By: Ashley McCubbin

It was shaping up to be the Kyle Busch vs. Chase Elliott show once again – until both drivers made costly mistakes that took them out of contention. It was a rarity for the NASCAR Cup Series competitors, but opened the door for a couple series regulars to shine.

From the drop of the green flag, the pair both showed speed with Busch leading early, while Elliott found his way to the front near the end of the opening stage. They remained up there through the second stage, with the final run to the checkered coming down to a green flag pit stop sequence.

Elliott was the first of the pair to attempt his way down, only to overshoot the entry and slide by with smoke coming from the tires. It appeared as though he’d rebound for a top-five finish, only to spin out with three laps to go after fighting a loose condition and using up his Goodyear rubber. He finished 21st.

Busch got down pit road cleanly, though found trouble once returning back to the track. Jordan Anderson suffered a flat tire, resulting in him slowing and going up the track. Busch caught the No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado rather quickly, and couldn’t escape to the bottom, trying to shoot the gap between Anderson and the wall instead. The result would be damage to his No. 51 Toyota Tundra on both the right and left side, bringing him back into the pits. He then sped on pit road, seeing him have to return down once again. He finished 22nd.

Elliott scored the win at Charlotte Motor Speedway with Busch placing second, but it wasn’t a clean run for the latter as he suffered mechanical issues in the early stages. The issues only compound when you figure that Busch has sped on pit road three times this year now, with a pair of infractions in the Xfinity Series. He lost to Chase Briscoe at Darlington Raceway as a result, while rebounding to win the Charlotte event.

Although everybody feels the Cup stars are just set to come in and dominate, today showed they also need to execute if they want to make it happen. With them out of the picture, it was Austin Hill and Grant Enfinger stealing the show.

Running up front all race long, Enfinger utilized a late-race restart (after Elliott spun) to take the lead and the victory. The ThorSport Racing driver is making an early case as a Championship favorite as that’s two wins in four events, with Busch and Elliott victorious in the other two. Recall, he also won the regular season title in 2019 en route to placing seventh in the playoffs after suffering an engine failure at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Could this be the season of redemption?

Heartbreak for Hill, though, as he had a three-second lead before Elliott’s spin and looked bound to head to victory lane. With Hattori Racing Enterprises having won a championship previously with Brett Moffitt, don’t expect them to remain winless all year long.

Competition was as strong as always in the event, with battles three-wide for multiple laps after a restart. Even though the field seemingly got more strung out than we’re used to in Truck Series action, there was still some close battles over the course of a run to wet your appetite.

So do not fear, the racing package is still strong as always with now four solid events in the books for the series. It’ll be a trend that should carry forward to Homestead-Miami Speedway next Saturday with multiple grooves in play.