Kyle Busch led a race-high 102 laps on the way to earning his 60th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Busch, the two-time Cup Series champion, was making his second of five scheduled Truck starts this season. Earlier this month in Las Vegas, he finished second to his Kyle Busch Motorsports employee, John Hunter Nemechek.
Saturday’s win was Busch’s sixth in the Trucks at Atlanta. He remains the only driver with multiple Truck wins there.
Busch also gave crew chief Mardy Lindley his first Truck victory. Lindley joined KBM this offseason after winning back-to-back ARCA Menards Series East titles with Sam Mayer.
“Coach (Joe Gibbs) says you’ve got to have good people to have success,” Busch told FS1. “We’ve had great people … It’s just a matter of evolving. The sport is ever-changing. Six months from now, the set-ups will be different again.
“It’s cool to have fresh ideas, different concepts, and things we can work on to try and continue to improve.”
Georgia native Austin Hill finished runner-up on Saturday, earning his second consecutive top five result.
“When we had that last restart (Lap 68), I was trying to save my tires a little bit and didn’t want to kill them right off the bat,” Hill told FS1. “When it was go time, I started matching Kyle’s lap times.
“We had the green flag pit stops (after Lap 100), got out in second – the pit crew did an awesome job today – but I gave that gap up and could never close it. I was matching his lap times, but I needed to be a little bit quicker.”
Nemechek finished third after winning both stages. Johnny Sauter was a season-best fourth. Reigning series champion Sheldon Creed completed the top five.
STAGE 1 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek
STAGE 2 WINNER: John Hunter Nemechek
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Brett Moffitt finished ninth after his Niece Motorsports team had to change engines on his No. 45 entry leading up to the green flag.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: The third KBM driver, Chandler Smith, was forced to pit under green on several occasions due to mechanical issues. He finished six laps down in 35th place.
NOTABLE: Bill Lester finished 36th in his first Truck Series start since 2007.
NEXT: The Trucks return Saturday, March 27 on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway. Qualifying heats begin at 4:30 p.m. ET. The race begins at 8 p.m. ET on FS1.