WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Kyle Busch was able to check off another box in his illustrious career on Saturday afternoon at Watkins Glen International by claiming his first NASCAR XFINITY Series career victory in the Zippo 200 at The Glen.
With only three laps to go, Busch got a great final restart, allowing him to hold off fellow Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regulars Joey Logano and teammate Brad Keselowski to gain his fourth NXS victory of the 2017 season.
“I’ve won here before in the Cup series (2008 & 2013), so to be able to win here in the XFINITY Series just kind of checks that box for what I’ve been trying to accomplish at The Glen for a few years,” said the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. “I’m hoping we can go for a sweep and be one of the few guys who may have ever been able to do that here.”
Although Busch led most of Stage One, he took a spin into Turn One late in the 20-lap stage and gave up the green-white checkered to Keselowski. The No. 18 faced adversity once more after being penalized for driver through too many pit boxes. In Stage Two Paul Menard held of the Penske duo to gain that stages victory.
Busch led a total 43 of the 80 laps and hopes to continue him momentum from today into tomorrow’s I Love NY 355 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event.
The significance of winning at The Glen was not lost on Busch after the race.
“The history here has been around for a long, long time with Formula 1 races and sports car races, Indy car races and so it’s obviously awesome to score a win at venues like this.”
The I Love New York 355 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday afternoon caps off a tripleheader of NASCAR action at Watkins Glen International. Tickets are available at the WGI ticket office for the race, which gets underway at 3:00 p.m. EST.
