Less than a half-mile separated Austin Cindric from a hard-earned victory over Kyle Busch in Monday's Alsco 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but the 97-time Xfinity Series winner had other plans. For the second time in less than a week, Busch battled in the closing stages, but unlike at Darlington, this time he prevailed.
With no practice or qualifying to set the starting lineup, Busch rolled off in 18th position, but quickly marched to the front, setting up a two-car battle with Ross Chastain that carried throughout much of the race.
By the time the competition caution flew on Lap 20, Busch had climbed 14 spots to the fourth position. He took the lead on Lap 38 and went on the win all three stages in his Appalachian State Class of 2020 Toyota Supra.
A pit road speeding penalty nearly derailed Busch's chances at victory, but a caution with 45 laps to go shook up the field and kept Rowdy's chances alive. Restarting 10th with 38 circuits remaining, Busch took advantage of several late-race cautions to work his way back into contention.
With the white flag in the air, it was Austin Cindric who provided the biggest challenge, racing door-to-door with Busch down the backstretch.
"Those guys were putting up some really good battles on restarts there," Busch said. "Overall a great battle and an exciting finish. On that last restart, he really stayed with me and even got in front of me and passed me. We had a drag race down the backstretch and I knew I had to run it in as far as I could to Turn 3 and hope it sticks."
The veteran made his move in Turn 3, sliding past Cindric to take the checkered flag. Kannapolis, N.C.-native Daniel Hemric finished second, while Cindric came home third. Ross Chastain and Justin Allgaier rounded out the Top 5.
The win marks Busch's ninth Xfinity Series triumph at America's Home for Racing, including six in the Alsco 300. All-time, Busch has won 18 points-paying races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the most by any driver.
Action continues with the stars of the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series takes to the track Tuesday for the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, before the Cup Series returns to put a bow on the week with the Alsco 500 on Wednesday.
Fans can catch all the action on FS1.
