Kyle Busch Dominates the NASCAR Truck Series Race at Las Vegas

Meg Oliphant - Getty Images

LAS VEGAS, NV – RIS – Kyle Busch won the pole and then dominated the NASCAR Craftman truck race a Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night.  He led 85 of the 134 laps even despite a Lap one stop in the pits.  His win also marked the first checkered flag for Kyle Busch Motorsports running under the Chevrolet banner, adding to a long history of victorious tradition in his time with Toyota. It was his 63rd victory in the truck series.

. Before the start of the race, many pit crews showed up late to the race due to flight delays to Las Vegas. This would affect a few contenders during the race. During the first green flag run, Busch and Nick Sanchez had a good battle for the lead. Sanchez ended up with the lead. During pit stops, however, Busch did not have his usual pit crew servicing his car and ended up losing many spots on pit road.

2022 Truck Series champion Zane Smith and 2021 champion Ben Rhodes made up the rest of the podium while Corey Heim and Ty Majeski rounded out the top five. Christian Eckes, Carson Hocevar, Chase Purdy, Grant Enfinger and Jake Garcia completed the top 10. Truck title hopefuls Smith and Hocevar took home the first two stages.

Green flag pit stops began at 35 to go with Hocevar and Eckes being some of the first trucks to come in for fresh tires. Busch pitted with 29 laps to go. Dye cycled to lead temporarily running an alternate strategy, but he had to pit with 24 to go, thereby surrendering the lead back to Busch.

Busch had a close moment with DiBenedetto with 19 laps to go when Busch attempted to lap him. Busch went low on DiBenedetto in turn 2 and got considerably loose on the backstretch but saved his car.

After final pit stops, Busch took the lead early and drove away by six or more seconds. Smith and Ben Rhodes gained on the No. 51 Chevrolet as the laps came down, but he still won by four seconds in the end. 

Busch will be entered in the remaining Xfinity and truck races with Xfinity on Saturday and Cup Series on Sunday in celebration of the speedway being his home track, having been born in the Las Vegas area.  All the races will find Busch in Chevrolets.

