Texas II: Kyle Busch race report

Busch Remains Outrageously Dependable at Texas

His Truck Reads "I am Second", but Busch Finishes First in WinStar World Casino 350k

In his second straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Kyle Busch proved victorious.

The driver of the No. 18 Interstate Batteries/IamSecond.com Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) won Friday night's WinStar World Casino 350k, successfully defending his victory from a year ago.

"This Tundra was awesome tonight," said Busch, who led three times for a race-high 80 laps in the 147-lap race. "I can't thank all the guys on this KBM team enough. They did an awesome job. It's fun to be able to have the success we've had and hopefully we can continue to get some more for next year."

The win was Busch's seventh Truck Series victory of 2010, an impressive number after round 23 of 25, but even more so considering Friday night marked just the 14th Truck Series start of the season for Busch. Drivers Brian Ickler (seven races), Johnny Benson (one race) and Kasey Kahne (one race) have piloted the No. 18 Toyota Tundra in the other nine races, and along with Busch, they've placed KBM at the top of the championship owner standings by 72 points over the No. 30 truck of Germain Racing, which is driven full-time by Todd Bodine.

"The cool thing about it is it's our first year and we're in the running for it," said Busch, who is in his rookie year as an owner in the Camping World Truck Series. "We've got a great opportunity to go to Phoenix and to go to Homestead and score enough points to win this deal. We also can give it up, too. We've got to be careful in what we do and make sure the preparation is there. For our first year to come out here and be so strong and have the guys that I have pulling every single week for us, working as hard as we work and having the partners that we have, they're pumped about it. They love every minute of it. It's been fun. We're still looking for more next year and secure some bigger sponsors for some more races, but hopefully we can get some of that done during the off-season and go to Daytona and look forward to the full year."

Joining Busch in victory lane was a contingent from Dallas-based Interstate Batteries, led by company chairman Norm Miller. The win was especially sweet for Miller and Interstate Batteries. It was their first win at Texas Motor Speedway despite sponsoring Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since NASCAR first began visiting the 1.5-mile oval in 1997.

"It feels great. It's wonderful here," said Miller, who split the sponsorship of Busch's truck between Interstate Batteries and "I am Second", whose website, www.IamSecond.com, features video testimonials of hope, inspiration and transformation by individuals from all walks of life based on their personal faith journeys. "To come here and sponsor just this one Truck race this year and get a shot at home and win, it's magnificent. And especially being teamed up with I am Second, which comes out of Dallas and the board of directors was here tonight -- it's wonderful. It's just one of those God things."

"I have some great supporters with Interstate Batteries and Norm Miller," Busch added. "I am Second is something that Norm started, and he has a lot of guys on there. Whether it's Josh Hamilton or Joe Gibbs, all the people that have given testimonials about how they've had faith change them and what they've gone through -- it's a great website. People can go on there and get their own testimonials and check out everybody else's."

As dominating as Busch's win was, he did have to overcome worn right-side tires that with less than 70 laps remaining, sent a discomforting vibration through his No. 18 Toyota. Busch smartly backed off his lightning-quick pace and made sure to conserve his tires long enough to make it to his pit window. The strategy worked, as Busch pitted on lap 94 for four new tires and fuel.

Once all the pit stops had cycled through, Busch was third with 40 laps to go. He slowly whittled down the deficit between himself and the leaders, but despite moving up to second, he was still nearly three seconds behind first-place Bodine. But a timely caution on lap 122 allowed Busch to close the gap and, even better, come to pit road for a chassis adjustment that improved the handling of his Toyota Tundra.

When the race restarted on lap 127, Busch stayed tight to the inside of Bodine. He passed Bodine for the lead off turn two and then set sail, picking up his 23rd career Truck Series win in just his 83rd start.

"It all came down to that last restart and me being able to get a good jump and stay alongside Todd and get down into turn one alongside him," said Busch, whose victory clinched the manufacturer's championship for Toyota. "I don't know if my lane just had a better draft or what, but we pulled away down the backstretch and held on there."

Busch now has 84 career NASCAR victories -- 19 in Sprint Cup, 42 in the Nationwide Series and 23 in the Camping World Truck Series.

Johnny Sauter finished .386 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up slot, while Matt Crafton, Bodine and Elliott Sadler took spots three through five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of James Buescher, Aric Almirola, Mike Skinner, Parker Kligerman and Ricky Carmichael.

The race featured four caution periods for 22 laps, with nine drivers failing to finish.

The next event on the Camping World Truck Series schedule is the Nov. 24 Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. The race starts at 8 p.m. EST with live coverage provided by SPEED beginning with its pre-race show at 7:30 p.m.

-source: jgr