HAMPTON, Ga. — Kyle Busch forced the issue by pitting late in the race for fresh tires and it was a gamble that paid off as he went on to win Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series American Commercial Lines 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The caution flag waved for rain with 10 laps remaining. Three laps later, the red flag was displayed and the competitors were pulled down pit road. After a nine minute, 51 second red-flag there were four laps to go with nine trucks on the lead lap.
Busch went on to win his third NCTS race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He defeated Ron Hornaday, Jr.’s Chevrolet by 1.116 seconds. Mike Skinner’s Toyota was third, followed by Matt Crafton’s Chevrolet and Chad McCumbee’s Chevy.
Seven of Busch’s eight NCTS wins have come for team-owner Billy Ballew.
It was Busch’s second-straight NCTS triumph and he leads the standings after three races.
“How many times have I given up track position and won the race? Two times,” Busch said. “I was surprised when nobody followed me. We’re trying to get Billy Ballew a major sponsor. The guys on pit road were really good today.”
With 20 laps to go, the yellow flag waved for rain and Terry Cook got the “Lucky Dog,” putting him back on the lead lap.
With 17 to go, Busch, Jack Sprague and Hornaday all pitted for four tires while McCumbee stayed on the race track to assume the lead.
But with fresh rubber on his Chevrolet, Busch easily drove to the lead with 14 laps left.
And despite the interruptions, Busch would not be deterred from his victory, which included a few passes on the apron — an area of the track where drivers normally don’t run.
Hornaday, the leader, pitted with 40 laps to go, giving the lead to Sprague before Busch’s team made the race-winning strategy call.
“Busch beat me last time on a green-white-checkered, so what can you do?” Hornaday said. “Second really sucks. We had an awesome truck. Man, it was fast on long runs and when I saw the rain drops coming, I knew we had problems. Man, Kyle is so quick. He set the scenario by coming in, so we had to come in.”
Earlier in the race, Johnny Benson’s Toyota had a tire explode sending him into the wall. He would pull the truck off the track but return to the race later.
Busch won the race at an average speed of 127.556 miles per hour. Busch now has a 72-point lead over Todd Bodine, but Busch is not going to run the full season.
“When I saw Rowdy (Busch) go down pit road, I asked if we had a radar because if not, he just won the race when they restart this thing,” Skinner said. “But I’m happy with a third-place finish. We had a fourth- or fifth-place truck. If we had followed him down pit road, we might have had a chance to finish second.”