Winners: Chase Elliott (Cup); Kyle Busch (Xfinity); Jesse Love (ARCA West) plus Ernie Francis, Jr. (SRX)
Chase Elliott Surges to Cup Series Win at Road America
After one event in “exile,” Chase Elliott once again is King of the Road.
The reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion passed Kyle Busch for the lead on Lap 46 of 62 and cruised to victory in Sunday’s Jockey Made in America 250 Presented by Kwik Trip, the first Cup race at the 4.048-mile road course in 65 years.
“Just really proud of our team for overcoming some adversity early and having to start in the back, having good pit stops,” said Elliott, who restarted fifth on Lap 46 after the final caution of the race for Anthony Alfredo’s spin into a Turn 1 gravel trap.
“Had a really fast NAPA Chevrolet. Just so proud. We’ve had a rough few week, so it feels really good.”
Happy 4th everybody! I hope everyone had themselves as good of a day as we did in Wisconsin! I’m about to trade in the #A_SHOCenergy for some 🍺…
— Chase Elliott (@chaseelliott) July 5, 2021
🇺🇸#di9 pic.twitter.com/jtOUArYF4F
Kyle Busch Rallies from Pair of Detours for Xfinity Series win at Road America
Taking advantage of a late wreck that foiled other contenders — not to mention fresher tires for the final six-lap green-flag run — Kyle Busch won Saturday’s Henry 180 at Road America, claiming his fourth NASCAR Xfinity Series victory in four starts this season.
On Lap 41 of 45, Busch took the lead from AJ Allmendinger, whose No. 16 Chevrolet was struggling on older tires.
Over the next four laps, the driver of the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota widened his lead to 3.522 seconds at the finish over teammate Daniel Hemric, who ran second after passing Allmendinger for the runner-up spot.
“Obviously, tires — that was the saving grace for us,” said Busch, who got four new tires under caution on Lap 36. “We had a set of tires left over and (Allmendinger) didn’t.
“When we did put our last set of tires on, I wasn’t sure we’d be able to get through that many cars. I don’t know what happened on those last couple of restarts. I couldn’t really see what was happening. We were fortunate to get by that stuff and get through that stuff without any damage to our race car.”
"Tires were the saving grace." 🙏@KyleBusch used fresh tires to grab his 101st NASCAR #XfinitySeries win at @roadamerica! pic.twitter.com/XeFpSC1yHs
— NASCAR Xfinity (@NASCAR_Xfinity) July 3, 2021
Jesse Love Rallies at Irwindale For First West Series Win of 2021
Jesse Love spent the majority of Saturday night’s ARCA Menards Series West race at Irwindale Speedway trying and failing to catch pole-sitter Dean Thompson. The 2020 Late Model track champion at the half-mile oval outside of Los Angeles was the driver to beat.
All Love needed, it turned out, was the chance to muscle past Thompson on a short run. The defending West Series champ received that opportunity when a late caution catalyzed a restart with four laps to go, and he took advantage.
At the end of those four laps, the 16-year-old from Menlo Park, California, emerged as the winner of the NAPA Auto Parts 150 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame.
“My dad always told me the definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result,” joked an elated Love after the race, referring to his repeated attempts to pass Thompson on the inside of Irwindale’s progressively banked corners before successfully doing so in the closing laps. “I’m so happy; it’s so awesome.
“I want to say thank you to everybody at Toyota, NAPA, all of my family and friends. I have a happy team owner. Thank you everybody.”
WINNER: @jesselovejr1's pass for the win at Irwindale 💪 pic.twitter.com/eY67LG3j8n
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) July 4, 2021
Ernie Francis, Jr. Survives Late-Race Fireworks to Win SRX
Ernie Francis Jr., scored an emphatic victory in the Camping World SRX Series race Saturday night at Lucas Oil Raceway, beating NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Labonte in a two-lap shootout to the finish.
The cleanest race in the Camping World SRX Series’ short history devolved into a slugfest in the final 10 laps and Ernie Francis, Jr. had the biggest fists in route to his first series win at Lucas Oil Raceway. Scott Speed finished the podium in third.
“I’m totally speechless,” Francis told pit reporter Matt Yocum after the race. “This is incredible. Man those last 10 – 15 laps, they felt like an eternity out there. All the cautions. I was just focusing on getting a good restart. Me and Scott Speed went after it for a few laps there, side-by-side. I didn’t know how that was going to end up. Got a few donuts on the car, but I couldn’t be happier with it.”
