CP MOTORSPORTS - ROWDY NOTCHES LONG-AWAITED VICTORY AT MARTINSVILLE
Click here to follow us on Twitter @circletrackplus Click here to like us on Facebook
There is an old saying about perserverance, 'if at first you don't succeed, try again 31 times'...or something like that.
This is what Kyle Busch did in Saturday afternoon's Alpha Energy Solutions 250. Busch, who has been to victory lane nearly everywhere in nearly all of NASCAR's divisions, made his 31st career start at Martinsville Speedway in search for one of the regarded Grandfather Clock trophies.
Busch finally accomplished his goal by leading 123 laps and holding off a host of fellow competitors on numerous late race restarts. Busch pulled no punches about what it means to be able to bring home a grandfather clock after all these years.
"It's really cool," Busch said. "I've gotten a couple (grandfather clocks) as an owner but I scored my first one for myself so this is a pretty cool day. I just can't thank everyone at Kyle Busch Motorsports enough. I can't thank (crew chief) Wes Ward for taking time out of his life to come be a part of this program on the fourth team. It's (the fourth team) just kind of a bunch of guys we threw together to kind of have some fun and run some races and do some R&D stuff and work on some things. Obviously it seems to be turning out so far so good. Great day, and looking forward to the race car I have tomorrow."
The win in the Camping World Truck Series is the 45th career win for Busch, placing him just six wins shy of all-time Truck series leader Ron Hornaday, Jr's, mark of 51 victory.
Busch believes him running in NASCAR's lower series is some of the best research and development he can do as an owner and a teammate.
"I try to give everything I do 100 percent," Busch explained. "Whether that's driving race cars or owning a race team. Being passionate about the things that I do, all I've ever known is the sport of NASCAR so I give it all I've got. I've got great people behind me that have the same beliefs as well, too. You know I wouldn't run a race to just come out here and make laps. To me, to run in some Xfinity races and Truck races, I mean this is essentially just to make sure and verify and confirm that our stuff is good enough and capable enough for the drivers that are racing in it in order to win. That's essentially why I run four or five Truck races a year. I go to these other venues to make sure our stuff is good -- so far, so good."
Busch admits that his career wins goal is also a motivating factor in his efforts. "There's also maybe a goal in the long term of amount of series wins I'd like to have," Busch said. "Then maybe one day I'll call it quits but we'll see if that happens."
Right behind Busch finished second-generation NASCAR driver John Hunter Nemechek, who piloted his family-owned No. 8 Chevrolet to victory lane in the last Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The finish is Nemechek's second consecutive second-place finish at the paperclip shaped 0.526 mile track but propels him to an early lead in the Truck series points standings.
"It was kind of an up and down day," Nemechek said. "We started eighth and had to work our way to the front and just be patient. Right there at the end we got caught with a little bit of strategy, we had a lot older tires than all those guys behind us trying to hold them off. Luckily we salvaged a second place finish. It sucks because I wanted the clock this year but we still have the fall race to do that."
Kyle Busch Motorsports' rookie driver William Byron pushed his No. 9 Liberty University Toyota to a third place finish. It marks the first top-ten finish in the Truck series career of the 2015 K&N Pro Series East champion.
Sprint Cup series regular Kyle Larson started on the outside on the race's final restart but struggled to maintain position finished the race in fourth place. Virginia-native Timothy Peters finished in fifth place followed by Spencer Gallagher, two-time Truck series champion Matt Crafton, Parker Kligerman, Cameron Hayley and Rico Abreu rounding out the top ten.
