Kyle Busch Fails to Sweep Las Vegas

What’s Happening?

The hopes and dreams of Kyle Busch completing the sweep at his home racetrack in Las Vegas have gone up in smoke. After winning in his now Chevy Silverado No. 51 KBM machine last night, Busch struggled to put it all together in today’s Xfinity Series race.

Starting off in the 11th position, Kyle Busch struggled to find race-winning speed early on. However, he was able to drive his No. 10 Chevy for Kaulig Racing up into the top-5 on numerous occasions throughout the race. In the second stage, he briefly took the lead, leading a total of 4 laps before slipping.

As the final long green flag run went on, Busch fizzled, falling to the 4th position where he crossed the finish line underneath the checkered flag.

You Need To Know

• Today’s race marked the first of five scheduled races for Busch in the Kaulig #10. Busch retired from Xfinity Series competition in 2021 after winning his series-best 102nd race before turning the wheel of the No. 54 Camery over to Ty Gibbs for 2022. With Busch’s new realignment with Chevy, he decided to return to the feeder series for a maximum amount of 5 races, filling in for the released Landon Cassil.
• With his new team alliance, Kyle Busch is now teammates in the Xfinity Series with his former KBM driver, Chandler Smith. Smith won the spring Truck Series race at Las Vegas the year before in the KBM No. 18 truck, beating the boss man who came in 3rd in that race. Busch teaming up with Smith is rare consistency as most of the staff of KBM remained with Toyota. Smith led many of the closing laps but was run down by a hard-charging Justin Allgier and eventual winner Austin Hill and would come in just in front of his former boss in 3rd.
• Heading into the race, fresh off the high of his Cup win at Auto Club and his truck victory last night, many KFB fans started to whisper of a dream about sweeping the weekend. Now, that will not happen, to many of the fans dismay.

While the day overall is a letdown for the guys and gals a Kaulig, Kyle Busch’s Cup Series team, Richard Childress Racing (RCR), won big today as Austin Hill won his fourth career Xfinity Series race, his first to not come on a superspeedway.

Main Characters

The third race of the 2023 NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule marked the debut of Kyle Busch in the No. 10 Camero for Kaulig Racing. He will make five more starts this season. This has to be a disappointment for the Xfinity Series G.O.A.T. as he stated on Twitter earlier in the day that he was ready to “trophy hunt”.

Kaulig Racing seemed well-prepared for this weekend’s events at Las Vegas as all three of their cars scored top-10 finishes. Here Chandler Smith talks about his heartbreaking last-lap loss to Austin Hill.

Austin Hill was the big winner today, scoring his fourth career Xfinity Series win. Watch his awesome last-lap pass for the win, here.

Around The Garage

Kyle Busch’s new home in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, Kaulig Racing, didn’t hesitate to celebrate when their new driver took the lead at Vegas, though it didn’t last too long.

Kaulig executive, Chris Rice, hopes to do great things with Kyle Busch this year. It’ll be interesting to see just how KFB and help the organization improve as the year rolls on.

In The Stands

Fan Justin Poley was impressed by Chandler Smith’s drive today as he showed up his former boss, Kyle Busch.

#BreatheFire was pleading for some Total Team Control in the closing laps of today’s race.

Mason Massey celebrates with his dude, Austin Hill, as he snatches a win away from Chandler Smith’s grasp.

Jupiterthuner celebrated the fact that the No. 10 Chevy just didn’t have enough juice to run down the top-3. He also commented Hill’s championship-level performance so far this season and Chevrolet’s dominance.

Dustin Ryan Black seemed impressed with Smith’s run in the No. 16 Chevy today. Who knows? He might be another multi-win driver before the year is up. Keep your eyes peeled!

Taylor isn’t too broken hearted over Busch’s failure to sweep the weekend. They’re looking towards the bigger picture: improving Kaulig Racing.

On Your Screen

Darian Gillium of Black Flags Matter things RCR has returned to form.

Out of the Groove’s Eric Estepp complements Chandler Smith’s impressive showing today and also congratulates Austin Hill for scoring his second win of the year in only three starts. He’s definitely hot starting off the season.

From The Press Box

Austin Konenski comments on how the handling just seemingly went away on the No. 16 machine.

While KFB won’t be doing any sweeping this weekend, there’s nothing Roudy Nation should hang their head about. He ran decently and will work on improving that team as he prepares for his remaining four starts later on this season.

He will roll off in the 5th spot for tomorrow’s Penzoil 400.