In A Nutshell
For the third straight year, Rowdy rules at Atlanta.
Kyle Busch took control late and held on to win at EchoPark Speedway, the third straight time that he’s gone to victory lane in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race there.
While Busch again came out on top, it was far from a dominant race for him, as he had several key players around him to keep the No. 7 in check throughout the race, which ended up being cut short – not due to rain or darkness, but due to television stubbornness.
The Top Truckers at EchoPark Speedway
Winner: Kyle Busch
Polesitter: Jake Garcia
Stage 1 Winner: Corey Heim
Stage 2 Winner: Stewart Friesen
Most Laps Led (70 of 125): Ben Rhodes
Fastest Lap (30.636 seconds, 180.964 mph): Tanner Gray
The Winning Move
Busch may have been the dominant truck late, but he certainly didn’t seem like the fastest truck, and he certainly wasn’t the best truck all race. That honor went to Ben Rhodes, who led 70 laps on the afternoon but had to play catch-up after running out of fuel at the end of stage two.
As he furiously made his way through the field, Busch, with help from an unlikely teammate in Carson Hocevar, had to fend off challenges from several drivers, including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Stewart Friesen and eventually Rhodes.
Rhodes looked like he made the winning move when he and Stenhouse split Busch to take the lead on the high side, but with so much momentum, he got too far out, and Hocevar pushed Busch so hard that he managed to pass Stenhouse and Rhodes on the bottom and clear back for the lead.
As they jostled for position behind him, Hocevar sort of played defense for the No. 7, and when NASCAR threw the white a few laps early, Busch was able to steadily hold on to take his third consecutive Truck Series win at EchoPark.
Rookie Report
Rookie of the Race: In his first two starts ever in the Truck Series, Stenhouse was the best of all the rookies. Backing up his top 10 last week, Stenhouse scored a ninth-place finish, though it could have been higher as he was in the mix to win late. While it’s not known if/when Stenhouse will be behind the wheel of a truck again, two-for-two in top-10 finishes isn’t a bad stat line.
No. 2 – Clayton Green (23rd)
No. 5 – Adam Andretti (12th)
No. 12 – Brenden Queen (16th)
No. 13 – Cole Butcher (31st)
No. 14 – Mini Tyrrell (19th)
No. 42 – Tyler Reif (17th)
No. 45 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (ninth)
No. 69 – Tyler Tomassi (29th)
No. 93 – Caleb Costner (33rd)
One Big Takeaway From This Race
The beginning of the day was marred by weather, pushing the race’s green flag back by roughly an hour or so to just after 2:30 p.m. ET.
However, just before the green flag flew, another time was given – 4:20 p.m. ET. Why was that time so important? That was when the race would end, regardless of what lap the field was on.
Was there more weather on the way? Nope. A darkness issue? Wrong again, EchoPark has lights.
No, the reason the race was now limited to under two hours was because the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series was set to go green later that afternoon at 5 p.m. ET, and it seems as if The CW, O’Reilly’s broadcast provider, did not want to budge on that time at the expense of cutting short the Truck Series race.
So with O’Reilly pre-race starting at 4:30 p.m. ET, the trucks had until 4:20 p.m. ET to fight it out. At that point, two laps to go would be called, then the white flag, then the checkered.
For the sake of not taking up more words, I made my thoughts perfectly clear on X when the move was announced.
Lo and behold, the race did not make its scheduled distance. We were just 10 laps short of making it.
What an absolute joke in my opinion.
I understand that TV contracts exist. Fans at the track pay to see a full race. Fans at home want to watch a full race. Drivers and teams work hard to bring trucks to the racetrack, and sponsors usually sign on expecting a full race.
That TV is dictating the arbitrary end to a race being broadcast by a different TV partner (albeit under the same media rights deal) is not fair to the Truck Series and FOX. It ultimately hurts the growth of the sport, especially when (apparently) drivers were not clearly made aware of the change, like Corey Heim.
Now to be completely fair to the O’Reilly race and The CW, the truckers could have gotten the full race in had NASCAR had some semblance of urgency to get back racing whenever the cautions came out, especially with the stage cautions. If there was a time limit pressing the issue, NASCAR should have just cut out the stage-ending cautions and let them race in hopes of getting a full race in.
But either way, as mentioned earlier, EchoPark has lights. You mean to tell me that The CW and NASCAR couldn’t have pushed the start of the O’Reilly race back by just 10-15 minutes so the Truck Series could get the full race in? Or the CW couldn’t have just let the race eat into its pre-race show by 10 minutes (if that) to allow those final laps to play out?
The move is even more frustrating given the absolutely incredible racing that the Truckers put on in the final few laps. When the two-to-go was given I was furious that this great racing was going to be arbitrarily cut short because of television constraints.
And ultimately, what this does is make NASCAR rethink scheduling doubleheaders if this is how TV is going to react. NASCAR will look at this and say, “Is it worth scheduling a doubleheader if one (or both) races get cut short due to something out of the series’ control, just because of TV’s unwillingness to budge for the betterment of both races?”
