CONCORD, N.C. – Kyle Busch proved once again Friday that when it comes to the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he is the man to beat.
Busch dominated Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200, easily earning his sixth-straight series victory dating back to 2018 after leading a race-high 102 laps. That streak matches his Busch’s own record for consecutive victories in the Truck Series.
Busch started eighth after a subpar qualifying effort, but he was quick to work his way through the field. He was up to third by the end of the opening lap and took the lead for the first time by lap five.
He gave up the lead to hit the pits with five laps left in the first stage, but he was back in the lead by lap 41 during the second stage and rolled to the stage victory. He later gave up the lead to make his final pit stop during a caution period with less than 50 laps left, but it wasn’t long before he raced back to the lead.
Slicing and dicing his way through a gaggle of trucks, Busch took the lead for the final time from Ben Rhodes with 39 laps left, but he had to survive a restart with three laps left that saw Rhodes and Brennan Poole challenge him for the lead.
Neither Rhodes or Poole were able to get the job done and Busch pulled away to a 1.115-second victory.
“Our truck was really, really good,” said Busch, who was making his final Truck Series start of the season because NASCAR limits full-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers to five Truck Series starts each year. “These guys did a great job preparing such a fast Tundra for me. I want to thank Cessna, Beechcraft, of course Toyota, TRD, Rowdy Manufacturing. It takes a whole group effort and Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and these guys are awesome at what they do and give me great pieces each and every time we come out here.
“There at the end that last restart – I didn’t want to have that last restart there. I knew being on older tires was going to be a handful for me. It looked like it was for a couple of the other guys. I just didn’t get a very good restart, but then I was still able to hold them off thankfully.”
Driving for On Point Motorsports, Poole finished second to score the best finish of his Truck Series career. Stewart Friesen, Rhodes and polesitter Matt Crafton completed the top-five.
For complete results, advance to the next page.