The official 2021 Henry 180 NASCAR XFINITY Series race lineup, determined by qualifying results, shows the starting positions of all drivers at Road America.
Saturday, July 3rd, 2021
Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI
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.
Busch who won in his Road America debut and for the 101st time in his career, extending his own series record. The victory came after Busch experienced several off-track excursions that luckily didn't deprive his car of the speed necessary to win.
"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."
Busch restarted seventh on Lap 40 after the final caution for the multicar wreck. He made up four positions almost immediately and passed Allmendinger for the lead in Turn 3 on the following circuit.
Michael Annett overtook Allmendinger on the next-to-last lap and finished third. The winner of the first two stages, Allmendinger held fourth, with Harrison Burton completing the top five.
An 11-car wreck between Turns 2 and 3 after a restart on Lap 37 damaged the contending cars of Austin Cindric and Justin Allgaier and set Busch up for his run to victory. Cindric appeared in control of the race until he pitted for tires after the No. 81 Toyota of Ty Gibbs stalled on the track with transmission issues on Lap 35 and caused the sixth caution of the race.
Cindric's No. 22 Ford sustained damaged to the right rear in the melee that followed the restart, and he was forced to pit for repairs. Nevertheless, he charged to eighth place at the finish and holds an 89-point lead over second-place Allmendinger in the series standings.
"Sometimes it works out for you, and sometimes it doesn't," Cindric said philosophically. "Today was one of those days. It just wasn't meant to be. If they gave out an award for cars passed, we would handily have that.
"I'm not sure there's a corner on this car that doesn't have damage. I appreciate the hard work by everybody. We had a decent points day, and we will move on."
Gibbs, who edged Cindric for the pole position during Saturday morning's time trials, was running second when his car stopped because of the broken transmission at the top of the hill in Turn 6. His 31st-place result was his worst in a part-time campaign that has produced two victories and seven top fives in nine starts.
ST | # | DRIVER | MAKE | SPD | TIME | BHND | SPONSOR | TEAM | CREW CHIEF |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 81 | Ty Gibbs | Toyota | 107.532 | 135.520 | 0.000 | Monster Energy | Joe Gibbs Racing | Chris Gayle |
2 | 22 | Austin Cindric | Ford | 107.475 | 135.592 | 0.000 | Menards / Richmond | Team Penske | Brian Wilson |
3 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Chevrolet | 107.370 | 135.725 | 0.000 | Hyperice | Kaulig Racing | Jason Trinchere |
4 | 18 | Daniel Hemric | Toyota | 107.220 | 135.915 | 0.000 | Poppy Bank | Joe Gibbs Racing | Dave Rogers |
5 | 54 | Kyle Busch | Toyota | 106.845 | 136.392 | 0.000 | M&M's Ice Cream | Joe Gibbs Racing | Mark McFarland |
6 | 7 | Justin Allgaier | Chevrolet | 106.582 | 136.729 | 0.000 | BRANDT | Jr Motorsports | Jason Burdett |
7 | 31 | Kaz Grala | Chevrolet | 106.513 | 136.817 | 0.000 | Ruedebusch.com | Jordan Anderson Racing | Arthur Haire |
8 | 10 | Jeb Burton | Chevrolet | 106.491 | 136.846 | 0.000 | Nutrien AG Solutions | Kaulig Racing | Bruce Schlicker |
9 | 51 | Jeremy Clements | Chevrolet | 106.228 | 137.184 | 0.000 | Whitetail Smokeless | Jeremy Clements Racing | Mark Setzer |
