Photo Credit: Mike Holtsclaw/OnPitRoad.com
Kyle Larson dominated the second half of the Fitzgerald Gliders 300, but a late restart cost the No. 42 a win as 19-year-old Erik Jones drove around him for his third career win. The win earned him $100,000, and a guaranteed spot in the Chase.
Before the main event at Bristol Motor Speedway, drivers were tested with 50-lap heat races. The two highest finishing XFINITY Series regulars in each heat would compete for the $100,000 Dash for Cash prize.
Erik Jones started on the pole for the first heat race, and he never gave up the top spot. Jones led flag-to-flag before beating out Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch for the win. The heat race win locked himself in to compete for the Dash for Cash. Justin Allgaier finished fourth, which also locked him in.
The second heat was won by Austin Dillon. Much like Jones, Dillon led flag-to-flag in his heat to secure the second starting spot in the main event. Dillon’s brother Ty finished second, which earned him a spot to compete for the Dash for Cash. Daniel Suarez got the final spot in the Dash for Cash by finishing fourth.
Erik Jones led 60 laps from the pole early in the race, but lost the lead and ran third for most of the race. Jones restarted fourth on the final restart, and used a strong restart by Larson to jump down to the inside line and battle the No. 42 for the lead. Crossing the line with two laps to go, he took advantage of the high line that Larson normally runs and took the lead by scrubbing both the wall and the right side of Larson. Kyle Busch followed him by, but Jones didn’t look back, and took the win.
“Couldn’t be happier to be here in victory lane,” said Jones. “It’s a solid all around effort by these guys – from Chris Gabehart (crew chief) to the whole crew in getting this thing here. Chris said on the radio that we’re a young team, but we’re growing every week and it shows every time we hit the race track. That’s perseverance right there, that’s not giving up.”
Jones’ win not only got him a Chase berth, but it also earned him $100,000 from XFINITY.
“That was the last thing I think I was thinking about crossing the line, but a nice little added bonus for us here today,” he said.
Kyle Busch finished second today after leading 43 laps. Busch’s No. 18 NOS Energy Toyota was fast, but he was stuck battling behind Kyle Larson for most of the day.
“The restarts for us were horrible today,” Busch said. “I’d go to the gas both times and the car just shut off and wouldn’t go. It just stumbled – just too much throttle too soon, I don’t know. It’s frustrating when you’re in position to have a chance and you just throw it away. Obviously (Erik) Jones was in a good position there and great job to those guys. He deserves the win, but the class of the field, the two cars that were the class of the field didn’t win today. Oh well.”
Kyle Larson was disappointed after a third-place finish saying he “just did a bad job,” on the TV broadcast. Larson led the most laps with 94, and it seemed like he was on his way to a win until a caution in the closing laps caused a three-lap shootout for a win.
Austin Dillon finished fourth after winning his heat race. It was Dillon’s fourth top-five finish of the year.
Justin Allgaier finished fifth, and was the second highest finishing Dash for Cash eligible driver, behind race winner Erik Jones. Allgaier ran inside the top-10 for the whole race, but used the last restart to score his second top-five finish of the year.
Daniel Suarez and Ty Dillon finished sixth and seventh, rounding out the four Dash for Cash drivers. Kevin Harvick, Joey Logano and Aric Almirola finished out the top-10, and the lead lap drivers.
Elliott Sadler finished outside the top-10 for the first time of the year after finishing a lap down in 15th. The 15th-place finish dropped him from second to third in points, while Daniel Suarez continues to lead.
