It was a race against the clock for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at EchoPark Speedway on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 21) but in the end, Kyle Busch ended up victorious once again.
It was Busch’s third straight win in Atlanta in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports truck but this time, he had to hold off a hard charging field full of fellow NASCAR Cup Series drivers while counting down the minutes until the white flag flew.
Due to rain beforehand, the race did not begin until almost 3 p.m. ET and with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series racing later in the day, NASCAR made the decision that no matter what lap they were on, at 4:20 p.m. ET, there would automatically be only two laps to go in the Truck race.
The race was clean for the most part, which allowed the drivers to get through most of the scheduled race, leaving about ten laps to be cut out for “adverse conditions” despite EchoPark Speedway having lights.
Reigning Truck Series champion Corey Heim won the opening stage in his season debut, driving the No. 1 TRICON Garage truck. Then, in the second stage, it looked like Ben Rhodes was in contention to win it on his 29th birthday but he ran out of gas right before the stage end.
This allowed Stewart Friesen to swoop in and win the stage in only his second race back after his horrific crash he suffered last July in a Super DIRTcar Series event. Rhodes went a lap down but was able to recover after getting the free pass in the final stage.
The only caution for incident of the race was for a crash involving Cole Butcher and Dawson Sutton, who hit the frontstretch wall head on after going on the apron to avoid other trucks.
The field traded the lead back and forth as the laps wound down as Busch, Rhodes, Friesen, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and others all battled up front. When the clock struck 4:20, Busch was in charge with the help of his Spire teammate Carson Hocevar, holding on to take the checkered flag for his ninth career Truck win at Atlanta and 68th career win overall in the Truck Series.
NASCAR Truck Series Results for Atlanta at EchoPark Speedway
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will return to action next Saturday (Feb. 28) at 12 p.m. ET from the streets of St. Petersburg for the third race of the 2026 season. The race will be broadcasted on FOX.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
SPEED is showing a delayed telecast of Brian’s Truck product from Atlanta on Sunday February 22 and from St. Petersburg on Sunday February 29.
Maybe the Rain Gods will show their presence on Sunday.