NASCAR Xfinity Series at Indianapolis 2016 Results: Winner, Standings, Reaction

A big weekend for NASCAR in Indianapolis got off to a thrilling start, with Kyle Busch taking home the checkered flag at the Lilly Diabetes 250 on Saturday.

Busch continues to dominate the Xfinity Series this year. He's participated in only 11 of the 18 races, yet he has seven wins after his victory in Indianapolis. No other driver has more than two. He led 62 of the 63 laps in the race to procure the victory after leading all 20 laps during the first heat earlier in the day.

Position	Driver
1	Kyle Busch
2	Kevin Harvick
3	Paul Menard
4	Kyle Larson
5	Justin Allgaier
6	Elliott Sadler
7	Daniel Suarez
8	Joey Logano
9	Ty Dillon
10	Brandon Jones
11	Brennan Poole
12	Jeb Burton
13	Ryan Reed
14	Darrell Wallace Jr.
15	Blake Koch
16	Brendan Gaughan
17	Jeremy Clements
18	Ryan Sieg
19	J.J. Yeley
20	Dakoda Armstrong
21	Ross Chastain
22	Erik Jones
23	Garrett Smithley
24	David Starr
25	Ryan Preece

Rank	Driver	Points	Behind Leader
1	Daniel Suarez	608	-
2	Elliott Sadler	594	14
3	Ty Dillon	558	50
4	Justin Allgaier	542	66
5	Erik Jones	539	69
6	Brendan Gaughan	535	73
7	Brandon Jones	520	88
8	Brennan Poole	519	89
9	Darrell Wallace Jr.	486	122
10	Ryan Reed	433	175
11	Ryan Sieg	420	188
12	Blake Koch	403	205
13	Ross Chastain	384	224
14	Jeremy Clements	383	225
15	Dakoda Armstrong	369	239
16	J.J. Yeley	345	263
17	Garrett Smithley	323	285
18	Ryan Preece	306	302
19	Jeb Burton	289	319
20	Ray Black Jr.	252	356

Brendan Gaughan threw a monkey wrench into Busch's planned dominance, taking the lead on Lap 28. He had not made a pit stop at that point, which made his grasp on the top spot tenuous. 

Busch eventually vaulted back into the lead on the 29th lap, eliminating any cause for concern he was slipping or the rest of the field might have found a way to catch up to him. 

Erik Jones gave Busch a brief scare as the No. 18 car was coming out of the pits.

NASCAR Xfinity shared the highlight:

That was as good as it got for Jones, who went on to hit the wall coming off the second turn with fewer than 20 laps to go. He was in third place at the time but dropped outside the top 10 with damage to the back-right side of his car.

Jones provided one of the most spectacular highlights of the race, though not in a way he would have liked. His car spun out on a turn yet managed to avoid another accident, via NASCAR Xfinity:

Yet after all of the fireworks had ended, Busch was still sitting on his throne with fewer than 10 laps to go. A caution flag brought the rest of the field closer to him, though, providing some drama down the final stretch.

Busch put himself in danger by not taking a second pit stop, opting to finish with the tires he had on for most of the race. Kyle Larson upgraded his wheels during a stop on Lap 51, allowing him to put pressure on the No. 18 car.

After the restart, Larson and Kevin Harvick were both within one second of Busch. However, after Ray Black Jr. and Ross Chastain made contact, the tow trucks came out to get their cars off the track under caution.

As a result, the race wound up going into overtime. The top five going into the restart were Busch, Larson, Harvick, Paul Menard and Justin Allgaier.

Even with the old tires and a jumbled field right behind him, Busch was able to build a cushion almost immediately after the restart. Harvick jumped into second place but found himself nearly a half-second behind Busch.

The final lap of the three-lap overtime period turned out to be a ceremonial victory run for Busch, at which point the celebration was on, via NASCAR Xfinity:

Allgaier did not come out of the race empty-handed, though, taking home the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash prize after finishing fifth.

This weekend, though, is shaping up to be all about Busch. He started out by winning the pole for Sunday's Brickyard 400 and continued that success with another Xfinity Series victory.

There will be more competition in the Sprint Cup Series' Brickyard 400, but he has the best car and all the confidence in the world to complete a perfect weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Post-Race Reaction

The key talking point late in the race was about Busch's tires, though he said after winning he didn't want to follow what the rest of the pack was doing. 

"The new tires for those guys were good for them but not so good for us," Busch said, according to Reid Spencer of NASCAR.com. "I just dug in deep and gave it everything I had. I knew I had to get really good restarts. On the second-to-last one (on Lap 54), I got a really good one, and then the last one (on lap 62 in overtime), it was OK."

Busch added he's hopeful "we can have another sweep here" in Indianapolis. 

Coming up just short in second place was Harvick, who told Spencer "I really thought I could beat him down the backstretch if I got off of (Turn) 2 well and could clear the 42 (Larson)," but once Larson got outside it "ruined my plan."

Harvick did note, despite the finish, today "wasn't a bad day."

Just getting to feel out the track in a race setting should be enough to boost Harvick's spirits heading into the Brickyard on Sunday.

Full race results and points standings via NASCAR.com.