Kyle Busch Beats Erik Jones For 51st Truck Series Win

Kyle Busch collects his 51st Truck-Series win
Sarah Crabill/Getty Images

In his last start of the season, Kyle Busch got the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory he coveted most.

Holding off a charge from Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Erik Jones—who started the race in place of ailing Noah Gragson—Busch, the pole winner, powered his No. 51 Toyota across the finish line 1.469 seconds ahead of Jones' No. 18 to win the Gander Outdoors 150 at Pocono Raceway.

The number "51" had added significance on Saturday. In winning for the second time in five starts this season and the second time at the 2.5-mile "Tricky Triangle," Busch collected the 51st NCWTS victory of his career, tying him for the all-time series lead with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr.

Busch's milestone triumph, however, was in doubt until the closing laps. On Lap 52 of 60, Jones caught Busch in heavy race traffic and pulled ahead as the trucks rounded Turn 1 and headed down the Long Pond straightaway.

[adinserter name="GOOGLE AD"] But Busch regained the lead through the Tunnel Turn, powering to the outside of Jones, whose Tundra was slowed by a lapped truck. From that point, Busch pulled away for the victory.

"They (Jones) had a better truck," Busch acknowledged. "I tried and tried to work on this thing to make it better and probably made it slower with all the things I changed on it, rather than making it faster.

"I knew Erik was going to be fast in that truck—I knew Noah was going to be fast in that truck. They were the ones that we had to beat. I wish we were a tick faster, but obviously, being a bit slower, we put on a better show. Erik was able to run me down, and I did everything I could to hold him off."

When Busch did his celebratory burnout on the front stretch, two patches of rubber deposited on the racing surface caught fire.

"I sat in one spot for too long on the asphalt," Busch said. "My bad."

Busch grabbed the lead from eventual third-place finisher Dalton Sargeant on Lap 37, with Jones running third at the time. It took Jones four more laps to get past Sargeant, as Busch opened a lead of more than two seconds.

Kyle Busch leads the pack at Pocono
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

But Jones, who won the 2015 series championship in a KBM truck, ate into the gap steadily and had his one shot at the win on Lap 52.

"I saw the lapped trucks, and they gave me the opportunity to get there," said Jones, who started from the rear of the field and "I was like, ‘This is going to be my shot, probably my only shot to get the lead, and if we can get the lead, I think we can hold him off.'

"We came within about six inches of doing it, and I had to kind of checkup. There were four lapped trucks. We passed three of them on the straightaway, and there was one more in the Tunnel Turn, and I had to check up on the bottom or run him over, which I wasn't going to do.

"Kyle was still at my quarter, and I had to give him space. It was a close moment. That was our one shot. I used up a lot of the truck just to make that one move."

Stewart Friesen finished fourth, followed by Justin Haley. Grant Enfinger, Todd Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Joe Nemechek completed the top 10.

Gragson was suffering from a stomach virus and wasn't cleared medically to compete after a visit to the infield care center. But Gragson will receive a medical waiver from NASCAR that keeps him eligible to compete for the series championship.

With one victory to his credit this season, Gragson held on to second in the standings, 65 points behind Sauter.

RACE RESULTS

Finish Start # Driver Sponsor/Make Laps Led Points Status
1 1 51 Kyle Busch Cessna Toyota 60 43 0 Running
2 31 18 Erik Jones Safelite AutoGlass Toyota 60 1 0 Running
3 4 25 Dalton Sargeant Performance Plus Motor Oil Chevrolet 60 4 42 Running
4 12 52 Stewart Friesen We Build America Chevrolet 60 4 46 Running
5 3 24 Justin Haley Fraternal Order of Eagles Chevrolet 60 0 41 Running
6 5 98 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment/Curb Records Ford 60 0 46 Running
7 2 4 Todd Gilliland Mobil 1 Toyota 60 7 40 Running
8 7 21 Johnny Sauter ISM Connect Chevrolet 60 0 33 Running
9 20 88 Matt Crafton Goof Off/Menards Ford 60 0 28 Running
10 6 8 Joe Nemechek D.A.B. Constructors/Fleetwing Chevrolet 60 0 32 Running
11 14 41 Ben Rhodes The Carolina Nut Co. Ford 60 0 31 Running
12 8 13 Myatt Snider Century Container Ford 60 1 33 Running
13 9 2 Austin Hill Young's Building Systems/Randco Chevrolet 60 0 31 Running
14 10 2 Cody Coughlin JEGS.com Chevrolet 60 0 32 Running
15 11 20 Tanner Thorson Maestro's Classic Chevrolet 60 0 26 Running
16 16 3 Jordan Anderson Bommarito/Lucas Oil Chevrolet 60 0 24 Running
17 17 45 Justin Fontaine ProMATIC Automation/Superior Essex Chevrolet 60 0 22 Running
18 13 22 Austin Self GO TEXAN Chevrolet 59 0 20 Running
19 23 33 Josh Reaume Lehigh Valley Phantoms Chevrolet 59 0 18 Running
20 15 54 Bo LeMastus Crosley Brands/DGR-Crosley Toyota 59 0 17 Running
21 19 49 Wendell Chavous SobrietyNation Chevrolet 59 0 16 Running
22 30 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor Chevrolet 59 0 15 Running
23 25 83 Todd Peck Pulse Transport Chevrolet 59 0 14 Running
24 26 74 BJ McLeod Horizon Transport Chevrolet 59 0 0 Running
25 28 6 Norm Benning Zomongo/H&H Transport Chevrolet 57 0 12 Running
26 32 16 Brett Moffitt Toyota Tsusho Toyota 53 0 11 Running
27 29 50 Ray Ciccarelli Image Tech/VIP Racing Experience Chevrolet 31 0 10 Vibration
28 21 87 Timmy Hill Toenjes Brick Contracting Inc. Chevrolet 23 0 0 Vibration
29 22 0 Camden Murphy Driven2Honor Chevrolet 17 0 8 Electrical
30 18 15 Reed Sorenson Chevrolet 17 0 0 Electrical
31 24 34 JJ Yeley Steve King Foundation Chevrolet 4 0 0 Suspension
32 27 63 Bayley Currey G-Style Transportation/Cedar Peaks Chevrolet 3 0 5 Engine

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