Kyle Busch wheeled the No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado to a dominant victory during the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Friday night.
After leading 82 laps and putting on a stellar performance in his Kyle Busch Motorsports entry, the crowd went wild as Busch took a triumphant bow at his hometown track in Las Vegas for the fourth time in his career.
Earlier in the night, Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 took the green flag at 9 p.m. (ET) in Las Vegas with Busch initially leading from pole position. However, defending Truck Series champion Zane Smith had taken over the lead in his No. 38 Front Row Motorsports entry by the end of stage one on lap 30.
There was only one caution in the opening stage, involving a Turn 1 incident with Bret Holmes.
A surplus of action was in store for stage two, which featured four caution flags and a handful of lead changes.
Niece Motorsports Chevrolet’s Carson Hocevar was poised in first position when the second stage concluded on lap 59. On the same lap, there was an incident on the backstretch with John Hunter Nemechek, Hailie Deegan and Ross Chastain that brought out the caution flag.
The trio was relegated outside the top 25 for the restart, though Deegan and Nemechek were unable to finish the race despite their best efforts.
Busch, who had led the field at three different points during the opening stages, made a pass on Kaz Grala and regained the lead on lap 68. Once Grala slipped back in the pack, Busch maintained a comfortable gap on Smith, who had climbed to second by lap 100.
The remaining race was caution-free and on lap 134, Busch soared past the checkered flag and collected his 63rd career Truck Series victory. Smith bolstered his title defense campaign by finishing second — 4.981 seconds behind Busch.
“I was happy with our day. We had a really good Speedco Ford. I was happy with our stage win,” Smith said. “We got shuffled back there on one of those late race restarts and then just kind of let Kyle (Busch) get away. It is so hard to execute pit road when facing him … Another good points day. We will carry this momentum and go on to the next one.”
Ben Rhodes, who finished second in the championship last year, came across the finish line third.
Corey Heim and Ty Majeski completed the top five.