The Kyle Busch show came into Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race on a roll, in position to conquer the field once again.
He and the No. 51 Toyota team didn’t disappoint.
Busch won his second straight race in dominant fashion in the Truck Series, leading 90 laps and winning all three stages at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Unlike last week, when Ben Rhodes‘ blown engine handed Busch a stroke of luck the rest of the field was lucky to keep the Cup veteran in their sights. He clearly had the best-handling truck and disposed of the competition with ease throughout the evening.
When the yellows flew, Busch was able to drive away from his rivals each time to take the checkered. After building a solid lead, he survived a late-race restart with three laps to go after a late spin by Matt Mills.
“It was fun,” Busch said afterward, as his 48th career win pulled him ever closer to the Truck Series record held by Ron Hornaday at 51. “We had a really fast Cessna Tundra tonight.”
The battle moved quickly to second between Johnny Sauter and pole sitter Christopher Bell as Busch sailed away. Sauter eventually prevailed with two laps to go and pushed on to a runner-up finish, some 0.986 seconds behind Busch.
Sauter was able to pad his points lead a bit over Bell, who finished right behind in third. The reigning champ now leads Bell by 15 markers in the season standings.
It was a good comeback performance for the youngster, though. Bell lost a lap early due to a flat tire, but was able to avoid damage and eventually get his lap back through the free pass.
Busch’s victory also follows his other Truck Series triumph at Kansas last weekend. It’s the 2015 Cup Series champion’s third national series win this season and 173rd overall in NASCAR competition. That’s notable as it leaves him with just 27 more wins to tie Richard Petty’s record of 200.
Ryan Truex finished fourth and Timothy Peters wound up fifth. Matt Crafton, who ran sixth, ended the night third in points, 51 out of the lead.
There were nine cautions at Charlotte, seven for wrecks and two for stage breaks. Rookie Kaz Grala and Brandon Jones were involved in the only multi-truck incident that took both drivers out of the race.
No issues were found in post-race inspection.
NORTH CAROLINA EDUCATION 200 UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
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Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.