It’s Busch Over Friesen In An Atlanta Truck Series Thriller

Kyle Busch (7) beats Stewart Friesen to the checkered flag to win Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (HHP/Chris Owens photo)

HAMPTON, Ga. – Kyle Busch might have dominated Saturday’s Fr8 208, but his avenue to leaving with his eighth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trophy from Atlanta Motor Speedway was still exhilarating.

Busch used a last-lap, last-corner pass of Stewart Friesen to claim victory on Saturday afternoon, side-drafting his way past in the last 100 yards and nipping Friesen at the finish line by .017 seconds.

It was the 12th-closest Truck Series finish all time and second closest in the series’ 24 races at Atlanta.

“Awesome run for this Spire [Motorsports] Chevrolet and everybody at [sponsor] Gainbridge,” Busch said after his 232nd career win across NASCAR’s three national series and record-extending 67th in the Truck Series.

“I was just trying to make sure I stayed as far forward as I possibly could. Those guys would cycle to me and get to the next one in front, [putting the] 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 [the draft] the best I could,” he explained. “That inside [lane] was good; they were rolling forward and 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 the fans to see a cool show.”

Though a competitive and healthy 19 lead changes among 11 different drivers took place during the afternoon, Busch still controlled the majority of the 135-lap race, leading eight times for 80 laps and topping the second stage along the way.

The first two 30-lap segments ran uninterrupted, with the lone multi-truck accident of the race taking place on lap 73, after Rajah Caruth cut a left-rear tire while battling among the leaders and spun in front of a majority of the field exiting the fourth corner.

It ended up collecting Caruth’s rookie teammate, reigning ARCA Menards Series champion Andres Perez, as well as TRICON Garage young gun William Sawalich in the ensuing carnage.

Both Caruth and Sawalich were unable to continue, with a red-flag stoppage of nearly 13 minutes required to clean up the extensive fluid laid down around the 1.54-mile quad-oval from the damaged trucks.

From there, the only other yellow flag came with 29 laps left, when Frankie Muniz spun in turn one after contact with the outside wall while battling for a top-10 position.

Kyle Busch celebrates with a burnout after winning Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. (HHP/Blake Harris photo)

The final 23 laps were run under green and capped by Busch’s exciting last-gasp move to secure the win.

Though Friesen was pleased with a runner-up result – his best finish since a similar finish at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway last May – he was still left envisioning what might have been after leading at the white flag.

“We had a shot,” Friesen lamented. “I got too far off my help there coming down the back on the last lap. I thought I could pack some more air on him getting into (turn) three and we surged ahead, but didn’t have the surge at the right time and he came back.

“Thanks to our Toyota teammates there – I was working well with Corey (Heim) there. He helped us to the front,” Friesen added. “[Wanted to] keep that bottom lane rolling, and then he moved up, so that kind of broke that plan apart. Just proud of our race team. It has been a grind these last couple of years, and we’ve finally gotten some stuff going in the right direction.”

Despite damage from being clipped in the lap-73 crash, Tyler Ankrum led the way for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in third. Bayley Currey crossed fourth for Niece Motorsports and Front Row Motorsports’ Chandler Smith rebounded from a stage-two pit road penalty for fifth place.

Kaden Honeycutt, Ben Rhodes, defending series champion Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia, and Grant Enfinger closed the top 10.

Jack Wood used a last-lap pass to win stage one, but scrubbed the wall later on and ended up two laps down in 21st. It was the first stage win of the Californian’s Truck Series career.

Polesitter Connor Mosack led the first 29 circuits and 30 laps overall, but was squeezed into the wall during the same incident that also eliminated Frankie Muniz and fell four laps off the pace. He finished 25th as the last truck running.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season continues Friday night, March 14 at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway with the running of the Ecosave 200. Caruth is the defending winner of the event.

Broadcast coverage is slated for 9 p.m. ET, live on FS1, the NASCAR Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.