Busch's final O'Reilly Series win at EchoPark
Relive Kyle Busch's 102nd and final win in the NASCAR O'Reilly Series at EchoPark Speedway in 2021.
Video Transcript
Well, speaking of drivers that can get streaky in a hurry, how about this car right here behind us, looking to go five for five in the Xfinity series today.
How great has this year been for Mr. Busch?
Oh, spectacular, but why are we surprised?
He's won over 100 Xfinity races.
More importantly, Jeff, winning percentage over 25%.
So you can talk about how many races he's won, but when you think he wins at least one of every four he's in, that is an unbelievable number.
You've seen it.
We remember Mark Martin.
He has a better winning percentage than Mark Martin, who dominated this series.
So I think his chance of going fi- five for five has to be pretty high.
Oh, it's really high.
He's clearly the favorite coming in today.
And I know a lot of you guys out there watching don't want this man in the race, but there's a lot of drivers behind him that want him in the race for the same reason that I said when Jeff Gordon beat those cup guys here on that day, it showed you could beat him.
If you can take the fight to this guy on this racetrack, that's a feather in your cap, man.
That's an opportunity to advance your career.
He's gonna make it way harder on you for him being here, but that's what it is.
You might as well get used to it.
If you wanna make that next step- Yes, sir you may as well get used to it.
Well, that's the thing.
If you're gonna run on Sundays, you better get a little taste of it.
These are the types of drivers you have to beat.
Drivers, start your engines.
All right, fired up.
You have a fun time out there?
No, you got me up here on the spot.
Dylan, for years, Kyle Busch has said when he got to 100 Xfinity series wins, he would call it quits.
Then, this morning, he sent this tweet out on the way down to Atlanta contemplating all the years of Xfinity series racing, 100 wins.
He actually has 101.
"Let's go get one more."
And because of that, I asked Kyle before the race, "Is this indeed your last Xfinity series race?"
He said, "It is."
He said, "You know, you never wanna say never.
Unless something comes up, I expect this to be my final Xfinity series race."
Hendrick looking high here.
Three wide on Hemric.
Hemric as he's falling back.
A.J.
Allmendinger taking advantage of it.
So is Harrison Burton.
Hemric did not get a good launch at all.
Did not get rolling on that initial start.
See a little bit of dust off these cars.
Again, this track's green, no laps on it, so you're gonna see tons of dirt and dust, debris flying up in the air, rooster tails off the back of these cars.
They tr- clean the track for the most part.
Wide open for the 54.
Kyle Busch is gonna lead the first lap here at Atlanta.
You notice Kyle Busch hasn't moved an inch off the bottom of the racetrack.
I would assume if you're Chris Gale, you probably feel a little bit better about that.
There's Kyle right on the bottom of one and two.
When you're low on the racetrack, that takes care of that right front a little bit more.
And when you get to a one-second lead, he has not gone any harder.
I believe he came out to a manageable lead, and Chris Gale and Kyle Busch have a plan here.
This will be the third stage win of the season for Kyle Busch as he gets the win of stage one.
Kyle said, "The only time I really lost time was when I was missed my marks in turns three and four."
Bit of a rough stop for the 54 bunch.
Kyle Busch, who's led every lap, Rick, you see it right there, loses four spots.
Has the momentum down into turn one.
The Gibbs cars teamed up.
Noah's got a great run here.
Here he comes to the outside.
Huge run by Noah Gregson, trying to take the lead as they go down the back stretch.
He's gonna get a huge push by the 54 of Kyle Busch right here, and he should clear him.
54 goes up to the third lane.
Yeah, Kyle's gonna use the momentum off the top.
We'll see if he can do anything with it on this front straightaway.
Oh, he gets a little bit tight on corner exit.
It's so interesting, three and four normally does not have the grip on the top that one and two does.
Yeah, the car doesn't wanna turn on the exit of the corner there.
So watch the difference over here.
Off of two, you'll see Kyle Busch get a big run on corner exit.
Harrison gonna go up and block him.
Kyle is gonna say, "Ah, I'm gonna take it."
Man, and that, that's so frustrating when you see that driver who's gonna drift up the racetrack in front of you, and he knows you got a massive run.
He knows you're coming, and he throws that block anyway.
I tell you what else too, dude, I think it's hard is how slow you were going at the end of that run.
Now you got new tires on.
Now you gotta go find the pace of the car with new tires.
Three wide right here.
Pretty sketchy for these guys getting down into turn one.
Looking good for that 02 of Brett Moffitt right there in fifth.
Yeah, they sort it out.
Brett, got a new crew chief on this car today.
Battle for the lead.
Kyle Busch back to the outside here in three and four.
He's gonna run a little bit lower.
Noah gets into the apron just a second.
Upsets that car somewhat.
Harrison Burton following in the tracks of Kyle Busch.
Harrison's told us, "I love when Kyle Busch is in the race.
I can learn so much from him.
He's one of the best, if not the best, that's ever raced in the Xfinity series."
I can understand exactly what he means.
When I ran in the Xfinity series with Mark Martin, you knew you might lose the race that day when he was out there, but you were gonna learn something.
He won stage one.
He's going to win stage two now.
It's the sixth time that Kyle has swept both stages.
Well, how about that one right there, that black and orange Toyota of Daniel Hemric?
