By: Kevin Kelly
Special to the NKyTribune from Kentucky Speedway
William Byron delivered a record-setting victory for his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team on a night when racing returned to Kentucky Speedway for the first time since the track was repaved and reconfigured over the offseason.
The 18-year-old held off John Hunter Nemechek and Daniel Hemric to win Thursday’s Buckle Up In Your Truck 225.
His fourth victory in a rookie season that sees him leading the points standings was the 51st for Kyle Busch Motorsports since the team debuted in 2010, minting it as the series’ all-time winningest team. It shared the distinction with Roush Fenway Racing entering Thursday.
Afterward, Byron flew a flag proclaiming the accomplishment from his car as he spun the tires along the frontstretch.
“It’s incredible,” said Byron, who started third in the No. 9 Toyota and led twice for 70 laps. “To be a part of this organization, it’s so awesome to have Kyle and Samantha (Busch’s) support and Toyota’s support….It’s a dream come true to get a fourth win like this. It just keeps going, man. I’ve got a great team behind me.”
Byron’s effort was helped by Nemechek and Hemric jockeying back and forth for the opportunity to challenge for the lead in the closing laps.
Nemechek finished 0.190 of a second behind Byron followed by Hemric.
“I was pushing as hard as I could,” Nemechek said. “The 19 (Hemric) kind of messed with us a little bit on the right-side quarter (panel), got us loose a couple of times and finally I got by him. It’s racing. It sucks to be disappointed with second but I guess that’s a good thing.”
Byron was one of four KBM trucks in Thursday’s field along with polesitter Daniel Suarez, rookie Christopher Bell and the team’s namesake.
Kyle Busch finished 30th after hitting the wall just 56 laps into the 150-lap affair. It didn’t dampen his excitement over the record-setting achievement.
“This is a special moment,” Busch said. “It’s really, really cool. To me, what makes it most special is how we’ve done it in such a short period of time. From 2010 to 2016 we have gotten 51 wins and for the many teams we’ve excelled ahead of that have been around a lot longer than we have. This is pretty awesome.”
Busch started seventh in the No. 18 Toyota and was running 13th before his bid to claim the record for his team – and keep alive hopes of a tripleheader weekend sweep – ended after contact with Spencer Gallagher.
Thursday’s race was the first held on the 1.5-mile track since it was repaved and reconfigured in Turns 1 and 2 this offseason. It featured the kind of action that fans have grown accustomed to seeing out of the Truck Series despite being slowed by five cautions. Restarts produced two and three-wide racing. Qualifying featured speeds never before seen out of the trucks at Kentucky Speedway.
Suarez started first after earning his first Truck Series pole with a lap of 182.983 mph. That broke the track qualifying record for the truck series, but he wasn’t alone in doing so. Seventeen drivers in all posted laps faster than the old record of 179.868 mph that had stood since October 2011.
Suarez led 59 of the first 61 laps but finished 11th after incurring a speeding penalty on pit road late in the race. Teammate Bell finished finished fourth followed by Johnny Sauter. Defending race winner Matt Crafton started and finished eighth.
Brett Moffitt qualified second in the No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota in his first NASCAR start of the season. The 2015 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year was driving in place of Matt Tifft, who underwent brain surgery to remove a low-grade tumor on July 1. Moffitt was running fifth when he experienced engine trouble on Lap 26 and brought out the race’s first caution.