Making his first start for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) this weekend, 17-year-old Gray Gaulding hopes to finish the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP) with a few doughnuts. Not just the glazed kind you would expect from his sponsor Krispy Kreme, but the celebratory black rubber donuts at the finish line a driver makes before heading to Victory Lane.
Gaulding will be driving the No. 54 Krispy Kreme Tundra around the 10-turn road course. Although it will be his first of three starts this season in a KBM Tundra, it will not be his first time around CTMP. He scored his best-career start and finish there in the Truck Series last year. He started on the front row in second place and led five laps en route to a fourth-place finish. His plan is to improve that finish by three positions this time.
If history is any indication, Gaulding’s Tundra this weekend comes with a winning pedigree. Chassis KBM-005 has won three races in the past three years with three different drivers. Most recently Christopher Bell drove it to Victory Lane last month at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr., also took the checkered flag in it at Eldora in 2014 and KBM owner-driver Kyle Busch scored a win with it at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in 2013. Gaulding would like to become the fourth driver to add his name to the truck’s winning history.
A victory at CTMP would be huge for KBM, as it is only one of two tracks on the current Truck Series schedule where the organization has not recorded a win. When the year began there were four tracks on the list, however Busch crossed off two of them with wins at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway and Michigan International Speedway this month. Now only victories at CTMP and Atlanta Motor Speedway elude the KBM drivers.
If things go his way on Sunday, Gaulding will have the “Hot Now” sign lit up in in Victory Lane once he finishes making the doughnuts on the track.
KBM PR
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