CP MOTORSPORTS - KYLE BUSCH OVERCOMES EARLY PENALTY TO GRAB HIS FIRST TRUCK WIN AT MICHIGAN
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Over the past two months Kyle Busch has been the hottest driver in the Sprint Cup series.
Busch isn't too bad in the Camping World Truck Series, either.
The driver of the No. 51 Dollar General Toyota took home his second checkered flag in as many starts following Saturday's Careers for Veterans 200 at Michigan International Speedway. The win is Busch's 44th career win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series but his first in a truck at Michigan.
Busch, who overcame a pit road speeding penalty early in the race to lead 44 laps, was the beneficiary of a push from his KBM teammate Erik Jones on the race's final restart with six laps to go.
Busch admitted the penalty put him in a precarious situation.
"We were trying something new today with our tach settings and that just didn't quite work," Busch said. "We got busted early but no big deal. We just lined back up and was able to restart and come back through. That part of the race was actually pretty hairy for us because we were really loose, super loose getting into the corners. I was barely hanging on there a few times. Thankfully these trucks tend to put on a good show, you can draft back up on guys and use the bottom, use the top and work around a little bit.
"Our truck was really good on the long runs when everything would single file out a little bit we were really good. The Dollar General Tundra was fast and had good feel and speed on long runs."
Ryan Blaney, who will also compete in Sunday's Sprint Cup race, took home a second place finish. It's the first time in Blaney's Truck series career in which he's notched a top ten finish at Michigan.
Blaney knew the KBM teammates being lined up together was going to be the deciding factor in the race's waning laps.
"When we got the lead, I knew it was going to be hard to keep them behind us," Blaney said. "He (Kyle Busch) could lay back to the No. 4 (Erik Jones), get a run and get by you. There's nothing, as a leader, you can do about it. You're wide open. You can break the draft all you want but when he's got a partner, it's just like speedway racing he can go by you.
"When we got to second, I knew there was a slim to none chance for us to win just because he's not going to push us by his boss. He's not going to do that. It was going to be kind of tough to do but that's the way it is here at Michigan. That's what makes it so exciting."
Erik Jones led 16 laps during the race but only managed a third place finish following the race's final restart. Jones notched his eighth top five finish of the 2015 season in his first start at the track closest to his hometown of Lansing, Michigan.
Jones admitted the race car was just a bit off during the race.
"We just missed it a little bit from yesterday to today," Jones said. "We were so free in practice and kind of worked on that to get it tighter and better in traffic. It turned out we went a little bit too far. Bad set of tires, whatever you want to call it, kind of threw us off and we just missed it. Just too tight all day and ended up having to really fight with the truck most of the day on the right adjustment."
Defending Michigan race winner Johnny Sauter piloted his No. 98 Nextant/Curb Records Toyota to a fourth place finish after leading 24 laps.
Sprint Cup series regular and former Truck series champion Austin Dillon finished in fifth place followed by Matt Crafton, Daniel Hemric, Timothy Peters, Tyler Reddick and Cameron Hayley rounding out the top ten.
