Trackin’ Trucks: Kyle Busch Wins at Atlanta

Credit: Debbie Ross for Skirts and Scuffs

Kyle Busch earned his first Camping World Truck Series victory of the season on Saturday, March 20th, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, leading 102 of the 130 laps at the 1.54-mile track. 

Busch held more than a four-second margin of victory over Austin Hill. It is the 60th series win of Busch’s career. 

Busch’s win also gives Mardy Lindley his first win as a crew chief in the NCWTS. Lindley joined Kyle Busch Motorsports during the 2020 offseason. He has two ARCA Menards Series East titles with driver Sam Mayer.

“Coach (Joe Gibbs) says you’ve got to have good people to have success,” Busch told FS1. “We’ve had great people … It’s just a matter of evolving. The sport is ever-changing. Six months from now, the set-ups will be different again.

“It’s cool to have fresh ideas, different concepts, and things we can work on to try and continue to improve.”

Hill finished second after earning stage points in Stage 1 (third) and Stage 2 (fourth).

“When we had that last restart (Lap 68), I was trying to save my tires a little bit and didn’t want to kill them right off the bat,” Hill told FS1. “When it was go time, I started matching Kyle’s lap times.

“We had the green flag pit stops (after Lap 100), got out in second – the pit crew did an awesome job today – but I gave that gap up and could never close it. I was matching his lap times, but I needed to be a little bit quicker.”

John Hunter Nemechek, who led 21 laps, finished third. Johnny Sauter and Sheldon Creed rounded out the top five. 

Zane Smith finished sixth, followed by Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt, and Stewart Friesen. They finished seventh through 10th, respectively. 

Bill Lester finished 36th in his first series start since August 2007 at Nashville Superspeedway. Lester officially announced his return early this month after securing a ride with David Gilliland Racing. 

A Look Ahead 

The Camping World Truck Series return to dirt next Saturday at Bristol Motor Speedway. 

John Hunter Nemechek remains the points leader in Week 4 for the Truck Series, 47 points ahead of two-time winner this season Ben Rhodes. 

Todd Gilliland is 12th in the standings, 115 points behind Nemechek and four behind Carson Hocevar, who is 10th. 

Don’t miss the CWTS at the Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt at Bristol on Saturday, March 27th at 8 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Qualifying heat races begin at 4:30 p.m. ET.