KYLE BUSCH CELEBRATES IN FRONT OF HOMETOWN CROWD
LAS VEGAS (February 21, 2020) – Tundra driver Kyle Busch dominated Friday night’s NASCAR Gander Outdoors & RV Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to earn his seventh consecutive series victory in as many starts.
Toyota Racing Post-Race Recap
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 2 of 23 – 134 Laps, 201 Miles
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, KYLE BUSCH
2nd, Johnny Sauter*
3rd, AUSTIN HILL
4th, Matt Crafton*
5th, Ben Rhodes*
9th, STEWART FRIESEN
12th, SPENCER DAVIS
15th, BRENNAN POOLE
22nd, DEREK KRAUS
23rd, CHRISTIAN ECKES
24th, ANGELA RUCH
27th, JOSH REAUME
30th, RAPHAEL LESSARD
32nd, JOSH BILICKI
*non-Toyota driver
Tundra driver Kyle Busch won his third straight spring NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night.
The Las Vegas native won both stages and led 108 (of 134 laps) en route to his series-leading 57th Truck Series victory.
This is also Busch’s seventh consecutive Truck Series win in as many starts dating back to Pocono 2018.
Austin Hill (third) and Stewart Friesen (ninth) also finished in the top-10 at the 1.5-mile track.
TOYOTA QUOTES
KYLE BUSCH, No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Finishing Position: 1st
What happened on the restarts?
“I don’t know why we just couldn’t fire off on the restarts. We just didn’t have any speed. Once we got about 10 laps in, we started to check away from everybody. This Cessna Tundra was awesome. It had really good long run speed. The guys did a fantastic job. It’s the first win for Danny Stockman with KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports), so that’s cool to have him on board. For us to have good stuff with Rowdy manufacturing. All my guys, they just worked their butts off. When we unloaded we weren’t really that close. Worked on it a lot with this tire and we got it a lot better. Kind of showed that with the long run. Overall, thanks to Toyota, TRD, Rowdy Energy keeping us powered here lately, Black Clover, Gander RV & Outdoors, appreciate their support of the series and being here with us. Of course all the fans – pretty cool to have a homecoming win in Vegas like this.”
What was it like battling for position early in the race?
“The restarts were crazy. We just couldn’t fire, couldn’t take off the last couple. That was not what I wanted to have in store for us. You can kind of get yourself in a bad spot sometimes in those situations. This Cessna Tundra was awesome tonight. Rowdy nation out here in Las Vegas, there’s nothing like having a homecoming and being able to win out here. I have to give a shout out to Big Machine Vodka, too I appreciate their support the last couple years. It’s fun, you know anytime you can win, it’s great. Anytime you can win in your own stuff with all these KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) boys, it means a lot. It’s cool to give (Danny) Stockman his first win.”
Does winning the Truck races seem as easy to you as the numbers show with your laps led?
“We certainly work really, really hard. It wasn’t like we unloaded and knew we had a great piece and that we were going to go out there and dominate like that. We work for it, these guys do. All the preparation at the shop comes a long way with Danny (Stockman, crew chief), with Rudy (Fugle, No. 18 crew chief), with Mike Hillman Jr. (No. 4 crew chief). It’s just been really cool to get the equipment going that we have now. Obviously the talent that we have now. Our groups of guys, the core of them have been together now for a long time. It’s nice to keep some familiarity around KBM (Kyle Busch Motorsports) with the faces that are there and bring in some experience to help facilitate growing the 51 team too a top notch team.”
Do you agree with Danny, do drivers make crew chiefs or do crew chiefs make drivers?
“I think it goes both ways. We have some awesome talent coming in the 51 this year with Chandler (Smith). Hopefully these two will put on a good show.”
DANNY STOCKMAN, Crew Chief, No. 51 Cessna Toyota Tundra, Kyle Busch Motorsports
Did you feel any issues with the tire used tonight?
“There was obviously some wear. We ran a tire similar to this last year in Cup Series, so I kind of knew we would have some issues like this. I think our truck turned well enough to where it didn’t wear the left front tire out that a lot of people experienced. We did not have any issues.”
How does it feel to get your first win with KBM?
“I told Kyle (Busch), ‘I was like zero to hero in a week or a couple months.’ It’s awesome to have this opportunity. Being a crew chief it’s about having high enough stock, right. There’s a lot of people who would like to have my job and you just have to fight hard every day. The opprotunity that Kyle has given me, we’re going to make the most of it. Crew chiefs don’t make drivers, drivers make crew chiefs. It’s going to be pretty fun.
AUSTIN HILL, No. 16 United Rentals Toyota Tundra, Hattori Racing Enterprises
Finishing Position: 3rd
Did you struggle with grip throughout the race?
“Yeah, if you look at our left front (tire), it’s all corded. This tire that we brought just wasn’t what we needed. I’ve always went by the philosophy that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. They came with a different tire compound and we just struggled all night finding grip. I could only run the bottom, I couldn’t run up the race track any, and if I did it was just a four wheel slide. I felt like we were on top of the race track. Can’t thank United Rentals enough for coming on board. Our Tundra was okay early in the run, but then once the tire wear came in and the left front started cording, there’s really nothing else you can do. I have to thank my guys Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) and all the guys at the shop. Eddie up in the spotter’s stand, he gave me a lot of tips and tricks in the race that seemed to help me get back up to the front. It was an okay day for us. I wanted to race against Kyle (Busch), but we weren’t good enough.”
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