Kyle Busch celebrates with his son Brexton after winning Saturday’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
Not rain or fog or a loose wheel could keep Kyle Busch out of victory lane at Atlanta.
Busch bounced back from a loose wheel early in the second segment of Saturday’s Ultimate Tailgating 200 for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race to score the victory in dominating fashion.
The win came as the rains that threatened the Hampton, Georgia area all day increased while the field sat under a red flag due to a multi-truck crash with 13 laps to go.
After track drying was complete, the field completed the remaining five laps, with Busch running away from Johnny Sauter for the win.
The victory makes Busch the all-time series win leader with 52 victories, snapping a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday, Jr.
“It certainly means a lot,” Busch said. “I want to thank everybody at Cessna and Toyota and our amazing partners that get us here and allow us to do what we do. I had Billy Ballew on board with us here today and Billy’s right over here as well. It took getting Billy Ballew back on my truck to be able to get me a win here, so we might have to make that an annual recurrence. I can’t say enough about my guys. Everybody here at Kyle Busch Motorsports, they do a phenomenal job.”
After winning the first segment easily, Busch took the lead again early on in the second segment. But a vibration brought the No. 51 Toyota back to pit road under a debris caution on lap 53.
After restarting in the 24th position, Busch powered through the field, retaking the lead with just a few laps left in the segment.
The only challenge to Busch came early in the final segment of the race, when Johnny Sauter pushed past him for the lead. Eight laps later, Busch sailed back into the lead easily.
From there, Busch drove away from all the competition en route to the victory.
“I slipped getting out (of the truck). It’s a little wet out here in case you all didn’t notice, but it was a great race out there,” Busch said. “I wish we could have ended it. I would’ve rather haven seen Harrison (Burton) finish second. I’m not sure how far he fell, but he ran a great race today.”
The biggest moment of the day came on a restart with 14 laps to go, when Jessie Little spun his tires back in the pack. He was tagged by Parker Kligerman from behind, setting off a multi-truck crash on the frontstretch that led to a red flag to allow for clean up. In all, five trucks were involved.
As the field sat under the red flag, the precipitation began falling harder. NASCAR began rolling the field under caution in an attempt to keep the track dry. After another red flag condition for track drying, the race was finally resumed, with Busch going on to the win.
Sauter finished in second, with Grant Enfinger third, Brett Moffitt fourth and Ben Rhodes in fifth.
Ross Chastain, Winston, Georgia’s Austin Hill, Harrison Burton, Todd Gilliliand and Timothy Peters rounded out the top ten.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
Atlanta Motor Speedway – Hampton, Georgia
Ultimate Tailgating 200 – February 23, 2019
1. (7) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 130.
2. (12) Johnny Sauter, Ford, 130.
3. (5) Grant Enfinger, Ford, 130.
4. (3) Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 130.
5. (6) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 130.
6. (21) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 130.
7. (1) Austin Hill, Toyota, 130.
8. (2) Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 130.
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10. (14) Timothy Peters, Chevrolet, 130.
11. (15) Tyler Dippel #, Chevrolet, 130.
12. (4) Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 130.
13. (29) Brennan Poole, Toyota, 130.
14. (10) Matt Crafton, Ford, 130.
15. (22) Gus Dean #, Chevrolet, 130.
16. (28) Cory Roper, Ford, 130.
17. (27) Anthony Alfredo #, Toyota, 130.
18. (9) Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 130.
19. (20) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 130.
20. (26) Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, 130.
21. (31) Korbin Forrister, Chevrolet, 130.
22. (25) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 130.
23. (23) Jesse Little, Ford, 130.
24. (16) Natalie Decker #, Toyota, 127.
25. (18) Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, 126.
26. (19) Ray Ciccarelli, Chevrolet, 125.
27. (17) Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, Accident, 118.
28. (30) Chad Finley, Chevrolet, Accident, 117.
29. (32) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Steering, 82.
30. (13) Josh Reaume, Toyota, Engine, 78.
31. (24) Timmy Hill(i), Chevrolet, Brakes, 53.
32. (8) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, Accident, 50.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 112.648 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 46 Mins, 38 Secs. Margin of Victory: 0.932 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 6 for 30 laps.
Lead Changes: 10 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A. Hill 0;H. Burton # 1;M. Crafton 2-5;K. Busch(i) 6-43;G. Enfinger 44-47;K. Busch(i) 48-53;J. Sauter 54-57;B. Rhodes 58-77;K. Busch(i) 78-87;J. Sauter 88-92;K. Busch(i) 93-130.
Leaders Summary: (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led) Kyle Busch(i) 4 times for 92 laps; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 20 laps; Johnny Sauter 2 times for 9 laps; Matt Crafton 1 time for 4 laps; Grant Enfinger 1 time for 4 laps; Harrison Burton # 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 51,18,98,13,16,99,4,88,52,45
Stage #2 Top Ten: 51,99,18,13,24,16,45,98,88,2
Top 10 in Points: 1. Grant Enfinger – 91; 2. Austin Hill – 90 (1 Win); 3. Ben Rhodes – 77; 4. Johnny Sauter – 73; 5. Harrison Burton – 67; 6. Matt Crafton – 60; 7. Brett Moffitt – 57; 8. Timothy Peters – 57; 9. Stewart Friesen – 57; 10. Sheldon Creed – 56.
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