Tyler Reddick's lead in the NCWTS points standings is now at eight points over two time defending series champion Matt Crafton.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Number 13
Unofficial Race Results for the 16Th Annual Careers For Veterans 200 -
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Michigan International Speedway - Brooklyn, MI - 2 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 100 Laps - 200 Miles - Purse: $602,661
Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 10 51 Kyle Busch(i) Dollar General Toyota 100 0 134.6 $43,447 Running 5 44
2 12 29 Ryan Blaney(i) Cooper Standard Careers for Vets Ford 100 0 123.7 $36,614 Running 3 8
3 7 4 Erik Jones # Toyota Toyota 100 42 1 115.9 $26,735 Running 2 16
4 9 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant/Curb Records Toyota 100 41 1 120.2 $20,254 Running 1 24
5 3 33 Austin Dillon(i) Rheem/Young Supply Company Chevrolet 100 0 111.1 $15,653 Running 3 4
6 1 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Toyota 100 38 97.6 $19,792 Running
7 2 14 Daniel Hemric # California Clean Power Chevrolet 100 38 1 92.1 $16,325 Running 1 4
8 5 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 100 36 97.8 $16,241 Running
9 11 19 Tyler Reddick Draw Tite Ford 100 35 93.0 $16,185 Running
10 6 13 Cameron Hayley # Carolina Nut/Cabinets by Hayley Toyota 100 34 84.8 $17,107 Running
11 16 00 Alex Bowman(i) Haas Automation Chevrolet 100 0 80.9 $13,852 Running
12 17 8 John H. Nemechek # Chevrolet 100 32 72.0 $15,934 Running
13 23 74 Jordan Anderson Tri-Analytics/Impact Race Products Chevrolet 100 31 59.8 $15,850 Running
14 19 63 Garrett Smithley SegPay/Mittler Bros Machine & Tool Chevrolet 100 30 64.1 $15,795 Running
15 13 02 Tyler Young Randco Industries/Young's Building Systems Chevrolet 100 29 66.5 $16,138 Running
16 14 23 Spencer Gallagher # Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 99 28 71.3 $15,711 Accident
17 8 05 John Wes Townley Zaxby's Chevrolet 99 27 79.6 $15,799 Running
18 20 1 Travis Kvapil Burnie Grill Chevrolet 98 26 59.3 $15,572 Running
19 28 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 98 25 50.5 $15,515 Running
20 18 54 Cody Coughlin JEGS Toyota 96 24 66.9 $15,988 Running
21 15 30 Chad Finley Auto Value Ford 96 23 54.3 $13,210 Running
22 27 08 Korbin Forrister # Trump for President Chevrolet 95 22 45.8 $15,404 Running
23 30 94 Wendell Chavous # Testoril Chevrolet 95 21 42.3 $15,376 Running
24 22 15 Mason Mingus Call 811 Before You Dig Chevrolet 87 20 46.1 $14,099 Accident
25 4 11 Ben Kennedy Local Motors Toyota 82 19 60.8 $14,220 Accident
26 21 07 Ray Black Jr. # ScubaLife.com Chevrolet 66 18 33.0 $13,042 Running
27 31 6 Norm Benning Chevrolet 40 17 32.7 $12,987 Rear Gear
28 25 0 Caleb Roark Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 19 16 30.0 $12,747 Vibration
29 32 50 Tyler Tanner Shane Duncan Band Chevrolet 16 15 35.5 $12,692 Clutch
30 26 45 BJ McLeod Tilted Kilt Chevrolet 15 14 34.3 $12,192 Electrical
31 29 40 Todd Peck Arthritis Foundation/OSS Health Chevrolet 12 13 28.2 $10,692 Rear Gear
32 24 36 Justin Jennings Mittler Bros Machine & Tool/Ski Soda Chevrolet 6 12 24.2 $9,692 Handling
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Careers for Veterans 200 Presented by The Cooper Standard Foundation & Brad Keselowski's Checkered Flag Foundation, his 44th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, no trucks dropped to the rear of the field.
Failed to Qualify: (1) 03 Timothy Viens.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 33 Mins, 04 Secs. Average Speed: 128.940 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.157 Seconds
Caution Flags: 6 for 26 laps: Laps: 2-4 (#07, 15 accident turn 4 [None]); 26-30 (#07 spin turn 3 [74]); 72-76 (Debris turn 2 [02]); 79-81 (Debris turn 2 [63]); 83-89 (#11, 15, 54 accident turn 4 [74]); 92-94 (Debris turn 4 [74]).
Lead Changes: 15 among 6 drivers: 0; D. Hemric # 1-4; A. Dillon(i) 5-6; K. Busch(i) 7-26; A. Dillon(i) 27; E. Jones # 28-34; R. Blaney(i) 35; E. Jones # 36-44; J. Sauter 45-68; K. Busch(i) 69-76; R. Blaney(i) 77-81; K. Busch(i) 82-89; A. Dillon(i) 90; K. Busch(i) 91-94; R. Blaney(i) 95-96; K. Busch(i) 97-100.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) T. Reddick 514;(2) M. Crafton 506;(3) E. Jones # 505;(4) J. Sauter 461;(5) C. Hayley # 425;(6) D. Hemric # 420;(7) T. Peters 416;(8) J. Townley 414;(9) S. Gallagher # 394;(10) B. Kennedy 381.
Keystone Light Pole Award : Matt Crafton, #88 184.502 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Joe Gibbs Racing Engines (JGE), #51
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Kyle Busch, #51 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Erik Jones, #4
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Aug. 19, 2015 - Bristol Motor Speedway
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