Kyle Busch and winning in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series go hand in hand, but it was not just cruising for the winningest driver in series history as he had to wrangle the lead away from Austin Hill and fellow Cup Series driver Ross Chastain on the final restart to win the WISE Power 200 at Kansas Speedway.
In a Kyle Busch Motorsports front row sweep, Busch started second alongside employee and points leader John Hunter Nemechek. Two trucks were sent to the rear after a driver change: Bayley Currey replaced Brett Moffitt in Niece Motorsports‘ #45 after the latter switched to Xfinity Series points while C.J. McLaughlin was in Reaume Brothers Racing‘s #34 which had no driver on the entry list.
Nemechek and Sheldon Creed dominated much of the opening stage before Busch took the lead on lap 26 and held it to the conclusion. Nemechek, Creed, Ben Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Hill, Stewart Friesen, Todd Gilliland, Derek Kraus, and Chastain rounded out the top ten.
It was the same story in the second stage as Creed briefly led before Busch was back on top. Nemechek and Creed once again tailed ahead of Hill, Zane Smith, Friesen, Kraus, Rhodes, Gilliland, and Hailie Deegan.
The first race-related caution occurred on lap 71 when Carson Hocevar spun after contact with Christian Eckes. Creed assumed the lead for much of the restart before the Toyotas of Busch, Rhodes, Eckes, and Johnny Sauter spent time in front. Creed’s day would be hampered when he hit the wall and fell multiple laps down.
Jennifer Jo Cobb and Friesen would also produce yellow flags. The latter, who wrecked with Kraus, was responsible for what would be the final caution as overtime was initiated. Despite restarting fourth, Busch stalked Chastain and Hill for much of the first lap before making a three-wide pass for the lead.
Busch drove off to score his sixty-first career Truck victory and second of the year; in four Truck starts in 2021, he has finished either second or first. He has won three of his last four Truck starts at Kansas, with the lone exception being a second in 2018. Chastain settled for second to mark a Cup 1–2 finish, while Hill finished third to leapfrog Creed (who finished thirty-second) for third in points.
“All the restarts were hectic for us,” Busch said after the race. “Any time we started on the front row, we would always go backwards. It just would not fire on the restarts for whatever reason. We definitely had a really good, strong long-run truck.”
The win is the sixth in a row for KBM. With Rhodes’s victories in the first two races of the year, Toyotas have won every Truck event in 2021.
Race results
Finish | Start | Number | Driver | Team | Manufacturer | Laps | Status |
1 | 2 | 51 | Kyle Busch* | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 140 | Running |
2 | 34 | 44 | Ross Chastain* | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 140 | Running |
3 | 7 | 16 | Austin Hill | Hattori Racing Enterprises | Toyota | 140 | Running |
4 | 17 | 98 | Christian Eckes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 140 | Running |
5 | 1 | 4 | John Hunter Nemechek | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 140 | Running |
6 | 6 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Front Row Motorsports | Ford | 140 | Running |
7 | 9 | 21 | Zane Smith | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 140 | Running |
8 | 15 | 24 | Raphaël Lessard | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 140 | Running |
9 | 4 | 13 | Johnny Sauter | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 140 | Running |
10 | 3 | 99 | Ben Rhodes | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 140 | Running |
11 | 5 | 18 | Chandler Smith | Kyle Busch Motorsports | Toyota | 140 | Running |
12 | 26 | 45 | Bayley Currey* | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 140 | Running |
13 | 20 | 1 | Hailie Deegan | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 140 | Running |
14 | 10 | 52 | Stewart Friesen | Halmar Friesen Racing | Toyota | 140 | Running |
15 | 13 | 26 | Tyler Ankrum | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 140 | Running |
16 | 16 | 22 | Austin Wayne Self | AM Racing | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
17 | 29 | 9 | Grant Enfinger | CR7 Motorsports | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
18 | 18 | 15 | Tanner Gray | David Gilliland Racing | Ford | 139 | Running |
19 | 30 | 04 | Chase Briscoe* | Roper Racing | Ford | 139 | Running |
20 | 31 | 40 | Ryan Truex | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
21 | 22 | 25 | Timothy Peters | Rackley WAR | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
22 | 25 | 56 | Timmy Hill* | Hill Motorsports | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
23 | 11 | 42 | Carson Hocevar | Niece Motorsports | Chevrolet | 139 | Running |
24 | 12 | 88 | Matt Crafton | ThorSport Racing | Toyota | 139 | Running |
25 | 23 | 23 | Chase Purdy | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 138 | Running |
26 | 21 | 30 | Danny Bohn | On Point Motorsports | Toyota | 138 | Running |
27 | 32 | 32 | Bret Holmes | Bret Holmes Racing | Chevrolet | 138 | Running |
28 | 14 | 19 | Derek Kraus | McAnally-Hilgemann Racing | Toyota | 138 | Running |
29 | 19 | 11 | Spencer Davis | Spencer Davis Motorsports | Toyota | 137 | Running |
30 | 36 | 3 | Jordan Anderson* | Jordan Anderson Racing | Chevrolet | 137 | Running |
31 | 28 | 41 | Dawson Cram | Cram Racing Enterprises | Chevrolet | 137 | Running |
32 | 8 | 2 | Sheldon Creed | GMS Racing | Chevrolet | 136 | Running |
33 | 24 | 02 | Kris Wright | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 135 | Running |
34 | 40 | 34 | C.J. McLaughlin | Reaume Brothers Racing | Toyota | 133 | Running |
35 | 27 | 20 | Spencer Boyd | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 133 | Running |
36 | 35 | 12 | Tate Fogleman | Young’s Motorsports | Chevrolet | 130 | Running |
37 | 39 | 10 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing | Chevrolet | 106 | Electrical |
38 | 38 | 33 | Jesse Iwuji | Reaume Brothers Racing | Chevrolet | 73 | Too Slow |
39 | 37 | 6 | Norm Benning | Norm Benning Racing | Chevrolet | 42 | Too Slow |
40 | 33 | 49 | Ryan Reed | CMI Motorsports | Chevrolet | 27 | Steering |
* – Ineligible for Truck points