags. But the drivers made it through the first 20 minutes Saturday without bringing out the yellow flag, prompting a caution period at the end of the 38th lap. The 20-minute timer is now used in the Truck series on each green-flag run. If no caution period occurs before time expires, the yellow flag comes out and teams have a chance to make pit stops and adjustments under caution. Johnny Sauter had a rough day on the heels of his season-opening victory at Daytona. Sauter had to go behind the wall to change a faulty ignition box. He finished nine laps down in 28th.

John Hunter Nemechek emerged from the carnage that took out the front runners to win the NASCAR Truck series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Nemechek, the son of longtime Cup driver Joe Nemechek, held off Cameron Hayley by 0.31 seconds to capture his second career Truck victory. On a restart with two laps to go, the 18-year-old came through the trioval side by side with John Wes Townley. When Townley got loose, Nemechek pulled away to win for a team that lacks a major sponsor. Matt Crafton led much of the race, only to get taken out in a huge wreck caused by Christopher Bell with 19 laps to go. The wreck also claimed Bell’s teammate, Daniel Suarez, who was running second. Bell surged to the lead after the race was briefly halted and the wreckage cleared. But he cut a tire with seven laps remaining and slammed into the wall. Nemechek credited his pit crew for continually helping him move through the field during pit stops. Not bad for a low-budget team run by his father. “We’ve put in a lot of hard work with just a little funding,” the teenager said, “and we’ve come out and contended for wins.” Crafton led 76 of 130 laps. After a restart, Suarez attempted to slide around Crafton on the outside coming out of turn two. Suarez couldn’t get by and Bell clipped the Mexican driver, which sent him spinning into Crafton, who slammed head-on into the outside wall while Suarez’s truck skidded hard into the inside wall. Fortunately for Crafton, he hit the wall at a spot where extra padding was added over the past year, cushioning the blow. Both drivers were able to walk away. “We were so, so fast,” Crafton said. “We definitely felt like we had a truck to win this race.” Suarez was peeved at his teammate. It was the second week in a row that Bell was involved in a major crash, having endured a frightening barrel roll on the final lap of the season-opening Truck race at Daytona. “We’ve got to take care of each other,” Suarez said. The 20-minute caution clock was used for the first time in the Truck series. It wasn’t needed at Daytona; there were too many wrecks and yellow flags. But the drivers made it through the first 20 minutes Saturday without bringing out the yellow flag, prompting a caution period at the end of the 38th lap. The 20-minute timer is now used in the Truck series on each green-flag run. If no caution period occurs before time expires, the yellow flag comes out and teams have a chance to make pit stops and adjustments under caution. Johnny Sauter had a rough day on the heels of his season-opening victory at Daytona. Sauter had to go behind the wall to change a faulty ignition box. He finished nine laps down in 28th.