NASCAR News: Kyle Busch wins Atlanta Truck Photo Finish

Pulling ahead of Stewart Friesen about 20 yards from the finish line, Kyle Busch’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet held on for a slight 0.017-second win as the two passed side-by-side under the checkered flag in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

It was Busch’s record eighth series victory at the track. He led a race high 80 of the 135 laps but, definitely earned his hardware this weekend with a half dozen trucks going door-to-door with the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion in the closing 20 laps.

“Awesome run for this Spire Chevrolet and everybody at [sponsor] Gainbridge,” Busch said, thanking the fans in the grandstands for coming out in the cloudy 50-degree Atlanta weather.

“Just trying to make sure I stayed as far forward as I possibly could,” Busch said of how he held off the field in the closing laps “Those guys would cycle to me and get to the next one in front, next one in front of me and I just made sure to keep battling back and got back to the front so I could control it the best I could. That inside [lane] was good, they were rolling forward so it made for a heck of a race.”

“I’m proud we had a heck of a race there to the finish and it wasn’t single file. There was some mixing it up for these fans out here to see a cool show.”

As elated as Busch was in claiming his record 67th NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win – and record 232nd national series win – Friesen could only muster a slight smile conceding he gave it his best in the thrilling finish.

“Just proud of my race team here,” the Canadian owner-driver of the No. 52 Halmer-Friesen Toyota said. “We had a shot. This is my favorite truck and we’ll keep digging with it. We had a shot and I guess I got too far off my help there coming off the back on my last lap. I thought I could pack some more air on him coming out of three and surge ahead, but just had the surge at the wrong time and he came back.”

With Busch and Friesen ultimately the pair fighting for the checkered flag, Tyler Ankrum and Bailey Curry crossed the finish line side-by-side just behind, a mere .001-second separating the two. Georgia native Chandler Smith finished fifth. All of these drivers giving Busch a challenge in those last laps.

Caden Honeycutt, two-time series champion Ben Rhodes, reigning series champion Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10 in a race that saw 19 lead changes among 11 drivers and only a pair of caution flags beyond the scheduled stage breaks.

Of note, championship favorite Corey Heim ran out of gas running third a single lap before the Stage 2 break and was never able to make up the three laps he lost to that, finishing 23rd. It was also a rough ending for 25-year old rookie Connor Mosack, who earned his first series pole position and led 30 laps, but was involved in a late race incident and finished 25th.

Jack Wood won the opening stage and Busch claimed the second stage win. Giovanni Ruggiero was the top finishing rookie in 11th place. Tanner Gray earned an additional championship point for claiming the Fastest Lap Bonus.

Enfinger takes a 1-point advantage over Majeski into the series next race, March 14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Race Results

1. (9)  Kyle Busch(i), Chevrolet, 135.
2. (8)  Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 135.
3. (7)  Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 135.
4. (30)  Bayley Currey, Chevrolet, 135.
5. (28)  Chandler Smith, Ford, 135.
6. (25)  Kaden Honeycutt, Chevrolet, 135.
7. (10)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 135.
8. (12)  Ty Majeski, Ford, 135.
9. (6)  Jake Garcia, Ford, 135.
10. (2)  Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 135.
11. (22)  Giovanni Ruggiero #, Toyota, 135.
12. (17)  Michael McDowell(i), Chevrolet, 135.
13. (24)  Matt Mills, Chevrolet, 135.
14. (13)  Luke Fenhaus, Ford, 135.
15. (26)  Tanner Gray, Toyota, 135.
16. (3)  Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 135.
17. (15)  Dawson Sutton #, Chevrolet, 135.
18. (29)  Josh Reaume, Ford, 135.
19. (27)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 135.
20. (16)  Layne Riggs, Ford, 134.
21. (5)  Jack Wood, Chevrolet, 133.
22. (11)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 133.
23. (19)  Corey Heim, Toyota, 132.
24. (18)  Toni Breidinger #, Toyota, 132.
25. (1)  Connor Mosack #, Chevrolet, 131.
26. (21)  Frankie Muniz #, Ford, Accident, 106.
27. (14)  Andres Perez de Lara #, Chevrolet, Suspension, 96.
28. (32)  Justin Carroll, Toyota, Engine, 75.
29. (4)  Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, Accident, 74.
30. (23)  William Sawalich(i), Toyota, Accident, 74.
31. (20)  Nathan Byrd, Chevrolet, Accident, 73.
32. (31)  Keith McGee, Ford, Electrical, 43.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  116.725 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 46 Mins, 52 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.017 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  4 for 28 laps.

Lead Changes:  19 among 11 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   C. Mosack # 1-29;J. Wood 30-33;C. Heim 34-38;T. Majeski 39;K. Busch(i) 40-63;R. Caruth 64-71;C. Mosack # 72;K. Busch(i) 73-116;G. Enfinger 117;K. Busch(i) 118-119;L. Fenhaus 120-121;K. Busch(i) 122;C. Smith 123;K. Busch(i) 124;C. Smith 125;K. Busch(i) 126-129;D. Hemric 130;K. Busch(i) 131-133;S. Friesen 134;K. Busch(i) 135.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch(i) 8 times for 80 laps; Connor Mosack # 2 times for 30 laps; Rajah Caruth 1 time for 8 laps; Corey Heim 1 time for 5 laps; Jack Wood 1 time for 4 laps; Luke Fenhaus 1 time for 2 laps; Chandler Smith 2 times for 2 laps; Stewart Friesen 1 time for 1 lap; Daniel Hemric 1 time for 1 lap; Grant Enfinger 1 time for 1 lap; Ty Majeski 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 91,9,81,7,11,52,18,19,71,07

Stage #2 Top Ten: 7,98,9,07,45,91,81,52,38,19