Owner/driver Kyle Busch brings an air of invincibility to Tuesday night’s North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Busch has won the last seven NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races he has entered, including his entire allotment of five races last year. Because of schedule shifts necessitated by the coronavirus pandemic, Busch is able to race at Charlotte, where he has won in eight of his 13 starts, the first two with owner Billy Ballew, the last six in his own Kyle Busch Motorsports equipment.
Busch has finished either first or second in the last nine Charlotte races. His average result at the track is an enviable 2.5.
“With the Truck Series Triple Truck Challenge originally including this race, I was ineligible, so I had to pick another race this year,” Busch said. “Now that everything has gotten flipped upside down with the pandemic, they are rearranging the Triple Truck Challenge, and now I’m able to race at Charlotte.
“Obviously, it’s going to be different not having all the extra support from KBM employees and their families out at the track, but hopefully I can reward everyone at KBM that has done everything that they can the last couple of months to be ready for this race by putting the Cessna Tundra in Victory Lane on Tuesday.”
The Gander Trucks ran two races before the hiatus for the pandemic, with Grant Enfinger winning the season opener at Daytona and Busch taking the second event at Las Vegas.
Enfinger, three-time and reigning series champion Matt Crafton and ThorSport Racing teammates Johnny Sauter and Ben Rhodes will try to score a breakthrough win for Ford at the 1.5-mile track. Ford is winless in the 17 previous Gander Trucks events held at Charlotte.
Rhodes will start from the pole on Tuesday night, with Crafton fourth, Sauter eighth and Enfinger ninth. Absent qualifying for the event, Busch will start 16th based on a draw for position.
NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series
The Race: North Carolina Education Lottery 200
The Place: Charlotte Motor Speedway – Concord, NC
The Date: Tuesday, May 26
The Time: 8 p.m. ET
TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET
Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Distance: 201 miles (134 laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 30), Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 60), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 134)
Most Recent Winner at Charlotte: Kyle Busch – May 17, 2019
What To Watch For: Charlotte Motor Speedway has hosted 17 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series races dating back to 2003. The first Gander Trucks race at Charlotte was held on May 16, 2003, and won by Ted Musgrave in a Dodge. The 17 Gander Trucks races at Charlotte Motor Speedway have produced 10 different pole winners, led by Kyle Busch and Mike Skinner with three each. … The youngest Gander Trucks pole winner at Charlotte is Ty Dillon (5/18/2012 – 20 years, 2 months, 21 days) and the oldest is Mike Skinner (05/18/2007 – 49 years, 10 months, 20 days). … Kyle Busch leads all Gander Trucks drivers with eight series wins at the track, Matt Crafton and Ron Hornaday Jr. are next with two apiece. … The youngest Gander Trucks winner at Charlotte is Kyle Busch (05/20/2005 – 20 years, 0 months, 18 days) and the oldest is Ron Hornaday Jr. (05/15/2009 – 50 years, 10 months, 25 days). … A total of 61 different Gander Trucks drivers have led at least one lap at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch leads the series in laps led at Charlotte with 764 laps led in 13 starts. The most laps led by the race winner in a single Gander Trucks race at Charlotte was 130 of the scheduled 134 laps (97%) by Kyle Busch on May 16, 2013, he started from the pole and won.
