February 21, 2026 | By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

Kyle Busch outduels NASCAR Trucks field at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga.—Kyle Busch took his third consecutive and record ninth win of his career in the Fr8 208 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at EchoPark Speedway Saturday afternoon capping a dramatic push to the checkered flag to collect his record 68th series victory.

In the closing laps, Busch, 40, exchanged the lead with series veteran Stewart Friesen in a flashback from the 2025 race on the 1.5-mile Atlanta high banks when Friesen finished runner-up to him. Ultimately Busch’s No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet was again able to get the best of the duel, benefiting from a timely push from his teammate Carson Hocevar to reclaim the lead for good in the final seven laps.

The race went to an “Adverse Conditions” rule and ended on a pre-determined deadline only 10 laps short of the original 135-lap scheduled distance.

Busch ultimately held off the field by .114-second – several trucks trying unsuccessfully to line up and make a final lap run to the trophy in the closing laps. Hocevar was runner-up in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet followed by TRICON Garage’s Giovanni Ruggiero, ThorSport Racing’s Ben Rhodes and 2025 series champion Corey Heim in the running order. A frustrated Heim, who drove the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra and won Stage 1, said post-race he didn’t know the race had been officially shortened.

“It got dicey there at the end,’’ a grinning Busch said after giving his trademark bow to the crowd at the finish line. “Certainly, a great race and it got exciting there at the end.

“Had a great teammate [Hocevar] behind me and have to give credit where credit is due. Early on was a little worried he wasn’t helping but there at the end he was right there. …definitely made it a whole lot easier.”

It was actually Rhodes, a two-time series champion, that set the pace for most of the race – hoping to celebrate his 29th birthday by claiming his first trophy in more than a year. He led a race high 70 laps but ran out of gas mid-race forcing him to rally from a two-lap deficit at one point. Rhodes got back on the lead lap, however, and was challenging Busch in the final laps, just never able to get around the veteran and stay there.

In the final stage, Friesen, who won Stage 2, made a dramatic push forward, putting his No. 52 Friesen-Halmar Racing Chevrolet nose to nose with Busch’s Chevy Silverado lap-after-lap in the closing portion of the race. But again, Busch was able to prevail with the help of Hocevar’s push from behind.

Last week’s Daytona winner Chandler Smith finished sixth, followed by Saturday’s polesitter Jake Garcia and a pair of NASCAR Cup Series regulars in John Hunter Nemechek and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Justin Haley rounded out the top-10 driving the No. 16 Kaulig Racing RAM in the manufacturer’s 2026 return to the series.

There were five leaders on the afternoon and 14 lead changes.

And even after all the victories at the track, Busch said he genuinely had to work for it this week, noting that with all the success comes a certain target on your back – less willingness for others to pull out of line and run with him.

“If there was a confidence meter on me, the start of the race it was at a 100 but then as we got through the second stage of the race it was dipping, it was a 40 just because it seemed like everybody had talked, and no one was helping Kyle today,’’ said the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Busch, whose last win in a major NASCAR series was his truck victory at Texas last April.

“Every time I pulled out of lane and looked for two or three to go with me in order to get to the front not one of them ever came to my rear bumper to push,’’ he said.

“Just seemed like at the beginning and middle of the race I was having a tough time being able to make the moves I remember making last year by myself. Today is was harder to do that.’’

The Front Row Motorsports driver Smith’s top-10 finish was enough to keep him atop the early championship standings, 28-points ahead of TRICON Garage driver Gio Ruggiero.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series makes its debut at the downtown St Petersburg Road Course in the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg next Saturday (noon E.T., FOX, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). It will be the first street race in the history of the series.


NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Fr8 Racing 208
Atlanta Motor Speedway
Hampton, Georgia

