Kyle Busch scores first Martinsville win in contact-filled Truck race

Kyle Busch finally collected his first grandfather clock at Martinsville Speedway — but it wasn’t in timely fashion.

After 11 cautions — including two red-flag periods that slowed the race by more than 13 minutes — Busch collected his 45th career Camping World Truck Series victory in overtime.

“I’ve got a couple of owner’s (clocks) but not one of my own,” Busch said after the race. “This is something we’ve been looking for for a long, long time we just didn’t necessarily have all the pieces come together like we should have. I didn’t know the pieces were going to go together today either the way the cautions played out and the tire strategy was playing out, when to pit when not to pit. How to do all of that.

“Wes (crew chief Ward) and I just leaned on each other and we both had no idea and we just dumbed into this I think and it all worked out.”

Busch first took the lead from polestar Ben Rhodes on the first lap. He led 123 laps after taking the point for the final time on Lap 163 from Cameron Haley and held the lead for the final 93 circuits.

Nemechek takes over the points lead

John Hunter Nemechek finished second and took the lead from Parker Kligerman, who started 25th and was running eighth when he was collected in a wreck on Lap 164 involving Ben Kennedy. Kligerman recovered to finish eighth but trails Nemechek by four points in the standings.

For Nemechek, tire management was crucial for his performance.

“We had one set of stickers laying in the pits,” Nemechek said. “We were hoping for a caution — everyone was going to pit, but we had to stay out for track position.

“Can’t thank all my guys at Nemco Motorsports enough. They gave me a great truck for this weekend…We just have to keep the confidence and momentum rolling. It pays off when you have finishes like this.”
Rookie William Byron finished third followed by Kyle Larson, Timothy Peters, Spencer Gallagher, Matt Crafton, Kligerman, Haley and Rico Abreu.

The Sprint Cup champion had won at 17 of 23 tracks where he’s competed in a truck prior to adding Saturday’s Alpha Energy Solutions 250 win to the list.