BRISTOL, Tenn. — Erik Jones blew past Kyle Larson soon after the final restart and held off Kyle Busch in the final laps to win the NASCAR Xfinity Series race on Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Larson led a race-high 94 of 200 laps thanks to a series of daring moves between cars on the tight half-mile track that kept Busch at bay during the final third. Then came the final caution that left a three-lap sprint on the restart, when Jones’ No. 20 Toyota got past Busch’s No. 18 Toyota on the outside before eventually clearing Larson, whose No. 42 Chevy finished third.
“We got a really good restart and we were right with the 42 (Larson),” Jones said. “The 42 just really left the top open where I’d been running before the yellow came out. I figured that was our only chance, we could go up there and see if it holds, and I went up there and it stuck.”
Jones then withstood a last charge from Busch to win the race after starting on the pole. He led three times for 62 laps and collected a $100,000 bonus with a third career series victory that also denied Busch’s bid for a third consecutive weekend sweep of NASCAR events.
Busch, the Sprint Cup Series champion, led 43 laps after starting fifth.
INDYCAR: Helio Castroneves continued the Team Penske domination in qualifying Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Long Beach in California.
Castroneves turned a lap at 1 minute, 07.1246 seconds for the top starting spot for the race Sunday on the temporary street course. Scott Dixon qualified second and was followed by Simon Pagenaud.
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