Sonoma
Kyle Busch leads during Saturday's Truck Series race at Sonoma. (HHP/Tim Parks)
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

Kyle Busch Gets Truck Series Win At Sonoma

June 11, 2022

Kyle Busch earned his first and only NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the year Saturday in a two-lap shootout, winning over Zane Smith at Sonoma Raceway in California.

Busch led 45 of 75 laps to score the win in the series’ first race at the road course since 1998.

For Busch, it is his 62nd Truck Series win. Making his fifth start of the year, Busch kept from going winless in the series for the first time since 2012.

“Awesome adjustment by (crew chief) Mardy (Lindly) and all these guys to get us into position to win,” Busch told Fox Sports 1. “Yesterday was ugly, I was’t sure about it. I didn’t feel good about the truck. They worked on it all night long. We made some brake changes, we made some chassis changes. These guys never stopped. We try. As easy as it may seem sometime I know the effort’s there.”

Busch now has at least one Truck Series win in the last 10 years.

“It’s important, certainly would have loved to go get a win in (2012),” Busch said. “We wanted to do that at some of the new tracks we went to this year with COTA and here at Sonoma. Real proud of that.”

The top five was completed by Ty Majeski, Ross Chastain and Chandler Smith. Chandler Smith had been second the final restart before being overtaken by Zane Smith.

For Zane Smith, it was his sixth top-five finish of the season.

“I hate finishing second, especially to him (Busch),” Smith told FS1. “I think that last lap was the fastest lap of the race for me.”

Click here for the race results.

Coming in sixth was Daniel Suarez, who took over Niece Motorsports’ No. 42 Truck in the first stage as a relief driver for the injured Carson Hocevar.

The final run to the checkered was created by a violent multi-truck crash on the frontstretch with five laps to go involving Stewart Friesen, Alex Bowman and Josh Bilicki.

Cleanup of the resulted in a red flag.

First Stage

Hocevar, who won the pole despite his broken right tibia, had to start from the rear in a backup truck after he wrecked just as his qualifying run ended.

By Lap 10, Hocevar was in 23rd. Two laps later Hocevar made his way to pit road where Suarez took over for him.

Suarez would go two laps down during the driver change.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do the whole race and this is what the team and everybody thought was smartest,” Hocevar told Fox Sports 1. “I want to win the championship and I want to be selfish, but I wasn’t going to be at my full capacity. … Sometimes the hardest decision might be the smartest one.”

 

Chastain led every lap until Lap 17 when he was the first to pit ahead of the stage break. That ceded the point position briefly to Busch, who then pit and gave the lead to Majeski.

On the last lap of the stage, Tyler Ankrum put up a fierce challenge for the lead, but Majeski was able to hold on for the stage win, the first of his career.

The top 10 after 20 laps: Majeski, Ankrum, Nemechek, Enfinger, Kligerman, DiBenedetto, Kraus, Zane Smith, Dillon and Hailie Deegan.

Matt DiBenedetto was penalized for an uncontrolled tire. Deegan, who had started in the top 10, was penalized for equipment going over the wall too soon.

Majeski and Ankrum were first off pit road, but Chastain and Busch restarted on the front row.

Stage 2

Chastain kept the lead on the restart, but only until Turn 11, when Chastain overshot the corner and Busch underneath him to take the lead.

The next lap saw the first caution for an accident when Christian Eckes wreck after contact from behind with John Hunter Nemechek as they races through the esses.

Suarez was the free pass, putting him back on the lead lap.

The rest of the stage would go caution free. With three laps left, a large portion of the field visited pit road.

Busch and the other leaders pit coming to two laps to go, with Busch being the first off. During his stop, Ankrum had an uncontrolled tire, forcing him to start from the rear.

Ben Rhodes claimed the stage win, getting it over Chandler Smith. It was Rhodes’ eighth stage win, which leads the series.

The race resumed with 26 laps to go and Busch in the lead.

With 20 laps to go, Matt Crafton’s day ended due to a mechanical issue.

Coming to 15 laps to go, DiBenedetto attempted to pass Friesen on the inside as they entered Turn 11. DiBenedetto’s move to the inside came so late and deep in the corner that he hit a set of tires placed inside the turn as a barrier, sending them bouncing into the track.

Their displacement resulted in a caution with 14 to go as Busch led over Chastain and Bowman.

All the leaders elected to make a pit stop under the caution. Busch beat Chastain and Majeski to be first of pit road.

Meanwhile, Rhodes, Derek Kraus and Chase Purdy stayed out and led on the restart with 11 laps to go.

Busch would be in the lead by Turn 7. The caution returned with 10 laps to go when Deegan had a tire go down, hit the wall in Turn 1 and went off track.