SPARTA, Ky. — It was a tight battle for the win in the final 15 laps, but William Byron held off late charges from both Daniel Hemric and John Hunter Nemechek to score the victory in the Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 in the Bluegrass State.
It’s the fourth career victory in 12 career starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, sixth top-10 finish of 2016 and first in two starts at Kentucky Speedway for the driver of the No. 9 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota. The win was also the 51st for the organization, which breaks a tie with Roush Fenway Racing for the most wins by an organization in the history of the Camping World Truck Series.
Nemechek posted his fifth top-10 of the season and first in three starts at Kentucky in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Hermic posted his eighth top-10 finish of the season and first top-10 finish in three races at Kentucky in his No. 19 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Christopher Bell finished fourth in his No. 4 KBM Toyota. Johnny Sauter led 14 laps on his way to rounding out the top-five in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet.
Cameron Hayley finished sixth in his No. 13 ThorSport Racing Toyota. Brandon Jones finished seventh in his No. 71 Ranier Racing Chevrolet. Matt Crafton finished eighth in his No. 8 TSR Toyota. Timothy Peters led five laps on his way to a ninth-place finish in his No. 17 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Tyler Reddick led one lap on his way to rounding out the top-10 in his No. 29 BKR Ford.
Daniel Suárez, who led 59 laps, finished 11th. Tommy Joe Martins, who led one lap, retired from the race due to overheating and finished 26th.
Eighteen cars finished the race on the lead lap and 25 were running at the finish.
The race lasted one hour, 55 minutes and 41 seconds at an average speed of 116.698 mph. There were nine lead changes among six different drivers and five cautions for 32 laps.
Byron leaves Kentucky with a 13-point lead over Crafton in the drivers’ points standings.
