Kyle Busch Holds Off David Ragan To Win Denny Hamlin Showdown

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Kyle Busch has won Denny Hamlin’s Short Track Showdown for the third time in six years.

Busch, a teammate of Hamlin’s with Joe Gibbs Racing, grabbed the lead before the 5-minute pit stops that came after 46 laps, then pulled away when the race went back to green, easily holding off Unadilla, Georgia’s David Ragan on Thursday night.

With Hamlin sidelined by a compression fracture of a vertebra in his lower back and forced to watch the event at his home track, Busch once again made the 75-lap race his to lose in a car that was built by his team, Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Ragan was second, and Ben Rhodes finished third.

The race benefits the Denny Hamlin Foundation, which is committed to helping children with cystic fibrosis.