Kyle Busch started the F.W. Webb 175 from the pole, led a race-record 165 laps, scored a perfect driver rating and lapped all but six competitors en route to his third-consecutive victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The win was the 26-year-old driver’s sixth in the Truck Series this season, the 30th of his career and his 104th all-time NASCAR National Series victory.
“The Toyota/Traxxas Tundra was awesome today,” said Busch, who picked up his 18th National Series win this season. “I can’t say enough about everybody at Kyle Busch Motorsports. They worked their butts off. We haven’t had the best of runs at the mile-and-a-half tracks and the faster places, but feel really good about where we were today and how our short track stuff is. This is cool to come out here and run like this again. I can’t say enough about Toyota, Traxxas and all the guys that support us — M&M’s, Dollar General, DuPont, Flexco, Triad Racing engines and Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oils — of course Camping World. Can’t say enough about the fans too — thank you guys. Appreciate the support and it was a fun race today at New Hampshire. Put on a great performance like that and it goes back to these guys.”
Busch’s near-perfect day began Saturday morning when he captured his second-consecutive pole for the Truck Series race at New Hampshire with track-record lap of 28.917 seconds at 131.715 mph.
The Las Vegas native slowly pulled away from the field as the race proceeded caution free for the first 60 laps. By lap 45, the No. 18 Toyota/Traxxas Tundra had opened up a four-second lead on Austin Dillon. As Busch worked his way through lap traffic, Dillon had closed to within a second of the lead when NASCAR officials spotted debris on the race track and summoned the first caution of the race on lap 61.
Busch, who had communicated to crew chief Eric Phillips that his Tundra was too tight in traffic, brought his No. 18 Tundra to the KBM over-the-wall crew when pit road opened. The crew put four fresh tires, with an air pressure adjustment, filled the truck with fuel and returned their driver back to the track at the front of the field.
A second debris caution occurred on lap 70 and when the race restarted on lap 74, Dillon posed his biggest challenge of the race. The second-year driver dove to the inside of Busch and the two raced fender-to-fender for three laps. Busch held off Dillon’s challenge and maintained the race lead.
The Toyota/Traxxas Tundra continued to pace the field as the race proceeded toward the finish under green flag conditions. Busch was just over one second ahead of Dillon when he surrendered the lead for the first time on lap 131 when Phillips ordered his driver down pit road for a four-tire green-flag pit stop.
Dillon led for five laps before making his final pit stop of the day on lap 136. When pit stops cycled through on lap 141, the KBM over-the-wall crew’s lightning-quick pit stop allowed Busch to stretch his lead on Dillon to four-and-a-half seconds with just over thirty laps remaining.
Busch cruised to his eighth win across NASCAR’s top three divisions at “The Magic Mile.” He has visited victory lane after each of the last three Truck Series as well as the last three NASCAR Nationwide Series races at the 1.058-mile oval.
The win was the No. 18 Tundra’s seventh of the season and allowed the team to gain seven points on Kevin Harvick Inc.’s No. 2 truck in the Truck Series owners’ point standings. KBM now trails KHI by 33 points with the five races remaining on the schedule.
Busch now has won five of six races with Traxxas as a primary or co-primary sponsor on his No. 18 Tundra. The primary chassis for the race, KBM-7, has two wins in three races and has led 336 of the 575 total laps available with Busch behind the wheel.
Dillon, who took over the lead in Truck Series driver points, finished second, 3.816-seconds behind Busch. Kevin Harvick finished third, Ron Hornaday Jr. was fourth and Johnny Sauter fifth. Matt Crafton, James Buescher, Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters and Miguel Paludo rounded out the top 10.
Two-time defending NASCAR Mexico Series Champion German Quiroga finished 16th in his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut driving the No. 51 Telcel Tundra for KBM.
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