Kyle Busch wins first race since Daytona crash
Kyle Busch’s first Xfinity Series race since he crashed at Daytona was a successful venture.
Busch took advantage of some late-race contact between Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano to swipe the lead from Chase Elliott and win at Michigan on Saturday. It’s Busch’s first NASCAR win since he returned to the series from a broken leg and broken foot sustained in a crash at Daytona in February.
Harvick was to the inside of Logano while the two were racing for the lead. Harvick’s car bobbled and he slid into Logano. Both drivers were able to keep their cars pointed in the right direction but each lost numerous spots.
Busch then took the lead from Elliott.
The entire complexion of the race was changed when NASCAR threw a caution for a loose tire sitting on pit road. The tire, which rolled out onto pit road during a round of green flag pit stops, was behind the inside pit wall that separates Michigan’s pit road from the infield and front straightaway.
The call wasn’t unprecedented; NASCAR has made similar decisions before. However, no matter if you do or don’t agree with the decision to bunch the field up because of a tire on pit road, you can’t argue that the caution didn’t jack with the way the race was going.
After the race restarted with 29 laps to go there were three crashes (not including the incident between Harvick and Logano) before the end of the race. There had been four cautions in the first 92 laps and the race was in the midst of a 44-lap green flag run before the tire caution.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!