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Kyle Busch a repeat winner in Atlanta in Xfinity race

 
Published March 5, 2017

HAMPTON, Ga. — After a bunch of close calls at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Kyle Busch has found the winning touch in the Xfinity series.

Busch cruised to his second straight Atlanta victory in the second-tier series Saturday. With a helping hand from lapped cars, the pole-winner was able to hold off fellow Cup driver Brad Keselowski by 0.606 seconds to win the Rinnai 250. Busch won with an average speed on 128.429 mph and no one else was within two seconds of the front.

Before the 2016 race, Busch had five runnerup finishes, plus third- and fourth-place showings at the track.

"It took so long to get here to begin with," Busch said. "Now we've won two in a row. That feels so good."

Keselowski won the first 40-lap stage, while Kevin Harvick took the next 40-lap phase. Harvick led 64 laps, more than any driver, but fell to fourth.

Lapped cars prevented Kese­lowski from challenging Busch in the closing laps.

"It's always a game of cat and mouse, but sometimes it feels like chicken," Keselowski said. "I kept losing one or two car lengths every time I'd go through traffic."

TRUCKS: Christopher Bell held off Matt Crafton on a restart in the Active Pest Control 200 in Atlanta with two laps to go for his third career win. Bell passed Crafton for the lead with 16 laps remaining, winning by 0.447 seconds with an average speed of 108.477 mph.