Saturday, February 21, 2026

Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Pos Status Tms Laps
1 3 7 Kyle Busch(i) HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 125 3 5 0 Running 4 37
2 18 77 Carson Hocevar(i) Delaware Life Chevrolet 125 4 3 0 Running
3 10 17 Giovanni Ruggiero First Auto Group Toyota 125 10 6 40 Running
4 2 99 Ben Rhodes Campers Inn RV Ford 125 2 42 Running 3 70
5 20 1 Corey Heim Robinhood Toyota 125 1 9 44 Running 2 6
6 22 38 Chandler Smith QuickTie Ford 125 4 38 Running
7 1 98 Jake Garcia Quanta Services/Curb Records Ford 125 7 34 Running 2 2
8 12 62 John Hunter Nemechek(i) Halmar International Toyota 125 0 Running
9 5 45 Ricky Stenhouse Jr(i) J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 125 2 0 Running
10 25 16 Justin Haley RAM RAM 125 27 Running
11 26 25 Ty Dillon(i) RAM RAM 125 0 Running
12 8 5 Adam Andretti TopLiner Toyota 125 25 Running
13 30 10 Daniel Dye Mopar RAM 125 24 Running
14 4 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 125 23 Running
15 9 44 Andres Perez De Lara Acceptance Insurance Chevrolet 125 7 8 29 Running
16 28 12 Brenden Queen # Cummins RAM 125 21 Running
17 27 42 Tyler Reif Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet 125 20 Running
18 21 81 Kris Wright F.N.B. Corporation Chevrolet 125 19 Running
19 29 14 Mini Tyrrell # RAM RAM 124 18 Running
20 16 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 124 6 1 32 Running 3 10
21 11 11 Kaden Honeycutt Safelite Toyota 123 8 19 Running
22 14 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 123 15 Running
23 33 2 Clayton Green Guardian Lifts Ford 123 14 Running
24 31 22 Josh Reaume Aerial Titans Ford 123 13 Running
25 32 33 Frankie Muniz Aerial Titans Ford 123 12 Running
26 24 76 Spencer Boyd Interstate Classic Cars Chevrolet 120 11 Running
27 19 34 Layne Riggs BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing Ford 119 10 11 Running
28 7 88 Ty Majeski Slim Jim/Menards Ford 119 5 15 Running
29 34 69 Tyler Tomassi Tomassi Law Ford 119 8 Running
30 17 15 Tanner Gray Factory Canopies Toyota 116 8 Running
31 6 13 Cole Butcher # Atlantic Tilt Load Ford 100 6 Accident
32 23 26 Dawson Sutton WAR Shocks/Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 100 5 Accident
33 36 93 Caleb Costner AUTOBANK RV Sales & Service Chevrolet 99 4 Handling
34 13 19 Daniel Hemric NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 88 9 5 Suspension
35 35 90 Justin Carroll Carroll's Automotive Toyota 65 2 Rear Gear
36 15 91 Christian Eckes NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet 2 1 Transmission

Average Speed of Race Winner:  131.027 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 28 Mins, 9 Secs. Margin of Victory:  0.114 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  3 for 18 laps.

Lead Changes:  14 among 5 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   B. Rhodes 1-35;K. Busch(i) 36;B. Rhodes 37;C. Heim 38;K. Busch(i) 39;C. Heim 40-44;B. Rhodes 45-78;S. Friesen 79-86;J. Garcia 87;S. Friesen 88;J. Garcia 89;K. Busch(i) 90-117;S. Friesen 118;K. Busch(i) 119-125.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Ben Rhodes 3 times for 70 laps; Kyle Busch(i) 4 times for 37 laps; Stewart Friesen 3 times for 10 laps; Corey Heim 2 times for 6 laps; Jake Garcia 2 times for 2 laps.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 1,99,7,77,88,52,44,11,19,17

Stage #2 Top Ten: 52,45,77,38,7,17,98,44,1,34



CURRENT NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS

Points Report

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Chandler Smith 38 2 0 103 0 0 1 1
2. Giovanni Ruggiero 17 2 -2 75 -28 28 0 0
3. Ben Rhodes 99 2 -7 68 -35 7 0 0
4. Ty Majeski 88 2 1 60 -43 8 0 0
5. Stewart Friesen 52 2 -4 59 -44 1 0 1
6. Brenden Queen # 12 2 0 53 -50 6 0 0
7. Kaden Honeycutt 11 2 2 53 -50 0 0 0
8. Andres Perez De Lara 44 2 -3 53 -50 0 0 0
9. Tyler Ankrum 18 2 1 51 -52 2 0 0
10. Christian Eckes 91 2 8 47 -56 4 0 0
11. Corey Heim 1 1 11 44 -59 3 0 1
12. Daniel Dye 10 2 -4 44 -59 0 0 0
13. Justin Haley 16 2 -8 42 -61 2 0 0
14. Jake Garcia 98 2 -14 39 -64 3 0 0
15. Mini Tyrrell # 14 2 -3 36 -67 3 0 0
16. Frankie Muniz 33 2 1 33 -70 3 0 0
17. Nick Leitz 1 10 31 -72 2 0 0
18. Kris Wright 81 2 -5 31 -72 0 0 0
19. Tanner Gray 15 2 6 31 -72 0 0 0
20. Josh Reaume 22 2 1 30 -73 1 0 0
21. Cole Butcher # 13 2 9 29 -74 1 0 0
22. Spencer Boyd 76 2 2 27 -76 2 0 0
23. Layne Riggs 34 2 1 26 -77 1 0 0
24. Adam Andretti 5 1 24 25 -78 1 0 0
25. Grant Enfinger 9 2 -1 24 -79 1 0 0