Win No. 100 took some effort as one of KBM’s former drivers, Corey Heim, had successfully held Busch at bay as he repeatedly challenged for the lead in the final 10 laps.
As both drivers exited off Turn 1 on the last of 60 laps, Busch used a big run to dive under Heim in Turn 2 and come away with the lead.
Busch then held on and cleared Heim by 0.604 seconds at the checkered flag to earn the victory, his second of the 2023 season in five starts.
The move that sealed the deal on the final lap for @KyleBusch! pic.twitter.com/v5gzd5HJFG
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 22, 2023
“It’s pretty cool,” Busch said of earning the 100th win for his KBM organization. “We’ve been around a long time, not as long as others obviously. It’s been fun. This (truck) today was really, really fast.
“I was just mired in traffic. I couldn’t find a way to make a clean move so I made a little bit of a dicey one there at the end getting into (Turn) 2. Heim ran a great race, we just needed that 100th win.”
Heim was visibly disappointed with the runner-up finish.
“I thought I did everything right,” he said. “It seemed we had about five laps in the truck before it started tightening up really bad. I was a little upset initially (with Busch’s move) but realized I would have done the exact same thing.”
Taylor Gray finished a career-best third, Christopher Bell was fourth and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.
Completing the top-10 were Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Dean Thompson, Ben Rhodes and Matt DiBenedetto.
Stage 1
Zane Smith got around Nick Sanchez on a restart with seven of 15 laps to go and held on to claim the Stage 1 win. DiBenedetto was third, Busch fourth and Austin Hill fifth.
An early-race wreck involving Tanner Gray and Tyler Ankrum knocked Gray’s No. 15 out of the race.
Stage 2
Several trucks elected to pit before the conclusion of Stage 2, which handed the lead back to Smith and allowed him to complete a sweep of the stage wins.
Stewart Friesen ended up second, Sanchez third, DiBenedetto fourth and Enfinger was fifth.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, those trucks who had not yet pit did so, and Heim remained on the track and inherited the lead. He led Busch and Taylor Gray to begin the final stage.
On Lap 46, Sanchez got loose in Turn 1 and slid up the track and into Jake Garcia, whose No. 35 truck slammed into the wall to place the race under caution.
The race returned to green with nine laps remaining and Heim out front but Busch still in the hunt for the win.
Shortly after the restart, Carson Hocevar got loose in Turn 1 after taking the field three-wide which triggered a multi-truck race that collected Kaz Grala, Smith, Stefan Parsons, Austin Hill and Friesen, among others.
Big trouble at the exit of Turn 1! @ZaneSmith and @StewartFriesen are among those involved! pic.twitter.com/y9YKLWOA24
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) July 22, 2023
“Once you get back there in dirty air it’s near impossible to pass, especially with all the squirrels we have in this series,” Smith said. “It’s just a bummer. Fortunately, I did get those two playoff points, so that’s the positive for today.”
NASCAR red-flagged the race for nearly 14 minutes to clear the track of debris.
When the race resumed with five laps to go, Heim continued to lead Busch followed by Taylor Gray, Bell and Majeski.
