Kurt Busch gave 23XI Racing something to smile about by bringing home a trophy from Kansas Speedway. (Photo: Chris Graythen | Getty Images)
Kurt Busch squeezed by Kyle Larson with eight laps to go in the AdventHealth 400 to end 23XI Racing’s string of bad luck in recent weeks by winning at Kansas Speedway.
Toyota enjoyed a very successful outing with all six entries finishing inside the top-10, taking five spots in the top-six. The lowest finishing Toyota driver was Bubba Wallace in 10th-place.
Busch picks up his 34th career NASCAR Cup Series win and the second Cup victory for 23XI Racing team owners Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.
“It’s family,” Busch said. “When we started this car number, I knew we had our work cut out for us. We just had to do simple things to work our way up. Heck, one of the simple things was just making final round in qualifying. We’ve been starting to do that. That leads you into other categories that help you think and get you into more detail about other things. I just thought all along if we got upfront it would be a whole new game of blocking the air, taking lanes away.
“Today, this Toyota Camry TRD was fast right off the truck. Stage 1 was killer tight. I thought our day was going to be a long day, and I’m just so happy that the car reacted to the changes. Jordan Brand on the hood, that is our DNA at 23XI. Denny Hamlin, thank you. Monster Energy, everybody that is our partners. This is a big win for our team.”
With the Jordan Brand serving as the primary sponsor of Busch’s No. 45 Toyota for the first time, Hamlin felt like winning this particular race was a big deal for his second-year organization.
MJ on 23XI’s second 𝐖𝐈𝐍 in team history. pic.twitter.com/NfVU97jDDV
— 23XI Racing (@23XIRacing) May 16, 2022
“It’s just huge, Hamlin said. “I said it when Bubba won last year how huge it was. This is obviously a big one. It’s one that’s surprising, but not because I’ve seen over the last three weeks this team just continue to get better and better and better.
“I thought both cars were extremely fast. The 23 was very fast. I was around them all day. Yeah, two top-10 and a win. We’ll take it.”
Despite Wallace getting a good 10th-place result in the second 23XI Racing Toyota, repeated mistakes on pit road ruined what could’ve been potentially a top-five finish.
Even Hamlin admitted the growing pains on pit road that’s been holding back the team from being able to do more in the races.
“And truthfully, I’ve kind of let them down with what we had on pit road, and we haven’t given the drivers honestly an honest chance this year,” Hamlin said.
“In a race track position means everything, they’ve been outperforming what we’ve given them on pit road.”
At the end of the day. YOU control your own destiny. You have a choice when adversity meets you. Flop… or Fight…
Gave it my all. I can sleep good knowing that.
Hungrier than ever
— Bubba Wallace (@BubbaWallace) May 16, 2022
Stage 2
Kurt Busch put on a show while representing the Jordan Brand in style. (Photo: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)
Kurt Busch held off his younger brother Kyle Busch to give 23XI Racing the Stage 2 victory in a very eventful stage.
With two laps to go in the second stage, Martin Truex Jr. watched his stage points disappear in the blink of an eye.
Like many others throughout the race, the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota became the latest victim of a flat left-rear tire. Instead of calling him to the pits, crew chief James Small had Truex Jr. stay out on the track until the stage break.
On Lap 127, Kevin Harvick spun in the middle of green flag pit stops and the caution came out. Harvick had just exited the pits coming up to speed when the incident occurred.
Under this particular caution, all eyes were on Erik Jones. The No. 43 Petty GMS Motorsports Chevrolet sat on pit road as the pit crew struggled to remove the lug nut on the right-rear.
Jones lost several laps as his team couldn’t figure out a way to get the lug nut off. They were able to get the wheel off, replace it and get Petty GMS back on track where Jones eventually finished 32nd, six laps down.
“That kind of ended our day after going multiple laps down,” Jones said.
“We’ll refocus and head to Texas for the All-Star Race.”
That was a wild one. @JamieLittleTV talks with James Houk of @PettyGMS about the issue at Kansas. pic.twitter.com/TU5So5c5pO
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 15, 2022
After making a sweet move at the beginning of the second stage, taking Ross Chastain and Martin Truex Jr. three-wide for the lead, William Byron had a left-rear tire go down while leading the race.
Byron brought his No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet to pit road and lost a few laps. But he wasn’t the only contender with left-rear tire issues.
Moments later, a flat tire derailed Tyler Reddick’s day as he smacked the Turn 1 wall which forced him to pit immediately.
“We ended up going a few laps down, and even though we kept taking the wave around, bad luck continued to strike,” Reddick said. “It just wasn’t our day. We’ll take this and learn from it like we always do.
“Our time is coming and this team doesn’t give up.”
Reddick finished 30th after starting on the front row.
Stage 2 Top-10 Results: Ku. Busch, Ky. Busch, Blaney, Cindric, Elliott, Larson, Chastain, Hamlin, Logano, Wallace.
Stage 1
Kyle Busch took the first stage but he wasn’t a match for his big brother on this day. (Photo: Sean Gardner | Getty Images)
Kyle Busch claimed Stage 1 as a flat left-rear tire under caution derailed pole winner Christopher Bell’s hopes of collecting 10 stage points. Bell ended the opening stage in 14th-place.
While running inside the top-five with less than 20 laps remaining in the first stage, Daniel Suarez had a left-rear tire go down, causing the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet to spin and hit the wall in Turn 4 with the nose of the car.
Suarez was very frustrated on the radio after the fact because he needed to get towed back to pit road and accused the truck of damaging his car.
Watching his teammate Ross Chastain run well consistently with two wins in the bag must be frustrating for Suarez to know he’s in the same equipment but can’t buy a break.
Chase Briscoe brought out the first caution of the race on Lap 6 when he lost control of his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford coming off Turn 4. Then, Briscoe went for a big slide through the frontstretch grass and carried on with his day.
Here's the replay: https://t.co/NgE1U3wnz9 pic.twitter.com/xFo6UiWHm0
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 15, 2022
This was a big test for the Next Gen car because Briscoe’s car wasn’t destroyed despite spinning in the grass at a high rate of speed. In the past, if Briscoe was in a Gen 6 car, this incident would’ve likely ended his day early with a destroyed splitter.
Stage 1 Top-10 Results: Ky. Busch, Chastain, Elliott, Reddick, Byron, Truex Jr., Wallace, Jones, Blaney, Bowman.
All-Star Race
All-Star weekend is upon us so that means drivers will compete for $1 million in a non-points exhibition event. (Photo: NASCAR Digital Media)
Next Sunday night, the NASCAR Cup Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway for the All-Star Race on May 22 (8 p.m. ET, FS1).
AdventHealth 400 Top-10 Results: Ku. Busch, Larson, Ky. Busch, Hamlin, Bell, Truex Jr., Chastain, Stenhouse Jr., Bowman, Wallace.
