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Kyle Busch dominant in NASCAR Truck win at Atlanta

Kyle Busch left little doubt with his first NASCAR victory of the 2021 season.

Watch: Kyle Busch: ‘Great to get back to Victory Lane’

Race winner Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota Tundra Cessna
Race winner Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota Tundra Cessna
Race winner Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota Tundra Cessna
Race winner Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch Motorsports, Toyota Tundra Cessna

Busch dominated Saturday’s Fr8 Auctions 200, leading 102 of the 130 laps and cruised to victory over Austin Hill by more than 4 seconds to win the Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

The only thing Busch didn’t do was collect the stage wins – his teammate John Hunter Nemechek passed on the final lap of the first two stages to collect the wins and playoff points.

The win extended Busch’s series record to 60 career victories.

“It was just a great opportunity to race in some great stuff,” Busch said. “I can’t say enough about my guys – just everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports. They do such a great job and a lot of hard work. Without their preparation and dedication we wouldn’t be as successful as we have been as an organization.

“It’s great to be back in Victory Lane.”

Nemechek ended up third, Johnny Sauter fourth and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top-five.

Completing the top-10 were Zane Smith, Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt and Stewart Friesen.

Stage 3

Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, all the lead-lap trucks elected to pit with Busch the first off pit road.

Austin Wayne Self and Tyler Ankrum were penalized for speeding on pit road; Derek Kraus was penalized for having a crew member over the wall too soon; and Friesen was assessed an uncontrolled tire penalty.

Busch led the way on the restart on Lap 68, followed by Nemechek and Hill.

With 50 laps to go in the race, Busch had built a more than 2-second lead over Nemechek as Hill ran third.

A round of green-flag pit stops kicked off on Lap 97 as teams took on new tires and fuel to make it to the finish of the race.

Once the cycle pit stops was completed on Lap 102, Busch returned to the lead. He was followed by Hill, Nemechek and Creed.

With 15 laps remaining in the race, Busch had expanded his lead to more than 3 seconds over Hill with Nemechek in third.

Stage 2

Once again, Nemechek passed Busch on the final lap to complete a sweep of wins in both Stages 1 and 2.

Friesen was third, Hill was fourth and Chastain completed the top-five.

Following the break between Stages 1 and 2, the lead-lap trucks all pit with Nemechek the first off pit road.

When the race resumed on Lap 38, Nemechek was followed by Jordan Anderson, Crafton, Busch and Friesen.

With 15 laps to go in the second stage, Nemechek maintained a small lead over Busch while Friesen moved up to third.

On Lap 46, Busch got back around Nemechek to reclaim the lead.

 

Raphael Lessard pit under green on Lap 51 due to what he believed was a flat tire.

With five laps remaining in the stage, Busch had built up almost a 1-second lead over Nemechek as Friesen remained in third.

Stage 1

Nemechek got around Busch with one lap remaining in the first stage and hung on for the Stage 1 victory.

Hill was third, Friesen was fourth and Chastain rounded out the top-five.

Nemechek started on the pole but passed him on the outside coming off Turn 4 to lead Lap 1.

On Lap 4, Busch got around Crafton in Turn 3 to take the lead for the first time in the race.

Chandler Smith pit under green on Lap 9 for what he thought was a flat tire.

On Lap 16, NASCAR displayed a competition caution to allow teams to check tires. The race turned to green on Lap 21.

With five laps remaining in the first stage, Busch had built up a 1.5-second lead over Nemechek.

Moffitt and Josh Berry both started from the rear of the field – Moffitt for an engine change and Berry for a driver change, as he was substituting for Kris Wright who was diagnosed with COVID-19.

Cla # Driver Manufacturer Laps Time Gap Interval Laps Led
1 51 United States Kyle Busch Toyota 130 1:29'42.994     102
2 16 United States Austin Hill Toyota 130 1:29'47.127 4.133 4.133  
3 4 United States John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 130 1:29'52.659 9.665 5.532 21
4 13 United States Johnny Sauter Ford 130 1:29'55.912 12.918 3.253  
5 2 United States Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 130 1:30'00.004 17.010 4.092  
6 21 Zane Smith Chevrolet 130 1:30'00.251 17.257 0.247  
7 44 United States Ross Chastain Chevrolet 130 1:30'04.816 21.822 4.565  
8 88 United States Matt Crafton Ford 130 1:30'07.293 24.299 2.477 3
9 45 United States Brett Moffitt Chevrolet 130 1:30'08.776 25.782 1.483  
10 52 United States Stewart Friesen Toyota 130 1:30'14.129 31.135 5.353  
11 98 United States Grant Enfinger Ford 130 1:30'15.027 32.033 0.898  
12 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 130 1:30'15.585 32.591 0.558  
13 19 United States Derek Kraus Toyota 129 1:29'48.129 1 Lap 1 Lap  
14 75 United States Parker Kligerman Chevrolet 129 1:29'48.312 1 Lap 0.183  
15 40 United States Ryan Truex Chevrolet 129 1:29'49.138 1 Lap 0.826  
16 99 United States Ben Rhodes Ford 129 1:29'51.862 1 Lap 2.724  
17 38 United States Todd Gilliland Ford 129 1:29'56.604 1 Lap 4.742  
18 26 United States Tyler Ankrum Chevrolet 129 1:29'57.768 1 Lap 1.164  
19 15 United States Tanner Gray Ford 129 1:29'58.257 1 Lap 0.489  
20 11 United States Spencer Davis Toyota 129 1:30'10.282 1 Lap 12.025  
21 1 United States Hailie Deegan Ford 129 1:30'13.014 1 Lap 2.732  
22 02 Josh Berry Chevrolet 129 1:30'17.020 1 Lap 4.006  
23 22 United States Austin Wayne Self Chevrolet 128 1:29'45.860 2 Laps 1 Lap  
24 23 United States Chase Purdy Chevrolet 128 1:29'51.659 2 Laps 5.799 4
25 3 United States Jordan Anderson Chevrolet 128 1:30'04.068 2 Laps 12.409  
26 12 Tate Fogleman Chevrolet 128 1:30'06.289 2 Laps 2.221  
27 04 Cory Roper Ford 127 1:29'45.711 3 Laps 1 Lap  
28 30 Danny Bohn Toyota 127 1:30'06.697 3 Laps 20.986  
29 9 Codie Rohrbaugh Chevrolet 126 1:29'50.519 4 Laps 1 Lap  
30 25 United States Timothy Peters Chevrolet 126 1:29'53.621 4 Laps 3.102  
31 41 Dawson Cram Chevrolet 126 1:29'55.674 4 Laps 2.053  
32 32 Bret Holmes Chevrolet 126 1:30'06.863 4 Laps 11.189  
33 20 United States Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 125 1:30'09.652 5 Laps 1 Lap  
34 34 United States Ryan Ellis Toyota 124 1:29'53.957 6 Laps 1 Lap  
35 18 Chandler Smith Toyota 124 1:30'04.706 6 Laps 10.749  
36 17 Bill Lester Ford 123 1:29'48.765 7 Laps 1 Lap  
37 33 Akinori Ogata Toyota 123 1:30'08.787 7 Laps 20.022  
38 10 United States Jennifer Jo Cobb Chevrolet 117 1:29'43.522 13 Laps 6 Laps  
39 24 Canada Raphael Lessard Chevrolet 115 1:22'28.242 15 Laps 2 Laps  
40 6 United States Norm Benning Chevrolet 72 1:05'06.782 58 Laps 43 Laps  

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