And keep in mind, the only reason the Truck Series took so long was because of weather – something completely out of the control of FOX or the Truck Series. If there really was a darkness issue for O’Reilly, or even if the Truckers just kept crashing and the race was running long, then it’d be an understandable move.
But weather? I’m sorry, I just don’t see how The CW couldn’t have been a team player.
Call me overreactive, call me soft, I don’t care. As a viewer, I want to see every scheduled lap be completed by all means necessary, and I’m sure the sanctioning body feels the same way. When TV steps in and dictates NASCAR’s operations of a race, there’s a problem. Again, I get the TV contracts and the money that comes with it. But ultimately everyone should be supporting the growth of the sport.
If that means pushing out a race by a little bit to let the guys on track before you finish what they’re doing, so be it.
Live sports sometimes throws curveballs that force you to call audibles. Let’s not run away from that in favor of standing firm in a television schedule.
Talkin’ Truckers
Busch on the win:
Hocevar chose to settle for second and push teammate Busch to the win:
Rhodes (third), Chandler Smith (sixth) and Ty Majeski (28th) recap their afternoons:
Stenhouse (ninth) says “we’re gonna do some more” truck racing after his two scheduled starts:
Adam Andretti, in his NASCAR debut, qualified eighth and finished 12th:
Friesen (20th) missed out on a potential win after voltage issues relegated him to the back with just a handful of laps left:
Paint Scheme of the Race
Halmar Friesen Racing brought two reimagined paint schemes for drivers Friesen and John Hunter Nemechek. The team called the weekend “Mission: Atlanta” and brought a black No. 52 for Friesen and a white No. 62 for Nemechek, aptly calling the trucks “Black Agent” and “White Agent.”
With both teams essentially self-sponsored by the team, it was a clever way to differentiate the two trucks, with Nemechek running the same design as Friesen, but with a white base instead of black. With Friesen, it is nice to see him run a scheme other than his typical blue and red truck he’s run almost every race since he first entered the Truck Series in 2016.
In a way, it’s a cool branding strategy for the team, even if its just for one race.
Friesen started 16th and finished 20th. Meanwhile, Nemechek started 12th and finished eighth.
Next Stop
Buckle up everyone, we’re heading somewhere totally new.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series heads to the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., to contest its first street race in series history. Surprisingly, it’s the first of two street races on the schedule. The race is the prelude to the season-opener for the NTT IndyCar Series.
Coverage for the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg begins at approximately 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 28. Television coverage can be found on FOX (check your local listings).
Follow @AnthonyDamcott on X.
If the NFL runs late, the other game will be delayed. The CW can go live and talk about the upcoming race for a while. Interview the drivers. Didn’t need to end it early.
Oh my goodness, it’s one freakin race!! Sure I was screaming at the official’s but not because it was was going to end under time restraints but because of all of the laps run under caution. If not for that they probably could have gotten the full laps in. Or at least only a couple of laps short. Anyone and everyone that watches the Truck Series knows the ridiculous amount of laps they run under caution. You need to go watch Jeff and Jordan Teardown and hear just why it couldn’t/shouldn’t have been done any differently.
Like I have been preaching for years
now the way to get around the TV
restrictions but NASCAR won’t do it
do to the advance age folks being technology illiterate & on next to no income is streaming.To show the
effectiveness of streaming that NASCAR is missing is the sanctioning
bodies & leagues that have it is they
are rolling cash trucks at a time and
dinging the traditional TV markets ratings at a time.
Not a good look for NASCAR or the CW network. There was a basketball game on CW that ran over it’s time slot.
NASCAR didn’t show the white flag at exactly 4:20 either.
Meet the new NASCAR, same as the old NASCAR. Same old BS.
NA$CAR sold its soul to the networks for money. How can they say they ever say they care about the fans except for how much money they bring in?
NA$CAR sure can drag out caution periods for more commercials!
While I agree with you 100%, I don’t really see any difference in TV dictating the ending time of a race, when they decide what time races start. Case in point, most afternoon races starting at 3 pm instead of 1pm! I still think one of the issues with the number of TV viewers is Sunday afternoon starting times. It is for me anyway!
I’m more upset at how long the cautions were after each stage break. If there are no on track incidents, why are you not getting back to green as soon as possible. You don’t need multiple laps for pit stops, you don’t need to blow the track, and it shouldn’t take 4 laps to line everyone up after the caution, especially if they are putting a time limit on the race.
In theory, I like the timer put on some of these races if necessary (darkness/rain), but yesterday was not it. I have to agree wholeheartedly with the writer. And if the CW keeps doing this, they should be eliminated from the next TV contract.
There’s no reason for a caution at the end of the stages. They have transponders and even the booth knows who finished where. They never stopped at half-way because of the Unocal award. Just keep going. They’re competition yellows now.
I know there are a lot of complaints about this and I agree with every one of them. However, the cautions allow for more commercials and that is the biggest reason for not getting rid of them. Its all about the benjamin$$$$$.
Except for the very simple fact that TV pays for the sport to exist…
Money Money Money it drives everything as you have said