Kyle Busch is scheduled to make his first of five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts of the 2025 season this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
For the event, Busch, a two-time Cup Series champion from Las Vegas, Nevada, will be piloting the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for Spire Motorsports with veteran crew chief Brian Pattie calling the shots atop the pit box. The Truck Series race at Atlanta will mark Busch’s first of two NASCAR national touring series starts that he will be making this upcoming weekend. He will also pilot his regular ride, the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet entry in the Cup Series division on Sunday, February 23.
As Busch enters Atlanta to bid for a victory against the Truck Series’ regulars on Saturday, February 22, he will do so with a unique milestone up for grabs. By competing in this weekend’s event at Atlanta, he will make his 15th Truck start at the track.
Busch made his first Truck start at Atlanta in October 2005, driving the No. 15 Chevrolet entry for Billy Ballew Motorsports. During the event, Busch, who led 45 laps, was racing in second place behind Jack Sprague when a late-race caution flew with eight laps remaining. During the caution period, Busch pitted for four fresh tires and lined up within the top-10 mark prior to a three-lap shootout. Meanwhile, Sprague was among several competitors who opted to remain on the track and not pit for any fresh tires.
Once the event restarted under green flag conditions, Busch quickly carved his way up to third place with four fresh tires before the final lap. Busch closed in on Sprague through the backstretch after rocketing past Johnny Benson Jr. through the first two turns. Then entering the final turn, he used the draft and the tires to move up to the outside lane to draw even with Sprague.
As Sprague tried to move up the track to block Busch, they made contact, resulting in Sprague getting sideways and spinning. Sprague was then hit by Bobby Labonte as both veered back into the outside wall hard. Amid the final-lap carnage, Busch, who got squeezed towards the outside wall as Sprague spun, managed to muscle away and cross the finish line in first place to claim a thrilling victory. The first Atlanta Truck victory for Busch would mark his third win of the 2005 season and the third of his career.
Busch’s 2005 Truck Atlanta victory would mark the first of three consecutive wins in three appearances at the track in the series, where his next victory occurred in October 2007 after he led a race-high 65 of 130 laps. Five months later, he led 39 of 130 laps en route to his third consecutive Atlanta victory in March 2008.
During both victories, he drove the No. 51 entry for Billy Ballew Motorsports. Busch’s attempt to win in four consecutive Truck appearances at Atlanta fell short as he settled in eighth place during his fourth series start in October 2008. Nonetheless, he claimed a fourth victory at Atlanta five months later in March 2009. By then, he increased his win column in the Truck Series division to 11.
Beginning in 2010, Busch competed for his own-operated Truck Series team, Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM). By then, Atlanta reduced its Truck Series schedule to field only a single series’ event on an annual basis. During Busch’s first three Atlanta events as a driver/owner between 2010 to 2012, he led a combined 104 laps and notched three consecutive podium results (one third-place finish in 2011 and two second-place finishes in 2010 and 2012).
Between 2013 to 2016, Busch would not compete in the Truck Series event at Atlanta before he returned in 2017. During the latter event, he led 25 laps until a flat right front sent Busch’s No. 51 Toyota entry into the Turn 1 outside wall amid a restart with 18 laps remaining. Ultimately, Busch would pit under green and drop back to 26th place in the final running order while his teammate, Christopher Bell, proceeded to win and record KBM’s first-ever victory at Atlanta.
Then in 2018, he led a race-high 67 laps until he encountered a pit road miscue before an overtime shootout. During the pit stop with two laps left, Busch was initially pitting for four fresh tires. When his pit service was going slow due to the front-tire changer encountering issues getting the tire on Busch’s No. 4 Toyota entry, the latter made a last-minute decision to exit his pit stall to retain the lead. Amid the right-front tire issue, however, the rear tire changer had already loosened the lug nuts of the left-rear wheel from Busch’s entry. Shortly after exiting pit road, the wheel then rolled off of the truck and Busch was forced to reverse back into his pit stall for the wheel. As a result, he ended up in 21st place.
Following a two-year difficult stretch, Busch would emerge triumphant in 2019 after he muscled away from teammate Harrison Burton during a five-lap shootout to the finish and beat Johnny Sauter by nearly a full second. With his fifth Truck victory at Atlanta, Busch achieved his first win at the track in his KBM equipment and he notched his 52nd Truck career victory overall, which allowed him to surpass Ron Hornaday Jr. in becoming the winningest competitor in the series.
The following season, Busch, who made his 12th Truck start at Atlanta, led 37 laps and had completed a green-flag pit service from the lead with 33 laps remaining. Shortly after exiting pit road, his race was spoiled went up the racetrack and made contact with the outside wall through Turns 3 and 4 while trying to avoid hitting the lapped competitor of Jordan Anderson. Having been penalized for speeding on pit road in the process, Busch served a drive-through penalty through pit road with 30 laps remaining and would settle in 21st place in the final running order. He rallied in 2021 by leading all but 28 of 130 scheduled laps as he notched his sixth Truck victory at Atlanta. The victory would mark his 60th in the series and the final time he would pilot a KBM entry to a win at Atlanta.
This past season, Busch returned to Atlanta in the Truck Series amid a two-year hiatus as he piloted the No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado RST entry for his first of five starts with Spire Motorsports. By then, he had sold KBM to Spire. During the event, Busch led 33 of 135 laps and was racing in second place behind Grant Enfinger with seven laps remaining when he made his move beneath Enfinger and assumed the lead through the first two turns. As Enfinger made a late pit stop to address a flat tire, Busch would fend off Ty Majeski, Corey Heim and Taylor Gray over the final seven laps to notch his first victory driving for Spire and claim his seventh Truck victory at Atlanta. The victory would also mark the 65th of his career and his first driving a Chevrolet since he won at Phoenix Raceway in November 2007.
Through 14 previous Truck starts at Atlanta, Busch has recorded seven victories, 10 top-five results, 11 top-10 results, 651 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.4. With seven victories, Busch holds the most victories in the Truck division at Atlanta as he strives to extend his winning mark to eight in 2025. To date, Busch remains the winningest competitor in the Truck Series division with 66 victories through 175 starts.
This upcoming weekend at Atlanta, Busch will be one of four competitors representing Spire Motorsports as the latter will compete alongside Michael McDowell, Rajah Caruth and rookie Andres Perez de Lara. Busch is also set to become the third competitor to pilot Spire’s No. 7 Chevrolet entry in this year’s Truck season. This past weekend, Justin Haley piloted the entry for the season-opening event at Daytona International Speedway. Corey Day, a development competitor for Hendrick Motorsports, will then drive the No. 7 entry in eight events, beginning at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.
Following Atlanta, Busch’s next Truck start of the 2025 season is scheduled to occur at North Wilkesboro Speedway on May 17, where he will be piloting Spire Motorsports’ No. 07 Chevrolet entry. The Las Vegas native will then drive Spire’s No. 7 entry for the second and final time of this season the following weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23 before he returns to the No. 07 entry for his final two-scheduled starts at Nashville Superspeedway on May 30 and at Watkins Glen International on August 8. During the events in which Busch drives the No. 07 entry, he will be receiving support from crew chief Allen Hart.
The remainder of Spire Motorsports’ driver lineup for its Nos. 07 and 7 “all-star” entries for the 2025 season remain to be determined.
Kyle Busch’s first start of the 2025 Craftsman Truck Series season is scheduled to occur this upcoming Saturday, February 22, at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Fr8 208. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
