Kyle Busch was looking for his fifth win at Bristol in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and his third consecutive win in the month of August, but he came up one position short. After capturing the pole and leading four laps, Busch made an amazing move on the green-white-checker restart to finish second.
When the green-flag flew to start the UNOH 200, Busch fell back to sixth saying the No. 54 JEGS Tundra lacked grip and felt like the air pressure was too low. The truck improved during a long green-flag run and he was back up to second during a caution for debris on lap 82. The JEGS team pitted for adjustments and he restarted the race third on lap 90.
Busch was fourth at the halfway point on lap 100. When another caution came on lap 115, Busch decided to give up his third-place track position to pit for tires and a track bar adjustment when few other trucks did. He was 15th when the race resumed with 80 laps to go, but team felt it was the right decision to help the handling of the JEGS Tundra for the last half of the race.
Busch was up to fifth when the race was halted for rain on lap 166. After a 45-minute delay the race resumed and he said the Tundra was still tight. He was sixth when the final caution came on lap 197 forcing a green-white-checker finish. On the restart Busch jumped to the outside and passed four trucks heading into turn one. He tried to chase down leader Ryan Blaney, but did not have enough time to challenge for the win. Busch crossed the finish line in second place.
“The restart was a really good one for us,” Busch said. “We were on the outside lane and somehow the bottom got jumbled up a little bit. I just made sure that I knew to go to the top and put it on kill up there as hard as I could and just drive the heck out of it. Fortunately it worked out for me and it stuck good enough that I was able to get around the outside of the 33 (Brandon Jones) and I got around the outside of the 88 (Matt Crafton) surprisingly, and I think it surprised him as well and he had to get out of the gas. From there it was kind of a mess behind me. I was just trying to be focused on the 29 (Ryan Blaney) and continue to drive up there and try to get him. There were just not enough laps.
“Our JEGS Tundra was fast tonight, just not in the right position. Overall, we had a good finish and a strong run for the 54 and for that team and for JEGS. We appreciate them being on board here this weekend.”
Blaney won the race followed by Busch, John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones rounded out the top five. KBM’s Erik Jones was sixth and Daniel Suarez was 30th. The No. 54 team gained one position moving up to 13th in the owner’s championship point standings.
KBM PR
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