Friday’s Bully Hill Vineyards 200 was the “Same Old Song and Hat Dance” for Kyle Busch and his Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based sponsor Dollar General. After scoring the first-ever win for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in last year’s Nashville 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Nashville Superspeedway, the duo’s remix sounded very similar to their original performance. Busch once again dominated the field. Starting the 300-mile race from the pole and leading 140 of the 150 laps en route to his second truck series victory this season and third in five races for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Along the way, the 25-year old became just the 10th driver to lead 20,000 laps combined across the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and NCWTS.
“We’re proud to bring home another Nashville victory for all the great folks at Dollar General,” said Busch. “It’s always great to win races. When you win at your sponsor’s hometown track with their CEO Rick Dreiling and his family in victory lane celebrating with us along with many executives and employees, it makes it extra special.”
“The guys at Kyle Busch Motorsports did a phenomenal job on this Toyota Tundra. Our truck was really good; it had a great feel to it all night long. Triad Motors provided me with some great horsepower. We couldn’t do this without the help of our great sponsors. Flexco, Butler Seats, Gillette, Marquis Jets, Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oils and Marquis Jets. Camping World. This is a series I love to race and participate in. And last but not least, the fans.”
Ron Hornaday Jr. tried to steal the show from Busch late in the race. After a restart with eight laps remaining, the cagey veteran dove to the inside of Busch in Turn 3 and assumed the lead coming off of Turn 4. Shortly after Hornaday Jr. took the lead, a two-car accident in Turn 2 brought out the final caution of the race.
This time on the restart, Busch returned the favor getting to the inside of the veteran and regaining the lead before the field got back to the start-finish line. The defending race winner pulled away from the field over the final two laps to collect his third career Sam Bass-designed Gibson Les Paul guitar.
After collecting his first Keystone Light Pole Award this season, the Las Vegas native paced the field until he made his first pit stop of the night under green flag conditions on lap 54. The Dollar General crew put four fresh tires with an air pressure adjustment on the No. 18 Toyota, filled it with fuel and returned their owner/driver back to the track.
As pit stops cycled through, Busch reassumed the lead on lap 58 just before the first caution of the race occurred. When the race resumed, the No. 18 continued to pace the field. Busch communicated to his crew chief Eric Phillips that his Dollar General Toyota was a little tight in the center of and a little loose of the exit of both sets of turns off the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
Debris brought out the third caution of the race on lap 102. When pit road opened, Busch brought his Tundra down pit road for four fresh tires with an air pressure adjustment, and a full tank of fuel. The crew’s lightning quick pit stop allowed the No. 18 Dollar General Toyota to narrowly beat the No. 17 of Timothy Peters, who took two tires, to the scoring line and maintain the race lead.
Shortly after going back to green flag conditions, a two-car incident of Turn 2 sent Austin Dillon spinning, bringing out the fourth caution of the race. After the race restarted on lap 113, Busch once again left the field in his rear-view mirror. A three-car wreck off Turn 4 brought out the caution that set up the late-race showdown between Busch and Hornaday Jr.
Nelson Piquet Jr. finished second, followed by Peters, Hornaday Jr. and James Buescher. Rounding out the top 10 were Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, David Starr, Craig Goess and Parker Klingerman.
The race featured six cautions totaling 24 laps.
With the win, Kyle Busch Motorsports extended their lead in the NCWTS owners’ point standings to 39 points over the ThorSport Racing’s No. 13. The primary chassis for the race, KBM-4, has now been to victory lane six times in eight races. Busch won with the truck in its debut last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway and also drove it to victories last year at Chicagoland Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway. Kasey Kahne notched the truck’s fifth win at Darlington Raceway this April.
KBM
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