The Truck series goes on another long hiatus before returning again May 6th at Kansas Speedway.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Number 3
Unofficial Race Results for the 18Th Annual Alpha Energy Solutions 250
- Saturday, April 2, 2016
Martinsville Speedway - Martinsville, VA - .526 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 255 Laps - 134.13 Miles
Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Status Tms Laps
1 2 18 Kyle Busch(i) Toyota Toyota 255 0 137.1 Running 4 123
2 8 8 John H Nemechek Chevrolet 255 31 113.1 Running
3 7 9 William Byron # Liberty University Toyota 255 30 102.3 Running
4 5 24 Kyle Larson(i) McDonald's Chevrolet 255 0 129.1 Running 2 79
5 16 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 255 28 83.5 Running
6 11 23 Spencer Gallagher Alamo Chevrolet 255 27 90.8 Running
7 10 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Toyota 255 26 99.3 Running
8 25 92 Parker Kligerman BTS Tire/Solid Rock Carriers/Advance Auto Parts Ford 255 25 81.2 Running
9 4 13 Cameron Hayley Cabinets by Hayley Toyota 255 25 1 110.8 Running 1 11
10 20 98 Rico Abreu # Safelite Auto Glass/CURB Records Toyota 255 23 59.1 Running
11 15 11 Ben Kennedy JACOB Companies Toyota 255 22 80.3 Running
12 18 81 Ryan Truex Toyota Osaka Parts Distribution Toyota 255 21 72.6 Running
13 13 02 Tyler Young Randco/Young's Building Systems Chevrolet 255 20 62.4 Running
14 23 86 Brandon Brown Coastal Carolina University Chevrolet 255 19 57.2 Running
15 24 44 Austin Wayne Self Diamond Gusset Jeans Toyota 255 18 47.1 Running
16 1 41 Ben Rhodes # Alpha Energy Solutions Toyota 255 18 1 100.9 Running 1 42
17 28 07 Shane Lee LeeBoy Toyota 255 16 45.0 Running
18 6 51 Daniel Suarez(i) ARRIS Toyota 255 0 83.6 Running
19 14 4 Christopher Bell # JBL Toyota 255 14 60.2 Running
20 9 29 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford 255 13 66.0 Running
21 21 05 John Wes Townley Zaxby's Chevrolet 255 12 52.7 Running
22 17 19 Daniel Hemric California Clean Power Ford 253 11 60.6 Running
23 32 1 Bryce Napier Lilly Trucking Chevrolet 249 10 33.3 Running
24 29 49 Timmy Hill Testoril Chevrolet 248 9 35.0 Running
25 30 74 Paige Decker Best Western RAM 246 8 34.0 Running
26 22 32 Justin Haley Braun Auto Toyota 244 7 48.8 Accident
27 31 10 Claire Decker AMSOIL Chevrolet 243 6 28.3 Running
28 27 63 Spencer Boyd Go-Parts.com RAM 237 5 41.6 Accident
29 12 00 Cole Custer # Haas Automation Chevrolet 235 4 63.1 Accident
30 26 71 Mike Bliss Race Trac Convenience Stores Chevrolet 115 3 32.5 Electrical
31 19 33 Kaz Grala Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 91 2 44.5 Accident
32 3 21 Johnny Sauter Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet 43 1 56.3 Accident
Race Comments: Kyle Busch won the Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville Speedway, his 45th NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: No. 86 (missing drivers meeting); No. 44 (driver change, backup truck).
Failed to Qualify: (6) 22 Austin Wayne Self, 66 Jordan Anderson, 50 Travis Kvapil, 6 Norm Benning, 78 Chris Fontaine, 14 Natalie Decker.
Time of Race: 02 Hrs, 10 Mins, 12 Secs. Average Speed: 61.811 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.425 Seconds
Caution Flags: 11 for 68 laps: Laps: 43-50 (#21 accident turn 3 [63]); 93-101 (#33 accident turn 4 [71]); 135-140 (#23, 81 accident turn 3 [32]); 165-170 (#11, 92 accident turn 4 [44]); 173-178 (#23, 63, 29, 98 accident turn 2 [44]); 187-191 (#74 accident turn 4 [07]); 201-204 (#23, 44 accident turn 4 [07]); 221-224 (#4, 11 accident turn 2 [81]); 231-234 (#10 spin turn 3 [63]); 237-244 (#00, 05, 4 accident backstretch [Red Flag: Lap 237, 8:32] [81]); 246-253 (02, 17, 29, 32, 41, 51 accident turn 3 [Red Flag: Lap 247, 4:40] [19]).
Lead Changes: 8 among 4 drivers: B. Rhodes # 0; K. Busch(i) 1-2; B. Rhodes # 3-44; K. Busch(i) 45-61; K. Larson(i) 62-93; K. Busch(i) 94-104; K. Larson(i) 105-151; C. Hayley 152-162; K. Busch(i) 163-255.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) J. Nemechek 83;(2) P. Kligerman 80;(3) T. Peters 77;(4) T. Young 67;(5) C. Hayley 66;(6) R. Truex 66;(7) D. Hemric 65;(8) B. Brown 62;(9) S. Gallagher 62;(10) B. Rhodes # 61.
Keystone Light 21 Means 21 Pole Award : Ben Rhodes, #41 96.322 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Joe Gibbs Racing Engines - Mark Cronquist, #18
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Kyle Busch, #18 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : William Byron, #9
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: May. 6, 2016 - Kansas Speedway
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875