Chase Elliott Edges Kyle Busch in Bounty Truck Race at CMS

Chris Graythen - Getty Images

CONCORD, NC – RIS – Chase Elliott won the bounty in a narrow victory over Kyle Busch in the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 Gander Outdoors NASCAR truck race on Tuesday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Elliott, John Hunter Nemechek and Brennan Poole were vying for a bounty placed on Busch, who was aiming for his eighth straight Gander Trucks victory, a streak dating back to 2018. The $100,000 prize was set by Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick and Camping World CEO Marcus Lemonis, who each placed $50,000 in the pot for an eligible Cup Series driver who could best Busch in a Gander Trucks race.

The six-figure payday was to be donated to the COVID-19 relief effort of the winning driver’s choice. Nemechek was sixth, and Poole finished 38th in the 40-truck field after involvement in a pair of wrecks in the final stage.

“It was a lot of fun,” Elliott said.  “It’d been a long time. It doesn’t make up for Sunday (finished second in the Coca-Cola 600) but it was still a really good night. I’m glad to win and do some good for the relief efforts for this virus.”

Busch gave Elliott all he could handle in the last 15 laps, drawing closer seemingly on every lap, but ultimately couldn’t catch Elliott before the finish line.  The reason was pit stops.  Elliott pitted early while Busch stayed out to lead some laps. When Busch did pit with 39 laps to go.  When racing resumed, he found himself 20 places behind the youngster.  He made that up quickly, but coluldn't make the pass for the lead.

“He was a little better than I was there at the end; I had gotten a little tight and I don’t think we adjusted enough on the last pit stop,” Elliott said of Busch. “Luckily, the the right front stayed on it long enough to get to the end.

“To be able to come out and out-run him and him finish second, I’d rather have him finish second than wreck or something, so I feel like I did something right.”

It was Elliott’s third win in 13 career Truck Series races, his first since 2017.

Unofficial Results, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series NC Education Lottery 200, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Concord, NC - 1.5 Mile

