Kyle Busch celebrates in victory lane after winning Friday night’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
The NASCAR rulebook says Kyle Busch can only run five truck races this season, so why not win them all?
Busch laid yet another beatdown on the rest of the truck series contenders and put his Toyota Tundra into Victory Lane for the fifth time this season, earning a perfect five-up-and-five-down for the year.
Busch led 102 of the 134 laps to win Friday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for his 56th-career truck series win – still the most all-time – holding off Brennan Poole on a final restart with three laps to go.
Busch also won earlier this year at Texas, Martinsville, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
“Our truck was really, really good. These guys did a great job preparing such a fast Tundra for me,” said Busch. “It was flying and it was fast. We worked on it a lot in practice. We were a little off when we unloaded, and we tried to make it better and better and better.
“I wish I could do more (truck races). It’s frustrating that you’re limited because you’re too good at what you do.”
After qualifying eighth, Busch wasted little time getting to the front, powering past teammate Todd Gilliland on lap five. Busch look a four-second lead into the waning laps of the opening stage when the caution waved for Natalie Decker’s crash. Busch elected to pit while several drivers stayed out, eventually handing the lead back to Gilliland. Gilliland would hold the lead until the final lap of the opening stage, when pole-sitter Matt Crafton got past him to win the first 30-lap stage.
Busch came back with a vengeance in the second stage, restarting fifth and rocketing to the front in just three laps. Busch then led the final 22 laps of the stage to take the green-checkered flag.
Busch re-asserted himself again in the final, 74-lap segment, but again got caught out of position during a caution flag with 49 laps to go, with several drivers electing to stay out.
When racing resumed, the battle for the top spot turned into a four-way battle for the top spot, with Johnny Sauter coming out on top with a three-wide pass.
Sauter was quickly overhauled by Ben Rhodes, who then became Kyle Busch’s latest victim as Busch easily powered around on the outside to re-gain the top spot and pulled out to a nearly six-second lead.
The only hope for the rest of the field came when the caution flag waved with six laps to go, giving the field one last shot at Busch, but Busch rose the challenge – getting a good jump on the start to grab the lead going into turn one. Sauter was unable to get going, allowing Poole to jump into the second spot to challenge Busch.
After pulling up to within a few feet of Busch’s bumper, Poole began to fall away as Busch led the final two laps to take the checkered flag by 1.1 seconds.
The runner-up finish was a career-best for Poole in the his first season in the truck series – despite running much the race with a broken sway bar.
“My truck was all over the place, man,” Poole said. “I just gave it everything I had. I found something running the top lane there on the restarts, and it worked out really good.
“We just ran second to Kyle Busch tonight with a broken sway bar. I’m pretty proud of the effort. I know we’ve got a lot more chances like this coming up in our future to get this Toyota Tundra to Victory Lane. But I’m excited tonight, and I think I may even go get myself a beer when I get home.”
Stewart Friesen came home third, followed by Rhodes and Crafton.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 – May 17, 2019
1. (8) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 134.
2. (17) Brennan Poole, Toyota, 134.
3. (2) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 134.
4. (5) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 134.
5. (1) Matt Crafton, Ford, 134.
6. (20) Austin Hill, Toyota, 134.
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8. (15) Anthony Alfredo #, Toyota, 134.
9. (9) Grant Enfinger, Ford, 134.
10. (13) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 134.
11. (4) Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 134.
12. (10) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 134.
13. (25) Tyler Dippel #, Chevrolet, 134.
14. (22) Jesse Little, Ford, 134.
15. (28) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 134.
16. (23) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, 134.
17. (12) Johnny Sauter, Ford, 134.
18. (18) Chad Finley, Chevrolet, 134.
19. (6) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 133.
20. (7) Cory Roper, Ford, 133.
21. (29) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 133.
22. (30) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 133.
23. (31) Angela Ruch, Chevrolet, 132.
24. (16) Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, 132.
25. (27) Korbin Forrister, Toyota, 129.
26. (19) Gus Dean #, Chevrolet, 123.
27. (11) Tyler Ankrum #, Toyota, Vibration, 111.
28. (32) Josh Reaume, Chevrolet, 98.
29. (14) Codie Rohrbaugh, Chevrolet, Accident, 72.
30. (26) Camden Murphy, Chevrolet, Suspension, 40.
31. (21) Natalie Decker #, Toyota, Accident, 32.
32. (24) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, Rear Gear, 19.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 114.985 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 44 Mins, 53 Secs. Margin of Victory: 1.115 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.
Lead Changes: 19 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Rhodes 1;T. Gilliland 2-4;K. Busch(i) 5-24;T. Gilliland 25-27;B. Rhodes 28;T. Gilliland 29;M. Crafton 30-36;G. Enfinger 37;R. Chastain(i) 38-40;K. Busch(i) 41-62;G. Enfinger 63;S. Parsons 64;K. Busch(i) 65-86;R. Chastain(i) 87-90;A. Hill 91;J. Sauter 92;B. Rhodes 93-95;K. Busch(i) 96-130;B. Rhodes 131;K. Busch(i) 132-134.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Kyle Busch(i) 5 times for 102 laps; Matt Crafton 1 time for 7 laps; Todd Gilliland 3 times for 7 laps; Ross Chastain(i) 2 times for 7 laps; Ben Rhodes 4 times for 6 laps; Grant Enfinger 2 times for 2 laps; Stefan Parsons 1 time for 1 lap; Johnny Sauter 1 time for 1 lap; Austin Hill 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 13,18,2,4,45,51,52,88,98,99
Stage #2 Top Ten: 18,2,24,4,45,51,52,88,98,99
Top 10 in Points: 1. Grant Enfinger – 331; 2. Stewart Friesen – 316; 3. Brett Moffitt – 298; 4. Ben Rhodes – 297; 5. Matt Crafton – 294; 6. Johnny Sauter – 273 (1 Win); 7. Austin Hill – 264 (1 Win); 8. Todd Gilliland – 253; 9. Harrison Burton – 252; 10. Sheldon Creed – 219.
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