Getty Kyle Busch celebrates a win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Driver-owner Kyle Busch returns to the Craftsman Truck Series at Circuit of the Americas on Saturday, March 25. He will use the race to push for another perfect season.
Busch, who is allowed five starts in each lower series per season, made his return to the Truck Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 3. He took over the No. 51 Chevrolet Silverado, and he led 84 laps en route to his 63rd career win.
Busch will now return to the Craftsman Truck Series at Circuit of the Americas. He will make his second start of the season, and he will try to win his second straight race. If he can achieve this goal, he will be one step closer to going five-for-five in 2023.
“Vegas was also the first race for me working with [Brian] Pattie in trucks and a few other new people on the 51 team, so to have that much speed out of the gates shows how hard everyone at KBM has worked to make sure that we didn’t skip a beat with the manufacturer change and the other changes that we had with our crew chief lineup and such over the offseason,” Busch said in a press release.
“Hopefully, we can make it two-for-two on the year with a win at COTA Saturday. The goal every year in trucks is to go five-for-five with my five truck races — we’ve been able to accomplish that before and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it again, just have to click them off one at a time.”
Busch Has Multiple Perfect Seasons
GettyKyle Busch prepares for a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Can Busch win all five races on his limited schedule? Based on history, it is very possible. He has two different seasons in which he went undefeated — one in the Craftsman Truck Series and one in the Xfinity Series.
The first time Busch achieved this feat was in 2019. He took on Truck Series races at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Martinsville Speedway, Texas Motor Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway. He won every single race while leading a combined 575 laps.
The second time Busch went five-for-five was during the 2021 Xfinity Series season. He took over the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota GR Supra while pursuing enough wins to get him to 100 in the series.
Busch made his Xfinity Series return at Circuit of the Americas. He started on the pole and led 35 laps before winning his first race of the season. His schedule then continued with Texas Motor Speedway, Nashville Superspeedway, Road America, and Atlanta Motor Speedway. Busch won every single time he took over the No. 54, and he started from the pole two more times.
The winningest driver across the three national series will now pursue another win at Circuit of the Americas, one that would take KBM to 100 career Truck Series wins. He will pursue this goal in chassis KBM-71, which he used to win at Sonoma Raceway in 2022.
The Previous Race at Circuit of the Americas Included an Unexpected Setback
GettyKyle Busch’s truck waits on the starting grid.
The 2022 Truck Series race at Circuit of the Americas was an interesting experience for Busch and KBM. He had a strong truck, and he used it to lead 31 of the 46 laps, which included an overtime restart.
Busch was in the lead late at COTA when his race completely changed. The field went three-wide entering Turn 11 with his No. 51 Toyota on the outside, Stewart Friesen’s No. 52 Toyota in the middle, and Alex Bowman’s No. 7 Chevrolet on the inside. The three drivers made contact and opened up the door for Zane Smith to take the lead in the No. 38 Ford.
WHAT JUST HAPPENED
Busch dropped to fifth, but he was able to make up two spots before crossing the finish line. Friesen ended his day ninth overall after being in a position to fight for the win. Bowman crossed the finish line 25th due to damage on the No. 7.
“Just a great race all day,” Busch told FOX Sports’ Josh Sims after the race. “Really appreciate KBM and all the guys, all the hard work, everybody there that does a great job building fast trucks.
“Felt like we deserved that one, but it doesn’t matter if you deserve it or not. It’s all a matter of whether or not you get it. You’ve got to be the first one to the checkered flag to win these things, and we just weren’t.”