Kyle Busch wins Rinnai 250 in Atlanta as Cup Series drivers dominate

Kyle Busch hasn’t always liked Atlanta Motor Speedway, but he seems pretty comfortable there now.

It wasn’t that long ago that drivers in NASCAR’s top series could run as many races as they wanted in what is now the XFINITY Series. They’re limited to 10 starts a year now, and the Rinnai 250 in Atlanta proved why that’s probably a good idea for the sake of the up-and-coming talent in the sport.

Kyle Busch, who got his first win at Atlanta Motor Speedway just last year, was one if several Cup Series drivers to take turns up front, and he finished there when it counted, leading the closing portion of the race to take the checkered flag. Brad Keselowski made a spirited effort to chase him down before getting snared in lapped traffic and finishing second, while Kyle Larson and Kevin Harvick, who led plenty of laps himself, made it a sweep of Cup Series drivers in the top four spots.

Eliott Sadler, Bubba Wallace (who overcame some early right-side damage) and William Byron finished in the No. 5-7 spots as the highest XFINITY Series regulars. Daniel Hemric and Cole Custer also recorded top 10 finishes.

Yet no XFINITY Series driver was really in contention for the win or even a stage win. It was clear from the beginning that Busch, Keselowski and Harvick had the cars to beat, with Larson running solidly in the top 10 all day as well. Denny Hamlin was the only Cup Series star to have a rough day, encountering multiple problems en route to finishing a lap down in 20th place.

Limits have been in place on Cup Series drivers double-dipping since 2011, but the rules put in place by NASCAR this year are the strictest yet. Not only are Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series racers restricted to 10 starts, none of them can participate in the last regular season race, any of the playoff races or the four 2017 Dash 4 Cash races. That means their appearances are likely to be stacked up early in the year, and Atlanta certainly bore that out.

That might have been fun for the fans at Atlanta Motor Speedway, but not so much for the drivers going for the XFINITY Series championship. Las Vegas awaits next week and the mix of participants could look similar.

Next: Las Vegas could get second NASCAR Cup Series race in 2018

NASCAR XFINITY Series Rinnai 250 from Atlanta Motor Speedway – Full Results

(i) – Driver ineligible for XFINITY Series points

Kyle Busch (i)
Brad Keselowski (i)
Kyle Larson (i)
Kevin Harvick (i)
Elliott Sadler
Darrell Wallace Jr.
William Byron
Austin Dillon (i)
Daniel Hemric
Cole Custer
Brennan Poole
Matt Tifft
Brendan Gaughan
Brandon Jones
Michael Annett
Corey Lajoie (i)
Ty Dillon (i)
Ryan Reed
Aric Almirola (i)
Denny Hamlin (i)
Dakoda Armstrong
Ryan Sieg
Brandon Brown
Harrison Rhodes
Ross Chastain
Jeff Green
Garrett Smithley
Spencer Gallagher
Ray Black Jr.
Justin Allgaier
Joey Gase
David Starr
Timmy Hill
Chris Cockrum
Clint King
J.J. Yeley
Jeremy Clements
Stephen Leicht
Jordan Anderson (i)
Blake Koch

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