10 | 20 | Harrison Burton | Toyota | 105.453 | 138.192 | 0.000 | Offerpad | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jason Ratcliff |
11 | 48 | Jade Buford | Chevrolet | 104.576 | 139.351 | 0.000 | Big Machine Spiked Coolers | Big Machine Racing | Patrick Donahue |
12 | 1 | Michael Annett | Chevrolet | 106.600 | 136.706 | 0.000 | Allstate Peterbilt Group 50th | Jr Motorsports | Mike Bumgarner |
13 | 11 | Justin Haley | Chevrolet | 106.586 | 136.724 | 0.000 | LeafFilter Gutter Protection | Kaulig Racing | Alex Yontz |
14 | 07 | Josh Bilicki | Chevrolet | 106.526 | 136.801 | 0.000 | Insurance King / DITECH | Ss Green Light Racing | Mike Tyska |
15 | 5 | Andy Lally | Chevrolet | 106.472 | 136.870 | 0.000 | Alpha Prime Regimen | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Adam Brooks |
16 | 90 | Preston Pardus | Chevrolet | 106.460 | 136.885 | 0.000 | Chinchor Electric / Danus Utilities | Dgm Racing | Tony Furr |
17 | 17 | Cody Ware | Chevrolet | 106.384 | 136.983 | 0.000 | Nurtec ODT | Rick Ware Racing | Jason Miller |
18 | 6 | Spencer Pumpelly | Chevrolet | 106.353 | 137.023 | 0.000 | Swann Communications | Jd Motorsports | Ricky Viers |
19 | 68 | Brandon Brown | Chevrolet | 106.278 | 137.120 | 0.000 | Cookin Pellets | Brandonbilt Motorsports | Doug Randolph |
20 | 99 | Kevin Harvick | Ford | 106.233 | 137.178 | 0.000 | Henry Repeating Arms | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | David Ingram |
21 | 19 | Brandon Jones | Toyota | 106.021 | 137.452 | 0.000 | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing | Jeff Meendering |
22 | 36 | Alex Labbe | Chevrolet | 105.991 | 137.491 | 0.000 | Can-Am | Dgm Racing | Mario Gosselin |
23 | 8 | Sam Mayer | Chevrolet | 105.935 | 137.564 | 0.000 | QPS Employment Group | Jr Motorsports | Taylor Moyer |
24 | 02 | Brett Moffitt | Chevrolet | 105.726 | 137.836 | 0.000 | Our Motorsports | Our Motorsports | Joe Williams |
25 | 126 | Kris Wright | Toyota | 105.706 | 137.862 | 0.000 | Wright Automotive | Sam Hunt Racing | Andrew Abbott |
26 | 39 | Ryan Sieg | Ford | 105.605 | 137.993 | 0.000 | CMR Construction and Roofing / A-Ga… | Rss Racing | Shane Wilson |
27 | 2 | Myatt Snider | Chevrolet | 105.522 | 138.102 | 0.000 | Shore Lunch | Richard Childress Racing | Andy Street |
28 | 78 | Ryan Ellis | Toyota | 105.337 | 138.344 | 0.000 | Rich Mar Florist | Bj Mcleod Motorsports | Keith Wolfe |
29 | 42 | Timmy Hill | Toyota | 105.304 | 138.388 | 0.000 | American Dream Leasing & Financ… | Motorsports Business Management | Sebastian Laforge |
30 | 92 | Josh Williams | Chevrolet | 105.129 | 138.618 | 0.000 | Alloy Employer Services | Dgm Racing | Eddie Troconis |
31 | 13 | Stephen Leicht | Toyota | 105.112 | 138.641 | 0.000 | K1 Speed | Motorsports Business Management | Patrick Magee |
32 | 4 | Landon Cassill | Chevrolet | 104.833 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Voyager | Jd Motorsports | Tommy Machek |
33 | 44 | Tommy Joe Martins | Chevrolet | 104.566 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Gilreath Farms Red Angus | Martins Motorsports | Dan Stillman |
34 | 98 | Riley Herbst | Ford | 104.149 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Monster Energy | Stewart-haas Racing | Richard Boswell |
35 | 23 | Natalie Decker | Chevrolet | 98.905 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Nerd Focus | Our Motorsports | Daniel Johnson |
36 | 9 | Noah Gragson | Chevrolet | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / BRCC | Jr Motorsports | Dave Elenz |