Date: May 19, 2017
Event: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 (Race 5 of 23)
Series: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Location: Charlotte Motor Speedway (1.5-mile quad-oval)
Format: Three Stages; 40 laps/40 laps/54 laps
Start/Finish: 4/1 (running, completed 134 of 134 laps)
Winner: Kyle Busch of Kyle Busch Motorsports (Toyota)
For the second race in a row Kyle Busch drove his way into Victory Lane after capturing the checkered flag in Friday’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This marks Busch’s seventh win at the 1.5-mile track. He now has more wins at a single track than any other driver in the history of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS). Busch led the field Friday night for 90 laps and won both stages of the race en route to his 48th win in the NCWTS.
First Stage Recap:
- When the green flag dropped, Busch started his No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra from the fourth position but was leading the field by Lap 13
- Busch stayed out front with no problems for the rest of the 40-lap Stage
Second Stage Recap:
- Busch started the second stage 11th, behind trucks that did not make a trip down pit road after Stage One
- The Las Vegas-native took his time racing through the pack of trucks in front of him, but eventually took back the lead on Lap 77 and won Stage Two
Third Stage Recap:
- After pitting for four tires and fuel, Busch started Stage Three from the third position
- He made the pass for the lead on Lap 89 and continued to stay out front through late-race cautions to bring home his seventh win at Charlotte in 11 starts
KYLE BUSCH, driver of the No. 51 Cessna Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports:
Second win in a row, how does it feel to be back in victory lane?
“It means a lot. These guys, they pour their hearts and souls into our trucks and what we do with our Toyota Tundras. It’s awesome to get Cessna back to back wins here and back to victory lane again and of course just a true testament to Rowdy Manufacturing, everybody in the chassis shop doing a fantastic job and Kyle Busch Motorsports, all the guys going home. Everyone on this 51 team, they’ve done a great job. I can’t say enough about Rudy (Fugle, crew chief) and everybody on the 4 (Christopher Bell) as well as Marcus (Richmond, crew chief) on the 18 (Noah Gragson). We’re all really working as a cohesive group and guys are doing a great job. For us to be out front most of the laps tonight, it was fun. It was challenging there that middle section of the race. That was kind of chaotic. I didn’t know what was going on half the time. We made it through there and got to the front and was able to win this thing. Just real proud of the whole team effort.”
North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Recap:
- Owner-driver Kyle Busch earned his second 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory after leading a race-high 90 laps. Truck-Series regular Johnny Sauter finished in the runner-up position, while KBM teammate Christopher Bell, Ryan Truex and Timothy Peters rounded out the top-five finishers.
- The race featured nine cautions for a total of 38 laps. There were 10 lead changes among eight drivers.
How Busch’s KBM Teammates Fared:
- Noah Gragson, driver of the No. 18 Toyota, finished ninth
- Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 4 Toyota, finished third
NCWTS Owner Championship Standings:
The No. 51 Toyota Racing team remains third in the Truck Series Owner Championship Standings.
Next Race:
Harrison Burton will pilot the No. 51 DEX Imaging Toyota Tundra when the Truck Series returns at Dover International Speedway in Dover, Del. Live coverage of the Bar Harbor 200 begins with the NCWTS Setup Show at 5:00 p.m. ET.
