Date: July 5, 2017
Event: Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 (Round 10 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location: Kentucky Speedway in Sparta (1.5-mile oval)
Format: 150 laps, broken into three stages (35 laps/35 laps/80 laps)
Start/Finish: 27th/6th (Running, completed 150 of 150 laps)
Race Winner: Christopher Bell of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)
Stage 1 Recap (Laps 1-35):
● Kyle Busch started 27th, finished 14th.
● With qualifying rained out, Busch started towards the rear of the field as his No. 46 team is low in the owner points standings.
● Busch made quick work of the trucks in front of him from the drop of the green. Still, Busch brought his Banfield Pet Hospital Toyota to pit road on lap 23 for four tires and fuel. During the trip to pit road, there was an issue getting off the right front tire, which slowed down the stop.
● Busch finished Stage 1 in 14th, but restarted inside the top-five at the start of Stage 2 with several trucks pitting during the lap 35 caution period.
Stage 2 Recap (Laps 36-70):
● Busch started 5th, finished 2nd.
● The Las Vegas native vaulted to second shortly following the restart at the beginning of Stage 2 and settled in behind KBM teammate Noah Gragson.
● Busch radioed to crew chief Cody Glick that he felt the like the right front was sliding getting into turn three, with adjustments coming on a lap 72 pit stop for the end of Stage 2.
●On the stop, the Banfield team again had a tough time getting the right-front tire off, as they suspected it was an issue in the setup that was causing the problem, resulting in the slow pit stops.
Stage 3 Recap (Laps 36-70):
● Busch started 14th, finished 6th.
● Busch started the final stage further back, but again vaulted up into the top-five.
● For a third and final time, Busch came to pit road on lap 109. The stop was planned for two tires, but yet again, the right-front tire would not come off and it cost the No. 46 team precious time on pit road. As a result, Busch dropped back to 12th on the next restart.
● With his Banfield Tundra buried deep in the field, Busch was able to work his way through the field almost to the top-five, but the aerodynamics of the newly repaved surface made it very hard for Busch to pass, where he eventually crossed the finish line in 6th.
Kyle Busch, Driver Q&A
“We had a really fast Banfield Pet Hospital Tundra, but didn’t quite get the breaks that we needed. We fought really hard from the start of the race since qualifying was rained out and we started towards the back. It seemed like every time we got track position, we gave it back with the issues the guys were having getting off the right front tire. Very happy that (Christopher) Bell was able to get the win tonight for KBM, but also wish we could have not had those issues and had a shot at the win too.”
Next Up: The next event on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule is July 19 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The race starts at 9:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by Fox Business. The next race where Banfield Pet Hospital returns to Kyle Busch Motorsports with Busch at the wheel is Aug. 16 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.
