By Summer Bedgood
Kyle Busch looked like he was well on his way to earning his first career road course race victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series on Saturday at Circuit of the Americas.
Starting the XPEL 225 from the fifth position, Busch took over the lead on only the second lap and went on to dominate, leading 31 of the 46 laps.
So how was it, then, that he wound up finishing third?
Busch, who owns Kyle Busch Motorsports with drivers John Hunter Nemechek and Chandler Smith in the series, was leading the race in the second NASCAR Overtime restart when Alex Bowman dive-bombed under Busch and Stewart Friesen in an attempt to grab the lead. The three trucks slid up the racing surface and Zane Smith was able to sneak by for the lead and, eventually, the win. Ma
Zane said dueces ✌️ pic.twitter.com/Xw74VUUDH9
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) March 26, 2022
Busch lost several positions as a result of the contact but was able to work his way back up to third before the checkered flag flew, making the driver of the No. 51 Toyota two-for-two in top-five finishes in the Truck Series this year.
“We had a great race all day,” Busch said post-race “I really appreciate everyone at KBM and their hard work and everyone there who does a good job building such fast trucks. I felt like we deserved that one, but it doesn’t matter if you deserve it or not. It’s just a matter if you get it. You have to be the first one to the checkered flag to win these things and we just weren’t.”
Busch’s next Truck Series race will be Thursday, April 7th at Martinsville Speedway for the Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 200. The race will take place at 8:00 PM ET with coverage on FS1 and MRN.
Photo Credit: Rachel Schuoler