Kyle Busch Continues Resurgence at St. Louis

It was an eventful weekend as the NASCAR Cup Series took a second trip to World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis along with the Craftsman Truck Series, as well as the Xfinity Series taking a second trip to Portland.

Starting off with the Truck Series, it was Grant Enfinger earning his second win of the season after leaders Zane Smith and Ty Majeski wrecked at the front of the field late in the race. Enfinger also earned $50,000 in part of the Triple Truck Challenge, as WWT Raceway served as the second race for it. When asked about how he felt after winning $50K, Enfinger admitted that he forgot about it.

“It’s just so hard to win these races. And if it was about money, we’d have quit a long time ago… It’s been a rocky year. But these last five races, I feel like we’ve come to our own.” Enfinger said afterward.

“(Crew chief) Jeff Hensley made great calls and overall just a just a great day, and the stars aligned.”

Luck came Enfinger’s way after Zane Smith and Ty Majeski collided in front of him on lap 155. Smith was also running on older tires, but despite that, he held a 1.5-second lead late into the race until a spin by Lawless Alan on lap 150. On the next restart, Majeski had charged through the field to get to second and was getting to Smith when he spun in turn two, putting Smith into the wall and ending their chances to win the Toyota 200.

Christain Eckes finished second while Stewart Friesen ended up finishing in third. Carson Hocevar and Chase Purdy rounded out the top five. Matt DiBenedetto, Ben Rhodes, Nick Sanchez, Jesse Love, and Jake Garcia finished up the top ten, as Jesse Love was making his first Truck Series start after Corey Heim was sidelined from illness. 

Cole Custer has run the last three years in the NASCAR Cup Series but outside his win at Kentucky Speedway in 2020, he struggled immensely. With the move down to the Xfinity Series for 2023, it was hopeful that it could help turn things around for Custer. During this Saturday’s Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland International Raceway, Custer survived an overtime restart after Parker Kligerman went three wide on Justin Allgaier and Sheldon Creed, sending them off track. This caused Custer to slip by for the lead on lap 76. 

“I was just trying not to make mistakes,” Custer said about the final restart. “I did the exact same thing (that Kligerman did). I saw him drive in so deep, and I did the same thing two restarts ago.

“Man, I’m just so happy. I’ve never won a road course race before. I’ve been so close so many times, and it’s just so awesome to win this… I’m pumped for the rest of the year. We’ve got fast cars.”

Allgaier voiced his thoughts about the final restart.

“I saw a guy that decided he wanted to win his first race and just missed the braking zone,” said Allgaier. “I understand it. I don’t blame him for being aggressive. I just hate it for everybody on this team.”

“I felt like we did everything we needed to do today. These guys put an absolutely incredible Camaro underneath me. We were able to get up there and mind our business and not make anybody mad and have good, solid laps. And then there at the end, to have it taken away like that and finish second is really tough.”

Justin Allgaier recovered and finished second, as he did chase down Custer but ran out of time to make the move for the win. Allgaier’s teammates Sam Mayer and Josh Berry finished third and fourth respectively, while Austin Hill finished fifth. Myatt Snider, Sheldon Creed, Connor Mosack, Chandler Smith, and John Hunter Nemechek rounded out the top ten. 

It was a wild Enjoy Illinois 300 for the NASCAR Cup Series at World Wide Technology Raceway that involved a nearly 2-hour delay for lightning, as well as brake rotor issues that plagued on about four cars throughout the race. It was Kyle Busch collecting his third win of the season and his 63^rd career Cup Series victory that occurred on an overtime restart. Busch had to hold off the leaders on five different restarts in the last 40 laps of the race. Not only was it another big win and momentum boost for Busch, but it was also a big win for his crew chief, Randall Burnett, who grew up in Fenton, Missouri, and had family in attendance on Sunday.

“That was pretty awesome,” Busch celebrated after the race. “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win baby!”

“We’re going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool.”

Busch held off Denny Hamlin and last year’s St. Louis winner, Joey Logano, as he led five times for 121 laps, including the final 60 laps.

Kyle Larson and Martin Truex Jr finished in the top five, while Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suarez, William Byron, Michael McDowell, and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top ten.

Overheating brake rotors was an issue throughout the race that added on to the 2-hour delay for lightning. Carson Hocevar, Tyler Reddick, Noah Gragson, and Bubba Wallace all had similar issues that ended their day early. Hocevar looked impressive before his incident, as he ran well inside the top 20 until that point.

“I thought it was great,” said Hocevar, making his Cup Series debut. “I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I don’t have a job for next year. I know Al Niece and Cody Efaw want me to run for them (in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series), and I will forever run a race or however many.”

Corey Lajoie, who was subbing for Chase Elliott as he had to serve a one-race suspension for intentionally wrecking Denny Hamlin last week, finished 21st in the No. 9 NAPA Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.

The NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series will take on Sonoma Raceway out west next weekend while the Truck Series take the weekend off.