Winners: Kurt Busch (Cup); Kyle Busch (Xfinity); Austin Hill (Trucks) Corey Heim (ARCA West) plus Marco Andretti (SRX)
Kurt Busch Wins Battle of Brothers
Scores First Victory of The Season At Atlanta
Kurt Busch outdueled his younger brother Kyle Busch in the pair’s fourth career 1-2 finish to secure his 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs position and take his 33rd career victory in Sunday’s Quaker State 400 Presented by Walmart.
Busch, 42, has been particularly good at the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. Sunday’s win was his fourth there, most among the current field, and the last trophy given before the historic NASCAR track is repaved and reconfigured going forward.
More importantly Sunday’s work was a big statement for Busch, who started the race with only a 25-point buffer in the championship standings with six races left to set the 16-driver playoffs field. Now with the win, he’s “in,” and his emotions climbing out of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 Chevrolet certainly reflected the relief and joy.
“Hell yeah, we beat Kyle,” a smiling Kurt Busch said after climbing out of his car, putting his fists in the air and turning toward the cheering crowd in the grandstands.
“What a battle on an old-school race track,” Kurt Busch said. “It’s been one of those years where I knew we were going to have our back against the wall, just above the (playoffs) cut-off line and needed to race hard and race smart.”
“Brothers gotta hug!” - Tommy Boy pic.twitter.com/vPZhEoTJZD
— Kyle Busch (@KyleBusch) July 12, 2021
Kyle Busch Emerges from Late Tangle with Hemric
Lands 102nd Xfinity win at Atlanta
Kyle Busch earned his record 102nd NASCAR Xfinity Series race victory Saturday afternoon in the Credit Karma Money 250 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – taking the checkered flag in overtime to top a perfect 5-for-5 record in Xfinity starts this season.
The winningest driver in series history proclaimed Saturday’s work to be his final curtain call, the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion saying he would no longer compete in the Xfinity Series.
Ironically, in what should have been his biggest bow before the fans – his traditional victory celebration – Busch, 36, opted for a more subdued acknowledgement of the win. He placed the flag inside his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 54 Toyota and conceded the win wasn’t exactly how he wanted to add to his historic victory tally.
On the previous restart with only six laps remaining in regulation, Busch was behind his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Daniel Hemric and gave him a bumper-push forward to help the two get in front of the field. But Hemric’s No. 18 JGR Toyota instead wiggled sideways, made contact with another car and hooked into the outside wall; the wreck forcing the overtime finish.
“Not quite the win we were hoping for,’’ Busch said, “a little bit of a somber win, I guess, not just for it being it the last one, but for the way it kind of happened.
“Really hate it for my teammate Daniel Hemric there on the frontstretch. Just trying to get to him, trying to push him, trying to hit him and get him moving forward. We hit that bump there on the track at the same time and it kind of juked his car and he was across traffic, I guess. Ended up wrecked, which was not all how I foresaw that all going. “But we were able to push our way through and get on to Victory Lane.”
pain.@DanielHemric | @amsupdates pic.twitter.com/vwlHNjpfX5
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 10, 2021
Austin Hill survives Overtime
Wins Inaugural Truck Series Race at Knoxville
At the end of a remarkable race on an equally remarkable race track, Austin Hill took home the trophy in Friday night’s Corn Belt 150 presented by Premier Chevy Dealers at Knoxville Raceway.
After a fourth attempt at overtime in the inaugural NASCAR Truck Series event at the iconic .5-mile dirt track, Hill scored his first victory of the season in a race that featured 14 cautions and a 17-car pileup in Turn 1 that could rival even the biggest “Big One” at Talladega.
“Man, I thought we were out of it,” said an elated Hill, who had shown speed throughout the race but fell back from the second position after a restart on Lap 73. “I thought we were out of it for a little bit. I had that restart outside of the 38 (Todd Gilliland) earlier in the race, and I fell back all the way to like 20th.
“I didn’t think we were going to make it back up. Track position was huge. It was really hard to get around people—you had to kind of rough ‘em up a little bit to get around ‘em. But we don’t stop, we don’t quit, even when we think we’re down and out.”
Pole Winner Derek Kraus won the first and second stages Friday and finished fifth by avoiding most of the chaos at the end of the race.
Hear from your winner at @knoxvilleraces, @_AustinHill! 🙌🔥 pic.twitter.com/SXoJ3TMbDj
— NASCAR Camping World Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 10, 2021
Corey Heim Muscles by Ty Gibbs To Win
Menards 250 at Elko Speedway
Corey Heim was not thinking about the ongoing ARCA Menards Series championship battle between himself and Ty Gibbs as he raced in the closing laps of Saturday night’s Menards 250 at Elko Speedway.
He was thinking about revenge.
In what the 19-year-old from Marietta, Georgia, described as a retaliation for his rival’s aggressive driving earlier in the event on the 3/8-mile paved oval, Heim, who restarted third with three laps to go in the wake of a late caution, nudged the race leader Gibbs out of the way on the evening’s final drop of the green flag. The pilot of the No. 20 Craftsman Toyota for Venturini Motorsports assumed the lead and proceeded to coast to his fourth win of the 2021 season.
“We also have a couple dents on the left rear, the left side door and the left front,” Heim responded in his post-race interview when asked about the damage on his car sustained in the incident with Gibbs. “That’s all from (Gibbs), as well. I think that’s pretty much even right there. He’s probably mad because he lost like he usually is. …
“Just paid back what he did to me earlier in the race. That’s all it comes down to.”
WINNER: @CoreyHeim3's race-winning move! pic.twitter.com/x5BFiN0Qt1
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 11, 2021
Marco Andretti Wins in Shootout at Slinger
Third-Generation Racer Takes First Camping World SRX Series Victory
NTT INDYCAR Series veteran Marco Andretti won the Camping World SRX Series event Saturday night at Slinger Speedway to take his first victory in a racecar with fenders and a roof.
The third-generation racer whose grandfather is Mario Andretti and father is Michael Andretti held off local all-star Luke Fenhaus to take the win at the quarter-mile, high-banked asphalt oval 35 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
“Honestly, I know it’s not a popular win, but I tried to be as clean as possible,” said Andretti, a 16-year veteran of the NTT INDYCAR Series. “I’m so proud of him (Fenhaus). I’m trying to learn from him, to be honest with you. Just delighted to be able to do it without touching him. I know it’s not a popular win, but us old guys have to get it when we can. He’s young, he’s got a lot of time ahead of him. I had so much fun.”
The series finale is next Saturday in Nashville. If you have not watch SRX, be sure not to miss the last opportunity to do so in 2021 – the Superstar Racing Experience is exciting and super fun to watch.
The finale will feature current #NASCAR Cup Series Champion Chase Elliott racing his father “Awesome Bill” and Hailee Deegan who has demonstrated her talent in this new series.
And there is the big one tonight at Slinger Speedway!! 😖 pic.twitter.com/g4eERlhDot
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) July 11, 2021
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