DOVER, Del. — Kyle Busch did what Kyle Busch does best in a truck at Dover Motor Speedway. Win.
Busch claimed his record fifth NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series trophy and 13th overall at the famous concrete one-miler, dominating Friday‘s Ecosave 200 leading 147 of the 200 laps in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and sweeping both stage victories en route to a 3.039-second victory over former series champ, ThorSport Racing‘s Ty Majeski.
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RELATED: Unofficial results | At-track photos: Dover
After a well-deserved, deep bow to the crowd at the finish line, a grateful Busch spoke of his fondness for the high-banked track where he will compete in the NASCAR Cup Series‘ annual All-Star Race on Sunday. It marked his series best 69th career win — and second in four starts this season.
“You never know when the last one is,” Busch said of savoring the victory. “I know all too well unfortunately with the Cup stuff, but here with the Truck stuff now, it‘s awesome to be part of Spire Motorsports.
“I‘m sure it looked great out front, leading the race,” and, he added with a grin. “It wasn‘t just Kyle Larson doing it. Feels good to have another Kyle able to do it and put ourselves in Victory Lane. Love coming to Dover, always one of my favorite places to race.
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“Definitely some managing of the fuel there, managing the tires there. It was an interesting strategic battle I guess from the driver‘s seat. Thanks to the fans and all the people for being here.
“All in all, takes a lot of great people behind you and with you,” he added of the Spire Motorsports team. “It‘s fun and want to keep doing it.”
The only other driver to truly challenge Busch in the series‘ return to Dover after a six-year break was fellow NASCAR Cup Series regular, Ross Chastain, who led 49 laps but had to pit late in the race for fuel after a spirited side-by-side battle with Busch midway through the event.
Majeski did his best to keep Busch honest in earning his runner-up finish — which equaled his previous top effort of the season. Front Row Motorsports‘ Layne Riggs finished third. Last week‘s winner, Tricon Garage‘s Kaden Honeycutt, finished fourth in the No. 11 Toyota after an impressive rally from an early-race pit stop penalty. NASCAR Cup Series driver, Christopher Bell rounded out the top-five.
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With his work Friday, Honeycutt now holds a 38-point advantage on Riggs atop the championship standings. Chandler Smith is third, 39 points back.
Brandon Jones, Christian Eckes, Corey LaJoie, Jake Garcia and Justin Haley rounded out the top-10. Former NASCAR Cup Series driver Clint Bowyer, who works fulltime in the FOX Sports NASCAR booth calling Cup Series races made a spot start for Kaulig Racing‘s RAM truck program, finishing 29th after a tire problem in the closing laps.
“I had a ton of fun,” Bowyer said. “This is a cool race track, a demanding race track and neat to see Kyle Busch in Victory Lane, NASCAR needs that and it gives him so much confidence moving into tomorrow‘s event and Sunday.
“Proud of being a part of this, and who knows maybe I be a part of it again.”
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The race was also significant in having three women drivers in the field — equaling a high mark last set in 2021.
Although she spun out 37 laps into the race, Dystany Spurlock became the first black woman to ever start a NASCAR national series race and although she spun and took a 36th-place finish, she was also encouraged by her debut.
“Today is a great day,” Spurlock said. “We did make history which is phenomenal. Of course I wanted to finish the race, but this is racing and things like this happen. Just going to get ready for the next race.”
Toni Breidinger finished 25th and Natalie Decker was 34th.
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The Craftsman Truck Series’ next race is the North Carolina Education Lottery 200, scheduled next Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NASCAR Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The 2025 series champion Corey Heim is the defending race winner.
This story will be updated.
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