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 After taking the last two races off at Texas Motor Speedway and
Gateway Motorsports Park respectively, Busch returned with a
vengeance recording his second truck series win at the Sparta,
Kentucky-based track, the other occurring in July, 2011.
By winning his 40th career NCWTS victory, Busch helped manufacturer
Toyota notch their 10th consecutive victory dating back to Phoenix
International Raceway, where Kyle Busch Motorsports' Erik Jones
became the youngest winner in the series' history. It is the longest
active win streak by any manufacturer in NCWTS history.
"Tonight was great," said Busch. "It's a great opportunity to drive
good equipment and good stuff, and I'm really proud that my name is
on the door. I'm most proud of Eric Phillips (crew chief) and all
the guys, everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports for all their hard work
and dedication and everything they've done to build really good
trucks, they've done a great job for me. Seeing Darrell (Wallace
Jr.) come home second tonight was pretty great, especially him
getting back in traffic, like we both were and being able to
methodically work his way back up to second."
It was a good day for the 29-year old as he also scored his first
NCWTS pole at the 1.5-mile speedway on Thursday afternoon alongside
teammate and most recent (Gateway) winner Darrell Wallace Jr. The
driver of the No. 51 Dollar General Toyota Tundra led the field to
green, but Wallace Jr. decided he wanted to impress the boss and
made the move for the lead, as the caution flag waived for the first
time on Lap 3 for debris on the backstretch.
Wallace Jr. led the KBM duo through the first 35 Laps, before Busch
maneuvered around his NASCAR Next alum on Lap 36 to retake control
of the field. Busch would continue the pace the field in the eighth
race of the season until green flag pit stops began on Lap 48.
11 Laps later, Busch rolled through the cycle and re-inherited the
lead until the third caution of the night waived on Lap 61 for
debris in Turn 3.
On the restart, Busch pulled away from Wallace Jr. on the start and
by Lap 75 had stretched his lead by 1.888 seconds over the Joe Gibbs
Racing development driver. Behind them, German Quiroga lurked in
third, then the two trucks from Brad Keselowski Racing of Brad
Keselowski and Ryan Blaney.
John Wes Townley, who lost his primary truck in a practice accident
Thursday morning triggered the fourth caution flag of the day, when
he lost control of his No. 5 Zaxby's Toyota Tundra in Turn 4.
Under the yellow, varying pit strategies shuffled the running order,
putting Keselowski, who elected not to pit at the point. Max Gresham
in the No. 23 GMS Racing Chevrolet hailed on his outside for the Lap
81 restart.
The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion used clean air to his
advantage to check out from his competition, but methodically Kyle
Busch, who restarted eighth muscled his way back into second on Lap
89 and found himself on the rear-bumper of Keselowski on Lap 93, and
retaking the top-spot on Lap 96.
The caution flag waived four laps later, which sent the leaders to
pit road for their anticipated final stop of the night. Keselowski
though would lose a massive amount of track position as the team
left a wedge wrench in their truck as Keselowski exited sending him
back to pit and restarting 13th.
Keselowski's misfortune was teammate's Ryan Blaney's gain however,
as he restarted alongside Busch for the Lap 104 restart.
In typical Busch fashion, he pulled away from the group on the
restart, extending his lead to 1.563 seconds over Blaney on Lap 108.
10 Laps later, the Las Vegas, Nevada native continued to stretch his
lead over Blaney by 3.3 seconds.
Only a late race caution would allow the rest of the lead lap trucks
to have any chance of dethroning Busch from his domination. It came
on Lap 139.
Under the yellow, Keselowski gave up his spot inside the top-five in
lieu of four fresh Goodyear tires. Restart mid-pack, Keselowski had
his work cut out for him, but wasn't out of the picture.
Wallace Jr. with advice from crew chief Jerry Baxter tried to make a
late-race pass with eight laps to go on his 'boss', but to no avail.
Busch was able to clear his protege on the high side coming to 143
Laps complete and cruised to a 1.844 second triumph, giving Kyle
Busch Motorsports their first-even 1-2 finish in NCWTS competition.
"Really proud of Kyle Busch Motorsports finishing 1-2," added Busch.
"It's a great testament for everything we've gone for and strived
for and Eric (Phillips) been here since the beginning, I give a lot
of credit to Eric and the team he's built. Having him as the core
has, I think been really good for us. Qualifying 1-2 and finishing
1-2, I think I was more pumped for having a 1-2 finish, than
winning, honestly. I told Darrell "thank you" in Victory Lane. Just
appreciate the way he drove tonight and fought hard."