Unofficial Results: Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts, March 3, 2023, Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Fin, St, Driver, Truck, Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Playoff Pts, Pts, Status
1) 1, Kyle Busch(i), No. 51 Zariz Transport Chevrolet, 134, , , 5, 84, , 0, Running
2) 7, Zane Smith, No. 38 Speedco Ford, 134, 1, , 1, 8, 1, 45, Running
3) 9, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Kubota Ford, 134, 7, 2, 2, 2, , 47, Running
4) 15, Corey Heim, No. 11 Safelite Toyota, 134, , , , , , 33, Running
5) 4, Ty Majeski, No. 98 Curb Records Ford, 134, 2, 10, , , , 42, Running
6) 12, Christian Eckes, No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 31, Running
7) 8, Carson Hocevar, No. 42 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 134, 8, 1, 4, 19, 1, 43, Running
8) 3, Chase Purdy, No. 4 Bama Buggies Chevrolet, 134, , 4, , , , 36, Running
9) 17, Grant Enfinger, No. 23 Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet, 134, 4, 5, 1, 3, , 41, Running
10) 14, Jake Garcia #, No. 35 Quanta Chevrolet, 134, , , , , , 27, Running
11) 11, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Slim Jim/Menards Ford, 134, 6, 6, , , , 36, Running
12) 19, Matt DiBenedetto, No. 25 Rackley Roofing Chevrolet, 133, 3, 3, , , , 41, Running
13) 16, Tanner Gray, No. 15 Dead On Tools Toyota, 133, 10, 9, , , , 27, Running
14) 22, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota, 133, , , , , , 23, Running
15) 18, Tyler Ankrum, No. 16 LiUNA! Toyota, 133, , , , , , 22, Running
16) 25, Dean Thompson, No. 5 Thompson Pipe Group Toyota, 133, , , , , , 21, Running
17) 10, Kaz Grala(i), No. 1 Ruedebusch Dev & Construction Toyota, 133, , 8, 1, 5, , 0, Running
18) 27, Colby Howard, No. 9 Grant County Mulch Chevrolet, 133, , , , , , 19, Running
19) 20, Daniel Dye #, No. 43 Halifax Health Chevrolet, 132, , , 1, 5, , 18, Running
20) 21, Lawless Alan, No. 45 AUTOParkit Chevrolet, 132, , , , , , 17, Running
21) 30, Max Gutierrez, No. 22 Bolsa DX Ford, 131, , , , , , 16, Running
22) 26, Timmy Hill, No. 56 UNITS Storage Toyota, 131, , , , , , 15, Running
23) 31, Spencer Boyd, No. 12 Nor-Cal Equipment Rentals Chevrolet, 130, , , , , , 14, Running
24) 23, Ross Chastain(i), No. 41 Worldwide Express Chevrolet, 130, 9, , , , , 0, Running
25) 29, Kaden Honeycutt, No. 04 CarQuest Ford, 130, , , , , , 12, Running
26) 35, Matt Mills, No. 20 J.F. Electric Chevrolet, 129, , , , , , 11, Running
27) 32, Mason Massey, No. 33  Ford, 129, , , , , , 10, Running
28) 28, Kris Wright, No. 02 F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet, 126, , , , , , 9, Running
29) 24, Rajah Caruth #, No. 24 Wendell Scott Foundation Chevrolet, 122, 5, 7, , , , 18, Running
30) 2, Nick Sanchez #, No. 2 Gainbridge Chevrolet, 103, , , 2, 8, , 7, Accident
31) 13, John Hunter Nemechek(i), No. 17 Berry's Manufacturing Toyota, 98, , , , , , 0, Vibration
32) 5, Hailie Deegan, No. 13 Pennzoil Screen To Speed Ford, 59, , , , , , 5, Accident
33) 34, Brennan Poole(i), No. 46 South Point Toyota, 20, , , , , , 0, Rear Gear
34) 6, Bret Holmes #, No. 32 Pate Holdings Chevrolet, 16, , , , , , 3, Accident
35) 33, Josh Reaume, No. 34 Reaume Brothers Racing Ford, 4, , , , , , 2, Transmission
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Distance: 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 41 Mins, 57 Secs.
Average Speed: 118.293 MPH
Margin of Victory: 4.981 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 38, 98, 25, 23, 24, 88, 99, 42, 41, 15
Stage 2 Top 10: 42, 99, 25, 4, 23, 88, 24, 1, 15, 98

Comments: Kyle Busch has won the Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 Presented by Westgate Resorts at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, his 63rd career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 41, 46, 20, 15 (unapproved adjustments)

Cautions: 6 for 27 laps;
Laps: 20-24 (No. 32 Incident Turn 1 [52]);
32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion [43]);
41-44 (No. 20 Spin Turn 4 [43]);
49-52 (No. 45 Incident Turn 2 [20]);
55-58 (No. 02 Incident Turn 2 [2]);
61-65 (No. 17, 13, 41 Incident Backstretch/Stage 2 Conclusion [2]).

Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers;
K. Busch(i) 1-7;
N. Sanchez # 8-11;
K. Busch(i) 12-21;
N. Sanchez # 22-25;
Z. Smith 26-33;
G. Enfinger 34-36;
C. Hocevar 37-39;
K. Busch(i) 40-44;
C. Hocevar 45-51;
B. Rhodes 52;
C. Hocevar 53-57;
B. Rhodes 58;
C. Hocevar 59-62;
K. Grala(i) 63-67;
K. Busch(i) 68-105;
D. Dye # 106-110;
K. Busch(i) 111-134.

