Kyle Busch Motorsports Captures Top Two Positions at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned after a two-week break to Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Earlier this week, Camping World founder Marcus Lemonis made an offer to all of the teams with no sponsorship. If they put the Camping World logo on their cars, they could earn money. If they finished well, they could earn additional cash.

Ten teams took up on Lemonis’s offer, including Sheldon Creed and Raphael Lessard. In the challenge, if a driver finished in the top-ten, they get $25 thousand, $35 thousand for a top-five finish, and $50 thousand if they win the race.

Ben Rhodes won the pole on Wednesday by a metric qualifying system, with Sheldon Creed starting second. Kris Wright was the only driver starting the race in the rear for unapproved adjustments.

Three laps into the race, Corey Roper got loose and spun at turn four to bring out the first caution. Roper nearly hit Jenifer Jo Cobb, getting his truck straight. His night would only get worse.

The race resumed on the seventh lap with Creed in the lead. On the same lap, John Hunter Nemechek took the lead away from Creed. Meanwhile, in the back, Kyle Busch, who started 29th, made his way up to seventh by lap eleven.

Upfront, Nemechek was in control. He led the last twenty-four laps to win stage one. Teams went to pit road during the caution, with Nemechek beating Creed to remain in first. His boss Kyle Busch reported that he had a drive train issue. He managed to come out third, leaving pit road. The team would be working on the drive train for the remainder of the race.

The race resumed on lap 37 to start stage two. During stage two, Creed dropped to the back. He told his crew chief that the oil pressure dropped, and he was worried about losing a cylinder. He would bring the truck to pit road, but he was not out of the race. It appeared he had a wire loose. On lap 47, Kyle Busch got the lead from Nemechek with twelve laps to go in stage two. Busch did get sideways on the front stretch and managed to save his truck with one lap to go and would win stage two.

Teams went to pit road during the caution. Stewart Friesen beat Nemechek to take the top spot. The third and final stage got underway on lap 68. One lap into the restart, former IndyCar driver Conor Daly got loose and slammed the outside wall hard. At the same time, Sheldon Creed tried to avoid the wreck and clipped the wall to bring out the race’s fourth caution. Daly would be the first casualty out of the race.

No one went to pit road during the caution. The race resumed on lap 76. The restart only lasted three laps before Chandler Smith spun off turn two to bring out the fifth caution. Smith’s truck had right rear damage. Some teams took advantage of the caution by pitting while the leaders stayed out. The race resumed on lap 84.

Four laps into the restart, Kyle Busch’s left rear tire went down on the front stretch. His truck would spin off turn two to bring out the race’s sixth caution. Many speculated that Busch did it on purpose to stay on the lead lap. Once again, some teams went to pit road during the caution. Todd Gilliland was the new leader as the race resumed on lap 95.

The restart only lasted two laps before the seventh caution. The caution flag waved for a multiple-car wreck. Raphael Lessard tried to move to the inside lane. He clipped David Gilliland, causing a seven-truck crash that included Hailie Deegan, Sheldon Creed, Austin Wayne Self, Ryan Truex, and Bret Holmes. No one went to pit road during the caution.

The race resumed on lap 103. Trucks were scrambling, going either three, four, or five-wide to get to the front. Nemechek was able to regain the lead over Brett Moffitt on the same lap. With 19 laps to go, the eighth caution came out when Tyler Hill got loose, coming off turn four and hitting Corey Roper, sending him to the outside wall. Both trucks would be out of the race. Some teams did head to pit road during the caution. The race resumed on lap 121.

The restart only lasted one-lap before the ninth caution came out for another crash. The wreck happened off turn two. Chase Purdy got loose and hit Jordan Anderson, who then hit Tyler Ankrum, sending both of them sliding on the backstretch before coming to a stop.

No one went to pit road during the caution. The race resumed with six laps to go. Nemechek remained out front, and Kyle Busch took second away from Austin Hill. Busch was catching Nemechek, but he ran out of time as John Hunter Nemechek won the race by .686 seconds over his boss. It was Nemechek’s first win in the Truck Series since 2018 at Martinsville when he raced for his dad.

The rest of the top ten finishers was Austin Hill third, Stewart Friesen fourth, Matt Crafton fifth, Zane Smith sixth, Grant Enfinger seventh, the highest of the Camping World challenge, Park Kligerman eighth, Christian Eckes ninth, and Ben Rhodes tenth.

The Truck Series will return on Saturday, March 20th, from Atlanta Motor Speedway at 2:30 pm on FS1.

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