LOUDON, N.H. — With 20 laps to go in the NASCAR Xfinity Series AutoLotto 200, Kyle Busch had two problems on his hands. One: teammate Erik Jones was hot on his trail. Two: he’d only changed two tires at his last pit stop, and was betting they would stay fast through the finish.
The bet paid off. Aided by the race’s seventh caution and the outside lane, Busch held Jones off for his record-extending 82d Xfinity series win. The No. 18 Toyota led for 190 laps in the 200-lap race on Saturday.
“Those late restarts were obviously to our advantage being able to restart where I wanted to and choosing the outside seemed to be the preferred lane,’’ Busch said.
“Erik ran a great race, he’s obviously in really good equipment too and we know how good he is. It was going to be tough to beat him on his four tires but track position won today.’’
Jones had changed all four tires on his last pit stop, but the race ended before that advantage kicked in.
“I think we just weren’t quite good enough for the 18,’’ Jones said.
“It took probably about 20-25 laps for it to really burn in and four tires to really come into play so unfortunately we didn’t have that long of a run.’’
Behind Jones, Brad Keselowski placed third and Daniel Suarez fourth, followed by Austin Dillon in fifth.
Alex Bowman, who will drive in place of Dale Earnhardt Jr. in Sunday’s New Hampshire 301, led for seven laps but placed eighth. Bowman did get into a battle for position with Ty Dillon on the 77th lap that caused Dillon to wreck after Bowman seemed to turn off the wall and into Dillon’s No. 3 Chevrolet down the straightaway.
“I didn’t do it intentionally, it just was tight, had a bunch of wheel on the car and it happens. So obviously he’s upset, he’ll get over it someday,’’ Bowman said.
“Maybe there’s something different I could have done but I was trying not to hit the wall and he squeezed me all the way up there.’’
Coby edges Lia
Doug Coby was pushed back on the restart after a mandatory caution at 50 laps, but fought his way to the front to win the New England 100 Whelen Modified Tour race.
Coby led 55 laps overall in his third win this season and fourth career win at Loudon.
“It’s just about being prepared with the car and then being prepared for whatever situation unfolds on the racetrack and certainly we have the best car here but when you go back to seventh or eighth on the restart it’s just a matter of how do you respond,’’ Coby said.
Coby barely edged Donny Lia by .037 seconds and extended his championship points lead over Lia to 32.
“Me and all these guys can think back and there’s 20 different things that we think we could have done different to win the race, especially when you lose by a bumper,’’ Lia said.
Patrick Emerling placed third, Ron Silk, who started at the pole, placed fourth, and Sprint Cup driver Ryan Newman placed fifth.
Elliott busts through
After watching the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and Furniture Row Racing dominate the first two practices, Chase Elliott placed his No. 24 Chevrolet atop the leaderboard during Saturday’s final session. Elliott turned a hot lap of 131.347 m.p.h., edging out Denny Hamlin (131.302). Elliott enters the New Hampshire 301 in eighth place in the standings. The rookie, however, has yet to win a race.
Elliott’s third practice session busted Toyota’s stranglehold. In Friday’s practice, Martin Truex Jr. blazed around the track at 133.562 m.p.h., followed by Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. In Saturday’s first practice, Edwards, Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth clocked the fastest times.
Need for speed
Joey Logano is comfortably tucked into the Chase grid. The driver of the No. 22 has one win and is fifth in points. But Logano, who has two career wins at Loudon, will have work to do on Sunday. Logano was only 18th-fastest during Saturday’s final practice, going 130.060 m.p.h. Logano was 12th-fastest during Saturday’s morning session. On Friday, Logano had the 16th-fastest lap. Logano will start the race in sixth after going 132.915 m.p.h. in qualifying on Friday . . . Kurt Busch ran 60 laps during Saturday’s final practice, most of any driver. Busch ran the 15th-fastest lap . . . Bowman was 22d-quickest during final practice. Bowman will be a one-and-done driver as Jeff Gordon will take command of the No. 88 at Indianapolis if Earnhardt (concussion-like symptoms) is unavailable . . . Safety workers had to cut the roof off the No. 30 Ford of Canadian driver Dominique Van Wieringen with 37 laps in the K&N Pro East race Saturday night. Van Wieringen, who was running in ninth place, collided with tenth-place Reid Wilson’s No. 66 Chevrolet in Turn 1. Van Wieringen was moving after the accident but had to be put in a neck brace. Both drivers were treated and released from the care center.