Unofficial Points: Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate Resorts Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Rank Driver        Car   Starts        GL     Points        Ldr    Nxt    Race Wins  Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1)      Zane Smith 38     2       3       85     0       0       1       1       6
2)      Ty Majeski  98     2       1       83     -2      2       0       0       0
3)      Christian Eckes    19     2       -2      81     -4      2       0       1       1
4)      Matt Crafton        88     2       -2      81     -4      0       0       0       0
5)      Ben Rhodes 99     2       4       77     -8      4       0       0       0
6)      Grant Enfinger     23     2       1       77     -8      0       0       0       0
7)      Carson Hocevar    42     2       3       73     -12    4       0       1       1
8)      Matt DiBenedetto 25     2       5       66     -19    7       0       0       0
9)      Tanner Gray         15     2       -3      65     -20    1       0       0       0
10)    Chase Purdy        4       2       2       65     -20    0       0       0       0
11)    Corey Heim 11     2       0       62     -23    3       0       0       0
12)    Tyler Ankrum       16     2       -7      62     -23    0       0       1       1
13)    Colby Howard       9       2       -5      52     -33    10     0       0       0
14)    Timmy Hill  56     2       2       36     -49    16     0       0       0
15)    Stewart Friesen    52     2       9       32     -53    4       0       0       0
16)    Nick Sanchez #     2       2       -2      31     -54    1       0       0       0
17)    Jake Garcia #       35     1       31     27     -58    4       0       0       0
18)    Rajah Caruth #    24     2       8       26     -59    1       0       0       0
19)    Daniel Dye #        43     2       8       25     -60    1       0       0       0
20)    Kris Wright 02     2       0       24     -61    1       0       0       0
21)    Mason Massey      33     2       1       23     -62    1       0       0       0
22)    Jason A White               1       -7      22     -63    1       0       0       0
23)    Dean Thompson   5       2       8       22     -63    0       0       0       0
24)    Josh Reaume       34     2       -6      20     -65    2       0       0       0
25)    Derek Kraus                  1       -8      19     -66    1       0       0       0
26)    Lawless Alan        45     1       11     17     -68    2       0       0       0
27)    Jason M White              1       -8      16     -69    1       0       0       0
28)    Max Gutierrez      22     1       -28    16     -69    0       0       0       0
29)    Spencer Boyd       12     1       11     14     -71    2       0       0       0
30)    Jack Wood           1       -9      14     -71    0       0       0       0
31)    Hailie Deegan       13     2       -6      14     -71    0       0       0       0
32)    Chris  Hacker                1       -9      12     -73    2       0       0       0
33)    Kaden Honeycutt  04     1       8       12     -73    0       0       0       0
34)    Matt Mills   20     1       -34    11     -74    1       0       0       0
35)    Bret Holmes #      32     2       -7      9       -76    2       0       0       0
36)    Codie Rohrbaugh           1       -7      4       -81    5       0       0       0
37)    Clay  Greenfield             1       -7      3       -82    1       0       0       0
38)    Kyle Busch(i)        51     1       0       0       -85    3       1       0       0
39)    Chase Elliott                 1       -7      0       -85    0       0       0       0
40)    Travis Pastrana             1       -7      0       -85    0       0       0       0
41)    Sammy Smith               1       -7      0       -85    0       0       0       0
42)    Kaz Grala(i) 1       1       0       0       -85    0       0       0       0
43)    Corey LaJoie                 1       -8      0       -85    0       0       0       0
44)    Ross Chastain(i)   41     1       0       0       -85    0       0       0       0
45)    John Hunter Nemechek(i)       17     1       0       0       -85    0       0       0       0
46)    Parker  Kligerman          1       -10    0       -85    0       0       0       0
47)    Brennan Poole(i)   46     1       0       0       -85    0       0       0       0
48)    Bryan Dauzat                0       -10    0       -85    0       0       0       0
49)    Todd Peck            0       -10    0       -85    0       0       0       0
50)    Norm Benning               0       -8      0       -85    0       0       0       0
 -Ldr/-Nxt = Points behind Leader/Next higher, (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series