February 22, 2025 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Busch edges Friesen at the finish line to win Truck race at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. — With seven previous NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Atlanta Motor Speedway trophies already on his mantle, Kyle Busch was obviously the odds-on favorite for Saturday’s Fr8 Racing 208. And the veteran absolutely did not disappoint.

Pulling ahead of Stewart Friesen about 20 yards from the finish line, Busch’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet held on for a slight .017-second win as the two passed side-by-side under the checkered flag. It was Busch’s record eighth series victory at the track. He led a race high 80 of the 135 laps but, definitely earned his hardware this weekend with a half dozen trucks going door-to-door with the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion in the closing 20 laps.

“Awesome run for this Spire Chevrolet and everybody at [sponsor] Gainbridge,” Busch said, thanking the fans in the grandstands for coming out in the cloudy 50-degree Atlanta weather.

“Just trying to make sure I stayed as far forward as I possibly could,” Busch said of how he held off the field in the closing laps “Those guys would cycle to me and get to the next one in front, next one in front of me and I just made sure to keep battling back and got back to the front so I could control it the best I could. That inside [lane] was good, they were rolling forward so it made for a heck of a race.”

“I’m proud we had a heck of a race there to the finish and it wasn’t single file. There was some mixing it up for these fans out here to see a cool show.”

As elated as Busch was in claiming his record 67th NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win – and record 232nd national series win – Friesen could only muster a slight smile conceding he gave it his best in the thrilling finish.

“Just proud of my race team here,” the Canadian owner-driver of the No. 52 Halmer-Friesen Toyota said. “We had a shot. This is my favorite truck and we’ll keep digging with it. We had a shot and I guess I got too far off my help there coming off the back on my last lap. I thought I could pack some more air on him coming out of three and surge ahead, but just had the surge at the wrong time and he came back.”

With Busch and Friesen ultimately the pair fighting for the checkered flag, Tyler Ankrum and Bailey Curry crossed the finish line side-by-side just behind, a mere .001-second separating the two. Georgia native Chandler Smith finished fifth. All of these drivers giving Busch a challenge in those last laps.

Caden Honeycutt, two-time series champion Ben Rhodes, reigning series champion Ty Majeski, Jake Garcia and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10 in a race that saw 19 lead changes among 11 drivers and only a pair of caution flags beyond the scheduled stage breaks.

Of note, championship favorite Corey Heim ran out of gas running third a single lap before the Stage 2 break and was never able to make up the three laps he lost to that, finishing 23rd. It was also a rough ending for 25-year old rookie Connor Mosack, who earned his first series pole position and led 30 laps, but was involved in a late race incident and finished 25th.

Jack Wood won the opening stage and Busch claimed the second stage win. Giovanni Ruggiero was the top finishing rookie in 11th place. Tanner Gray earned an additional championship point for claiming the Fastest Lap Bonus.

Enfinger takes a 1-point advantage over Majeski into the series next race, March 14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway (9 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).


NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 2
Race Results for the Fr8 Racing 208 - Saturday, February 22, 2025
Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA - 1.54 - Mile Paved

Total Race Length - 135 Laps - 207.9 Miles

Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/22/2025 @ 04:18 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 9 7 Kyle Busch(i) Gainbridge Chevrolet 135 4 1 0 Running 8 80
2 8 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 135 6 8 43 Running 1 1
3 7 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 135 7  38 Running  
4 30 44 Bayley Currey Masked Owl Technologies/DQS Chevrolet 135   33 Running  
5 28 38 Chandler Smith QuickTie Ford 135  9 34 Running 2 2
6 25 45 Kaden Honeycutt DQS/DealBadger Chevrolet 135  5 37 Running  
7 10 99 Ben Rhodes Campers Inn RV Ford 135   30 Running  
8 12 98 Ty Majeski Soda Sense/Curb Records Ford 135  2 38 Running 1 1
9 6 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 135   28 Running  
10 2 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 135 2 3 44 Running 1 1
11 22 17 Giovanni Ruggiero # First Auto Group Toyota 135   26 Running  
12 17 07 Michael McDowell(i) Delaware Life Chevrolet 135 10 4 0 Running  
13 24 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 135   24 Running  
14 13 66 Luke Fenhaus Soda Sense Ford 135   23 Running 1 2
15 26 15 Tanner Gray Place of Hope Toyota 135   23 Running  
16 3 19 Daniel Hemric NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 135 8 10 25 Running 1 1
17 15 26 Dawson Sutton # Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 135   20 Running  
18 29 22 Josh Reaume Matrix CAD Design Inc Ford 135   19 Running  
19 27 76 Spencer Boyd Tohatsu Chevrolet 135   18 Running  
20 16 34 Layne Riggs Northside Hospital Ford 134   17 Running  
21 5 91 Jack Wood Adaptive One Calipers Chevrolet 133 1 6 31 Running 1 4 1
22 11 88 Matt Crafton Serta/Menards Ford 133   15 Running  
23 19 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 132 5  20 Running 1 5
24 18 5 Toni Breidinger # Women's Sports Foundation Toyota 132   13 Running  
25 1 81 Connor Mosack # Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet 131 3 7 24 Running 2 30
26 21 33 Frankie Muniz # NUGGETTRAP.COM Ford 106   11 Accident  
27 14 77 Andres Perez de Lara # Telcel Chevrolet 96   10 Suspension  
28 32 90 Justin Carroll Carroll's Automotive Toyota 75   9 Engine  
29 4 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 74 9  10 Accident 1 8
30 23 1 William Sawalich(i) Soundgear Toyota 74   0 Accident  
31 20 02 Nathan Byrd Sonesta International Hotels Chevrolet 73   6 Accident  
32 31 2 Keith McGee More Core Ford 43   5 Electrical  Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 46 Mins, 52 Secs. Average Speed: 116.725 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.017 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 91, 9, 81, 7, 11, 52, 18, 19, 71, 0
Stage 2 Top 10: 7, 98, 9, 07, 45, 91, 81, 52, 38, 19

