Kyle Busch Wins SRX Debut Against All-Star Field at Pulaski County Raceway

• Kyle Busch kept things simple and easy in winning his first SRX race.

• Clint Bowyer finished second and Tony Stewart third.

• Thursday marked the mid-point of the six-race series for the 2023 season.

Kyle Busch still is waiting for his chance to compete in the Indianapolis 500, but he scratched another box off his racing bucket list on Thursday night.

Busch added yet another win to his career resume, capturing the checkered flag in his first race in Superstar Racing Experience competition Thursday night at Pulaski County (Va.) Motorsports Park.

Busch made his SRX debut on the.416-mile paved track known previously as Motor Mile Speedway until it was renamed about 2 ½ months ago (near Virginia Tech University in nearby Blacksburg, Va.).

And although it was Busch’s first try driving an SRX car, he made it look so simple and easy, like he’s been competing in the series for each of its 15 races to date (dating back to the series’ inception in the 2021 season).

“It’s fun, you know,” Busch said. “It was just a great atmosphere and environment to be around some great drivers. I just love being able to race.”

And being able to win, indeed. Once Busch got past Tony Stewart and Clint Bowyer with over 30 laps to go in the 100-lap main event, the race was essentially game over for the 11 other drivers at that point.

Even though there was one final caution with 10 laps to go following a brutal multi-car wreck (see more below), Busch was not to be denied his rookie SRX debut win (he’s slated to compete in yet one more race this season).

Bowyer finished second, followed by Stewart, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Newman, Helio Castroneves, Bobby Labonte, Hailie Deegan, Marco Andretti, Paul Tracy, Josef Newgarden and Ken Schrader.

Newman remains on top of the SRX standings of the eight full-time drivers in the series, ahead of Andretti and Stewart.

Thursday Night Thunder... and Lightning

Major kudos to Pulaski County Motorsports Park officials.

While Fairlawn, Va., only has a population of under 2,700 residents, they put on one of the most impressive fireworks displays before, during and after Thursday’s race that put other major outdoor sports facilities to shame.

Much of those impressive fireworks displays came after both heat races, before the start of the 100-lap main event, and then after the outstanding night of racing was over.

Thursday marked the mid-point of the six-race series for the 2023 season.

Here’s how the first two heat races wound up: