HAMPTON, Ga. — Kyle Busch added one other chapter to his dominance within the Fr8 Racing 208 on Saturday afternoon at EchoPark Speedway.
A cloudy day that started with heavy rain within the morning ended with a race in opposition to the clock as Busch drove the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet to victory within the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Sequence for the third consecutive 12 months at EchoPark Speedway.
It was Busch’s 68th profession Truck Sequence victory in 181 begins, and his first win of the 2026 Truck Sequence season.
Persistent morning showers soaked the speedway and compelled a delay to the beginning. With the O’Reilly Auto Components Sequence race to be held at 5 p.m., NASCAR established a tough cease time of 4:20 p.m. ET earlier than the race started, including urgency to make it to the end.
Corey Heim claimed Stage 1, main Ben Rhodes and Busch to the green-and-white checkered flag. The defending collection champion confirmed good velocity in his No. 1 Tricon Storage Toyota, however the complexion of the race would quickly change.
With solely two laps left within the second stage, Rhodes seemed like he would cruise to the stage victory till his No. 99 ThorSport Ford ran out of gasoline going into Flip 2. As Rhodes slowed from the lead and was pressured to pit street, a charging pack of vehicles swept previous. Stewart Friesen edged Ricky Stenhouse Jr. on the line to win the stage, with Carson Hocevar additionally in competition in the course of the frantic run to the stage end.
The primary vital incident occurred on Lap 100 when Cole Butcher’s No. 13 truck made contact with the skin wall. Dawson Sutton, making an attempt to keep away from the accident, spun up the racetrack and hit the wall head-on alongside the frontstretch, bringing out a warning and tightening the sector as soon as once more with the clock persevering with to click on down in direction of 4:20 p.m.
Because the laps wound down and the cutoff time approached, Busch sliced his means again to the entrance of the pack with help from his Spire Motorsports teammate. Hocevar, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet, offered essential assist within the closing laps, permitting Busch to keep up management of the lead en-route to a one-two end for the group.
“Enormous assist from behind,” Kyle Busch mentioned following the victory. “Carson Hocevar was an ideal teammate at this time—early on within the race I used to be like, ‘wait a second, identical ol’ Carson,’ however when it acquired in direction of the tip we began working collectively and we began with the ability to maneuver our means by means of.”
Hocevar joined Busch on the entrance straightaway to have fun the workforce victory.
“I believed it could be image, good for the advertising workforce,” Hocevar mentioned after the race. “I saved sputtering and the underside saved surging, and I had no shot to win the race, so if I wasn’t going to have a shot, I used to be going to ensure the corporate had a shot—that was a enterprise resolution.
“Particularly a 12 months from right here when he was hating my guts within the Cup race, I don’t assume I’d be excited to observe a Kyle Busch Truck win,” Hocevar continued. “However we’re teammates right here. It labored out for us.”
Behind Busch and Hocevar, Gio Ruggiero delivered one of many drives of the afternoon. After beginning on the rear of the sector due to unapproved changes, Ruggiero superior by means of the pack to complete third in his No. 17 Tricon Storage Toyota.
Rhodes recovered from his Stage 2 setback to complete fourth on his twenty ninth birthday, salvaging a robust outcome after the gasoline situation. Heim rounded out the highest 5.
With the outcome, Chandler Smith continues to guide the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Sequence level standings by 28 factors over Ruggiero.
The end:
Kyle Busch
Carson Hocevar
Giovanni Ruggiero
Ben Rhodes
Corey Heim
Chandler Smith
Jake Garcia
John Hunter Nemechek
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
Justin Haley
Ty Dillon
Adam Andretti
Daniel Dye
Tyler Ankrum
Andres Perez De Lara
Brenden Queen
Tyler Reif
Kris Wright
Mini Tyrrell
Stewart Friesen
Kaden Honeycutt
Grant Enfinger
Clayton Inexperienced
Josh Reaume
Frankie Muniz
Spencer Boyd
Layne Riggs
Ty Majeski
Tyler Tomassi
Tanner Grey
Cole Butcher
Dawson Sutton
Caleb Costner
Daniel Hemric
Justin Carroll
Christian Eckes