Race Comments: Kyle Busch has won the Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his 67th victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Prior to the
start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: No. 38 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: None.

Caution Flags: 4 for 28 laps; Laps: 32-37 (Stage 1 Conclusion [2]); 62-67 (Stage 2 Conclusion [76]); 75-85 (#02, 1, 18, 19, 71, 77 Incident Frontstretch [Red Flag:
00:12:55] [98]); 108-112 (Debris Turn 1 [34]).

Lead Changes: 19 among 11 drivers; C. Mosack # 1-29; J. Wood 30-33; C. Heim 34-38; T. Majeski 39; K. Busch(i) 40-63; R. Caruth 64-71; C. Mosack # 72; K. Busch(i) 73-116; G. Enfinger 117; K. Busch(i) 118-119; L. Fenhaus 120-121; K. Busch(i) 122; C. Smith 123; K. Busch(i) 124; C. Smith 125; K. Busch(i) 126-129; D. Hemric 130; K. Busch(i) 131-133; S. Friesen 134; K. Busch(i) 135.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: March 14, 2025 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway

NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications @ P.O. Box 2875, Daytona Beach, FL 32120-2875



NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Points Report
Atlanta Motor Speedway

UNOFFICIAL Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 2/22/2025 @ 05:21 PM Eastern UNOFFICIAL

Rank Driver Car Starts GL Points Ldr Nxt Race Wins Stage Wins Playoff Pts
1. Grant Enfinger 9 2 3 85 0 0 0 0 0
2. Ty Majeski 98 2 0 84 -1 1 0 0 0
3. Chandler Smith 38 2 0 79 -6 5 0 0 0
4. Corey Heim 11 2 -3 69 -16 10 1 0 5
5. Ben Rhodes 99 2 2 66 -19 3 0 1 1
6. Giovanni Ruggiero # 17 2 0 62 -23 4 0 0 0
7. Stewart Friesen 52 2 12 62 -23 0 0 0 0
8. Daniel Hemric 19 2 -3 62 -23 0 0 0 0
9. Jake Garcia 13 2 3 53 -32 9 0 0 0
10. Jack Wood 91 2 10 50 -35 3 0 1 1
11. Bayley Currey 44 2 11 49 -36 1 0 0 0
12. Tanner Gray 15 2 4 43 -42 6 0 0 0
13. Layne Riggs 34 2 0 42 -43 1 0 0 0
14. Tyler Ankrum 18 2 16 41 -44 1 0 0 0
15. Kaden Honeycutt 45 2 16 39 -46 2 0 0 0
16. Frankie Muniz # 33 2 -6 38 -47 1 0 0 0
17. Josh Reaume 22 2 1 38 -47 0 0 0 0
18. Spencer Boyd 76 2 3 36 -49 2 0 0 0
19. Andres Perez de Lara # 77 2 -5 35 -50 1 0 0 0
20. Matt Crafton 88 2 -3 35 -50 0 0 1 1
21. Matt Mills 42 2 5 32 -53 3 0 0 0
22. Dawson Sutton # 26 2 1 32 -53 0 0 0 0
23. Jason White  1 -15 29 -56 3 0 0 0
24. Johnny Sauter  1 -15 29 -56 0 0 0 0
25. Connor Mosack # 81 2 3 29 -56 0 0 0 0
26. Timmy Hill  1 -15 26 -59 3 0 0 0
27. Luke Fenhaus 66 1 -27 23 -62 3 0 0 0
28. Toni Breidinger # 5 2 -4 22 -63 1 0 0 0
29. Norm Benning  1 -14 21 -64 1 0 0 0
30. Rajah Caruth 71 2 -5 19 -66 2 0 0 0
31. Nathan Byrd 02 2 -4 12 -73 7 0 0 0
32. Justin Carroll 90 1 5 9 -76 3 0 0 0
33. Keith McGee 2 1 -33 5 -80 4 0 0 0
34. Clay Greenfield  1 -5 4 -81 1 0 0 0
35. Parker Kligerman  1 -3 1 -84 3 0 0 0
36. Kyle Busch(i) 7 1 -36 0 -85 1 1 1 0
37. Justin Haley(i)  1 -4 0 -85 0 0 0 0
38. William Sawalich(i) 1 2 -4 0 -85 0 0 0 0
39. Michael McDowell(i) 07 2 -3 0 -85 0 0 0 0
40. Mason Maggio(i)  1 -5 0 -85 0 0 0 0
41. Bryan Dauzat  0 -3 0 -85 0 0 0 0


 (i) Ineligible for driver points in this series