What a fantastic day it has been for him.
And I can't believe this week when I was looking through my stats pack, there is a whole page dedicated to drivers that have not won and finished second many times.
Daniel Hemric is that guy in the Xfinity series.
Today, if he can stay ahead of Kyle Busch and everybody else, he'll get his first career victory.
Steve, what strategy puts Daniel Hemric in victory lane for the very first time today?
Well, he definitely, definitely does not wanna see any more yellows.
The 18 of Hemric, the 54 of Kyle Busch have put on their last fresh set of Goodyear tires.
They're not alone.
There's a bunch of cars that have done it, so they'll have a little bit of protection even if the yellow comes out, but his best bet right now is 35 green flag laps.
Oh, and a caution's gonna come out here.
Oh, no, caution, Rick.
Carson Ware gets spun around.
All right, see if we can get it running.
You see the smoke, but that caution now for a restart.
Does anybody have tires?
Oh, yes.
I know the answer.
The answer is yes.
The question is, is there enough time?
I believe there is with 17 laps to go to put them on and use them to your advantage.
Unfortunately for the 18 of Daniel Hemric and the 54 of Kyle Busch, they do not have any fresh tires.
Same story for Daniel Hemric, middle of your screen.
Used Goodyear tires.
Boy could really use a fast pit stop from the crew here, Marty.
Kyle Busch said no-brainer to him.
He said those scuffs are colder.
That's what we want to put on.
They are 10 lap scuff tires going on for Kyle Busch.
Meanwhile, Dave, you mentioned some of those cars earlier that have fresh Goodyear tires.
All the guys in the back, Justin Allgaier among them, will start on brand new sticker Goodyear tires.
I see him sitting back on his quarter panel.
That's what I, that's what I'd be doing too.
Start rolling up on him.
There, he's rolling up on him, hoping that that 18's gonna go.
Oh, look at that.
Seven.
Great restart for Allmendinger.
Here comes Allgaier as well.
Allgaier's gonna look high here.
Oh.
And a push there for the 54.
Contact made.
Hemric slides up trying to save it.
He's into the wall.
Three, three, three, three, three.
Keep going.
Moffitt comes out again.
Keep him working.
Keep him working.
Still green.
There, get out of the way.
Contact made.
Hemric trying to save it, but that first win isn't gonna happen today.
You saw it.
It almost- Kyle Busch said on the radio, "Guys, that wasn't supposed to happen."
You know, he talked about getting a great restart and how important it is.
The outside lane doing a really good job.
Allmendinger did a great job.
Allgaier saying, "I want to make it three wide."
Well, then Kyle Busch tries to push Hemric, and when he did, it just knocked Hemric, Hemric up the racetrack.
Now he's along for the ride.
Kyle Busch trying to help his teammate, just too much contact.
AJ makes contact right there, and great save almost by the 18.
Justin has to lift.
Cost him a ton of track position.
And I think Justin Allgaier thinking, "I've got a shot to win this race."
Yeah.
Rolling clean here.
Doing everything he can.
Second place is half back.
Going to the inside.
He's going to line up.
Probably around 10th.
Right there, just too much.
Bottom three.
Well, that's a great, great start for that outside line.
Here comes the inside, and Kyle Busch with Moffitt right on his back bumper.
Jeb is right there.
Can he stay on that quarter panel for the corner exit here?
Up.
Four up.
Four up.
Kyle Busch takes it away.
Contact.
Jeb on to him though.
Jeb's got, got position on him getting into turn three.
There was contact made.
Jeb Burton got into the bumper, but now look at Kyle Busch trying to rocket ahead.
When they come out, they'll have one lap to go.
One more time around.
Kyle Busch looking for his 102nd win in the Xfinity series.
He mentioned when he got to 100 he was gonna retire.
That was a year ago.
He got to win 100.
He had two more races on the schedule.
Road America was 101, and Atlanta is gonna be 102 for Kyle Busch.
Way to go.
Guys, you guys have earned it.
All right, guys.
Would you please give a big round of applause for the 18 of Kyle Busch.
One of the most polarizing drivers in the history of NASCAR.
Kyle Busch will go to grab the checkered flag.
There you go, Kyle.
All right.
Well, congratulations.
102.
I want to know about the restart with your teammate, Daniel Hemric there.
Yeah, obviously, you know, I meant to push him.
I wanted to hit him.
I just wanted to hit him forward and straight, but you know, it turned him sideways a little bit, and then I think he got more help on his right side.
But you know, it's just trying to help a teammate there, and that's why I restarted behind him, you know?
But overall just great day for you know, our 54 car, but the 18 was better and deserved this win.
So I'm sorry to Daniel and those guys.
I hate it that all that transpired, but that's restarts at Atlanta, I guess.
I mean, same thing happened with Kurt and Hamlin here in the springtime, you know?
So just a product of it sometimes, but you hate it when it does happen, and that's why this win's a little more somber than some others that have been because, you know, you just You don't take solace in, in having a win like that, but All right, Kyle Busch winning in what he says will be his final Xfinity Series start.
One more bow for the fans.
Rick, it's a final curtain call for Kyle Busch in the Xfinity Series.
And what an Xfinity Series career it has been for him.
If that's it, if that's the last time we see Kyle Busch behind the wheel of an Xfinity car, he's the best ever.
102 wins.