Wallace Jr., who jumped one spot in the championship standings to
eighth was satisfied with his runner-up finish.
"He (Kyle Busch) knew what he was doing," said Wallace. "He's hard
to beat and he's so good, but I wouldn't want to be with anyone else
-- Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) is so strong. The engines were it on
the restart -- the engines have been stout all year so a shout out
to everyone at the engine shop back at JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing). It's
been a lot of fun getting back into a rhythm coming off of Texas and
St. Louis and then to finish here second. I try to make the most of
it and it was a cool site with KBM one-two, Toyota one-two and 10th
win in a row for Toyota. Huge shout out to Toyota Care and this Made
in America Toyota Tundra was fast tonight."
Behind KBM, Ryan Blaney was third followed by Timothy Peters and
Brad Keselowski stormed his way through the field for a top-five
finish. Matt Crafton, Austin Dillon, Ron Hornaday Jr., Johnny Sauter
and Ben Kennedy comprised the top-10.
[to top of second column] |
In the championship standings, Sauter continues to lead ThorSport
Racing teammate Matt Crafton by eight points (297 to 289). Timothy
Peters is third (-11), Ryan Blaney fourth (-12) and Ron Hornaday Jr.
fifth (-13).
Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a stop at Iowa
Speedway for the running of the American Ethanol 200 on Friday
night, July 11. Timothy Peters is the defending champion.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race -- UNOH 225
Kentucky Speedway
Sparta, Kentucky
Thursday, June 26, 2014
1. (1) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 150, $54815.
2. (2) Darrell Wallace Jr., Toyota, 150, $38555.
3. (10) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 150, $30071.
4. (7) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 150, $20245.
5. (14) Brad Keselowski(i), Ford, 150, $11970.
6. (11) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 150, $14595.
7. (23) Austin Dillon(i), Chevrolet, 150, $9945.
8. (8) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 150, $11695.
9. (5) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 150, $11595.
10. (4) Ben Kennedy #, Chevrolet, 150, $13745.
11. (13) Max Gresham, Chevrolet, 150, $9120.
12. (9) Joey Coulter, Chevrolet, 150, $11195.
13. (12) Tayler Malsam, Chevrolet, 150, $11095.
14. (18) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 150, $10995.
15. (6) German Quiroga, Toyota, 150, $11695.
16. (16) Bryan Silas, Chevrolet, 149, $10765.
17. (15) Corey Lajoie, Ford, 148, $10665.
18. (28) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, 148, $10565.
19. (20) Mason Mingus #, Toyota, 147, $10465.
20. (22) Tyler Young #, Chevrolet, 147, $10990.
21. (17) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 147, $10265.
22. (26) Jimmy Weller, Chevrolet, 146, $10165.
23. (21) Caleb Holman, Chevrolet, 144, $7815.
24. (27) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 143, $8715.
25. (25) TJ Bell, Chevrolet, 142, $8765.
26. (30) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 114, $7515.
27. (3) Jeb Burton, Toyota, Accident, 99, $7415.
28. (19) Chase Pistone #, Chevrolet, Engine, 78, $7310.
29. (24) JJ Yeley(i), Chevrolet, Suspension, 24, $7210.
30. (31) Adam Edwards, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 12, $7610.
31. (29) Charles Lewandoski, Chevrolet, Vibration, 4, $7035.
32. (32) Ryan Ellis(i), Chevrolet, Engine, 3, $7010.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.962 mph.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 43 Mins, 05 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.844
Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 23 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers.
Lap Leaders: K. Busch(i) 1; D. Wallace Jr. 2-35; K. Busch(i) 36-50;
J. Sauter 51-53; B. Keselowski(i) 54-58; K. Busch(i) 59-78; B.
Keselowski(i) 79-95; K. Busch(i) 96-150.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): K. Busch(i) 4 times
for 91 laps; D. Wallace Jr. 1 time for 34 laps; B. Keselowski(i) 2
times for 22 laps; J. Sauter 1 time for 3 laps.
Top 10 in Points: J. Sauter -- 297; M. Crafton -- 289; T. Peters --
286; R. Blaney -- 285; R. Hornaday Jr. -- 284; G. Quiroga -- 272; B.
Kennedy # -- 263; D. Wallace Jr. -- 261; J. Townley -- 257; J.
Coulter -- 242.
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