Cla | Driver | # | Manufacturer | Laps | Time | Interval | Mph | Pits | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | KYLE BUSCHKyle Busch Motorsports | 51 | Chevrolet | 60 | 1:23'01.065 | 3 | |||
2 |
COREY HEIMTRICON Garage
|
11 | Toyota | 60 | +0.604 | 0.604 | 4 | 39 | |
3 |
TAYLOR GRAYTRICON Garage
|
17 | Toyota | 60 | +0.969 | 0.365 | 5 | 35 | |
4 | CHRISTOPHER BELLHattori Racing Enterprises | 61 | Toyota | 60 | +1.433 | 0.464 | 4 | ||
5 | GRANT ENFINGERGMS Racing | 23 | Chevrolet | 60 | +1.876 | 0.443 | 5 | 41 | |
6 | TY MAJESKIThorSport Racing | 98 | Ford | 60 | +3.485 | 1.609 | 4 | 31 | |
7 | CHRISTIAN ECKESMcAnally Hilgemann Racing | 19 | Chevrolet | 60 | +3.617 | 0.132 | 4 | 30 | |
8 |
DEAN THOMPSONTRICON Garage
|
5 | Toyota | 60 | +4.744 | 1.127 | 4 | 29 | |
9 | BEN RHODESThorSport Racing | 99 | Ford | 60 | +5.455 | 0.711 | 5 | 33 | |
10 | MATT DIBENEDETTORackley W.A.R. | 25 | Chevrolet | 60 | +5.800 | 0.345 | 5 | 42 | |
11 |
CARSON HOCEVARNiece Motorsports
|
42 | Chevrolet | 60 | +6.384 | 0.584 | 6 | 26 | |
12 | TYLER ANKRUMHattori Racing Enterprises | 16 | Toyota | 60 | +7.157 | 0.773 | 7 | 29 | |
13 | HAILIE DEEGANThorSport Racing | 13 | Ford | 60 | +8.876 | 1.719 | 7 | 24 | |
14 | MATT CRAFTONThorSport Racing | 88 | Ford | 60 | +9.163 | 0.287 | 6 | 24 | |
15 |
COLBY HOWARDCR7 Motorsports
|
9 | Chevrolet | 60 | +9.403 | 0.240 | 6 | 24 | |
16 |
RAJAH CARUTHGMS Racing
|
24 | Chevrolet | 60 | +9.753 | 0.350 | 5 | 24 | |
17 |
DANIEL DYEGMS Racing
|
43 | Chevrolet | 60 | +10.019 | 0.266 | 5 | 20 | |
18 | CHASE PURDYKyle Busch Motorsports | 4 | Chevrolet | 60 | +10.284 | 0.265 | 4 | 19 | |
19 |
NICHOLAS SANCHEZRev Racing
|
2 | Chevrolet | 60 | +11.146 | 0.862 | 5 | 35 | |
20 |
KADEN HONEYCUTTNiece Motorsports
|
44 | Chevrolet | 60 | +11.472 | 0.326 | 10 | 17 | |
21 |
TYLER HILLHill Motorsports
|
56 | Toyota | 60 | +11.909 | 0.437 | 6 | 16 | |
22 | PARKER KLIGERMANHenderson Motorsports | 75 | Chevrolet | 60 | +12.717 | 0.808 | 6 | ||
23 |
CORY ROPERRoper Racing
|
04 | Ford | 60 | +16.682 | 3.965 | 8 | 14 | |
24 |
STEPHEN MALLOZZIAM Racing
|
22 | Ford | 60 | +17.095 | 0.413 | 6 | 13 | |
25 | SPENCER BOYDYoung's Motorsports | 12 | Chevrolet | 60 | +17.463 | 0.368 | 6 | 12 | |
26 | JOSH REAUMEReaume Brothers Racing | 33 | Ford | 60 | +17.602 | 0.139 | 7 | 11 | |
27 |
ALAN LAWLESSNiece Motorsports
|
45 | Chevrolet | 60 | +17.935 | 0.333 | 8 | 10 | |
28 |
STEFAN PARSONSYoung's Motorsports
|
02 | Chevrolet | 60 | +25.656 | 7.721 | 7 | ||
29 |
BRET HOLMESBret Holmes Racing
|
32 | Chevrolet | 60 | +26.260 | 0.604 | 7 | 8 | |
30 | ROSS CHASTAINNiece Motorsports | 41 | Chevrolet | 52 | +8 Laps | 8 Laps | 6 | ||
31 | KAZ GRALATRICON Garage | 1 | Toyota | 51 | +9 Laps | 1 Lap | 10 | ||
32 | STEWART FRIESENHalmar Friesen Racing | 52 | Toyota | 51 | +9 Laps | 0.324 | 3 | 16 | |
33 | AUSTIN HILLSpire Motorsports | 7 | Chevrolet | 51 | +9 Laps | 0.365 | 5 | ||
34 |
ZANE SMITHFront Row Motorsports
|
38 | Ford | 51 | +9 Laps | 0.092 | 3 | 23 | |
35 |
JAKE GARCIAMcAnally Hilgemann Racing
|
35 | Chevrolet | 45 | +15 Laps | 6 Laps | 3 | 7 | |
36 | TANNER GRAYTRICON Garage | 15 | Toyota | 3 | +57 Laps | 42 Laps | 2 | 1 |