Fin, St, Driver, Trk, , Laps, St1, St2, Tms Led, Laps Led, Pts, Status
1) 26, Chase Elliott(i), No. 24 iRacing Chevrolet, 134, 6, 1, 3, 47, 0, Running
2) 16, Kyle Busch(i), No. 51 Cessna Toyota, 134, , 5, 3, 25, 0, Running
3) 30, Zane Smith #, No. 21 LaPaz Margarita Mix Chevrolet, 134, 3, 7, 2, 15, 46, Running
4) 22, Brett Moffitt, No. 23 Plan B Sales Chevrolet, 134, 10, 6, 1, 2, 39, Running
5) 21, Sheldon Creed, No. 2 Chevy Accessories Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 32, Running
6) 38, John H. Nemechek(i), No. 8 Fire Alarm Services/Fleetwing Ford, 134, , 3, , , 0, Running
7) 8, Johnny Sauter, No. 13 Vivitar/Altec Lansing Ford, 134, , , 1, 3, 30, Running
8) 7, Ty Majeski #, No. 45 iRacing Chevrolet, 134, 5, , , , 35, Running
9) 5, Austin Hill, No. 16 United Rentals Toyota, 134, 2, 10, 3, 26, 38, Running
10) 1, Ben Rhodes, No. 99 Tenda Heal Ford, 134, 8, 2, 2, 2, 39, Running
11) 27, Ross Chastain(i), No. 42 Florida Watermelon Association Chevrolet, 134, 1, 9, 1, 6, 0, Running
12) 9, Grant Enfinger, No. 98 Champion/Curb Records Ford, 134, , , , , 25, Running
13) 2, Tyler Ankrum, No. 26 Liuna! Chevrolet, 134, 9, , , , 26, Running
14) 6, Christian Eckes #, No. 18 Safelite AutoGlass Toyota, 134, , , , , 23, Running
15) 20, Raphael Lessard #, No. 4 Canac Toyota, 134, , , 1, 2, 22, Running
16) 25, Derek Kraus #, No. 19 NAPA FILTERS Toyota, 134, , , , , 21, Running
17) 17, Tate Fogleman #, No. 02 Solid Rock Carriers Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 20, Running
18) 31, Codie Rohrbaugh, No. 9 GCM/CR7 Motorsports Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 19, Running
19) 15, Austin Wayne Self, No. 22 GO TEXAN/AM Technical Solutions Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 18, Running
20) 35, Jesse Little(i), No. 97 Teletrac Navman Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 0, Running
21) 3, Tanner Gray #, No. 15 Ford/Ford Performance Ford, 134, , , , , 16, Running
22) 33, Timmy Hill, No. 56 RoofClaim.com Chevrolet, 134, , , , , 15, Running
23) 12, Angela Ruch, No. 00 DWF Flooring & Cabinets Toyota, 133, , , , , 14, Running
24) 34, Korbin Forrister, No. 7 Nursing Home Heroes Toyota, 133, , , , , 13, Running
25) 19, Spencer Boyd, No. 20 Spike's Tactical Chevrolet, 133, , , , , 12, Running
26) 29, Jennifer Jo Cobb, No. 10 Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet, 133, , , , , 11, Running
27) 13, Natalie Decker, No. 44 N29 Capital Partners Chevrolet, 132, , , , , 10, Running
28) 40, Bayley Currey(i), No. 49 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet, 132, , , , , 0, Running
29) 39, Clay Greenfield, No. 68 Rackley Roofing Toyota, 130, , , , , 8, Running
30) 10, Stewart Friesen, No. 52 HalmarInt./ThankUHealthcareWorkers Toyota, 130, , , , , 7, Running
31) 18, Jordan Anderson, No. 3 Bommarito.com Chevrolet, 130, , , , , 6, Running
32) 23, Cory Roper, No. 04 CarQuest Auto Parts Ford, 129, , , , , 5, Running
33) 37, TJ Bell, No. 83 CMI Motorsports Chevrolet, 127, , , , , 5, Running
34) 36, Bryan Dauzat, No. 28 Chevrolet, 120, , , , , 5, Running
35) 4, Matt Crafton, No. 88 Oklahoma Joe's Smokers/Menards Ford, 107, 4, 4, 2, 6, 19, Running
36) 24, Garrett Smithley(i), No. 40 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet, 105, , , , , 0, Rear End
37) 11, Todd Gilliland, No. 38 Black's Tire Service Ford, 102, 7, 8, , , 12, Accident
38) 32, Brennan Poole(i), No. 30 (RED) Remember Everyone Deployed Toyota, 83, , , , , 0, DVP
39) 14, Jesse Iwuji, No. 33 RBR Graphics Toyota, 74, , , , , 5, Accident
40) 28, Spencer Davis #, No. 11 TowerSealants/SouthernPremierConstr. Toyota, 54, , , , , 5, Transmission
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series, (#) Rookie

Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 47 Mins, 42 Secs.
Race Length: 134 Laps, 201. Miles
Average Speed: 111.978 MPH
Margin of Victory: 0.627 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 42, 16, 21, 88, 45, 24, 38, 99, 26, 23
Stage 2 Top 10: 24, 99, 8, 88, 51, 23, 21, 38, 42, 16

Comments: Chase Elliott won the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his third victory in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series.

Prior to the start, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reasons indicated: No. 28 (unapproved adjustments).

Caution Flags: 7 for 37 laps;
Laps: 17-20 (Competition Caution [33]);
32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion [33]);
62-68 (Stage 2 Conclusion [7]);
81-86 (No. 52, 30, 33, 26 Incident Frontstretch [44]);
88-92 (No. 44, 30 Incident Turn 3 [49]);
97-100 (Debris Frontstretch [10]);
103-107 (No. 38, 8 Incident Turn 4 [44]).

Lead Changes: 19 among 10 drivers;
B. Rhodes 0;
A. Hill 1-19;
M. Crafton 20;
A. Hill 21-26;
R. Chastain(i) 27-32;
Z. Smith # 33-36;
R. Lessard # 37-38;
M. Crafton 39-43;
C. Elliott(i) 44-63;
B. Rhodes 64;
C. Elliott(i) 65-67;
B. Rhodes 68;
K. Busch(i) 69-86;
B. Moffitt 87-88;
K. Busch(i) 89-92;
A. Hill 93;
K. Busch(i) 94-96;
Z. Smith # 97-107;
J. Sauter 108-110;
C. Elliott(i) 111-134.

Mobil 1 Driver of the Race: Chase Elliott, No. 24
Sunoco Rookie of the Race: Zane Smith, No. 21

Ron Fleshman

RIS NASCAR Editor.  Has been with RIS since the middle 90's. Writes on each of the three main series of NASCAR.

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Volume 2020, Issue 5, Posted 11:31 PM, 05.26.2020