William Byron Makes History at Kentucky
By Alex Herbst
William Byron led a race-high seventy laps on Thursday night to win at Kentucky Speedway, a record-breaking performance for his KBM team.
With a new surface and a new attitude, Kentucky Speedway looked to shake up its racing and competition on track. It certainly got what it was looking for on Thursday night, with an ultra competitive Camping World Truck Series race won by Kyle Busch Motorsports driver William Byron.
Earning his fourth win of the season, Byron held off a hard charging duo of John Hunter Nemechek and Daniel Hemric in the final forty laps to take the checkered flag, the 51st win for KBM, breaking the record for most wins by a team in the trucks. Earlier on however, it looked as if it was going to be one of Byron’s teammates celebrating in victory lane.
Team owner Kyle Busch was entered and raced on Thursday night in the #18 Toyota, and was charging through the field before wrecking early with Spencer Gallagher, who was involved in a heated exchange following an incident at Gateway two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, it looked early on like Daniel Suarez was going to take the victory for KBM, leading 59 laps on the night. And if it were not for a pit road miscue, it may have been a win indeed. Suarez, the polesitter, was caught speeding on pit road and would not recover from the penalty that ensued.
William Byron’s win tonight just continues a hot streak in his rookie year in the Camping World Truck Series. With four wins and six top ten finishes so far, he is far and away on top of the Chase grid, and only one of two drivers with multiple wins this year. With his win tonight, he also tied Kurt Busch’s record for the most wins by a rookie in a season.
Here are the full results for the Buckle Up Kentucky 225 at Kentucky Speedway:
- William Byron, Toyota, Kyle Busch Motorsports
- John Hunter Nemechek, Chevrolet, NEMCO Motorsports
- Daniel Hemric, Ford, Brad Keselowski Racing
- Christopher Bell, Toyota, Kyle Busch Motorsports
- Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, GMS Racing
- Cameron Hayley, Toyota, ThorSport Racing
- Brandon Jones, Chevrolet, Contreras Motorsports
- Matt Crafton, Toyota, ThorSport Racing
- Timothy Peters, Toyota, Red Horse Racing
- Tyler Reddick, Ford, Brad Keselowski Racing
- Daniel Suarez, Toyota, Kyle Busch Motorsports
- Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, GMS Racing
- Ben Rhodes, Toyota, ThorSport Racing
- Cole Custer, Chevrolet, JR Motorsports
- Rico Abreu, Toyota, ThorSport Racing
- Spencer Gallagher, Chevrolet, GMS Racing
- Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, Bolen Motorsports
- Austin Hill, Chevrolet, Young’s Motorsports
- Parker Kligerman, Chevrolet, Athenian Motorsports
- Brandon Brown, Chevrolet, Brandon Brown Racing
- Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet, SS Green Light Racing
- Ben Kennedy, Chevrolet, GMS Racing
- Timmy Hill, Chevrolet, Premium Motorsports
- Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, JJC Racing
- Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, MAKE Motorsports
- Tommy Joe Martins, Chevrolet, Martins Family Racing
- Austin Wayne Self, Toyota, AM Racing
- Norm Benning, Chevrolet, MB Motorsports
- Mike Harmon, Chevrolet, Harmon Racing
- Kyle Busch, Toyota, Kyle Busch Motorsports
- Brett Moffitt, Toyota, Red Horse Racing
- Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, JJC – MAKE Motorsports
must read: Top Five NASCAR Finishes of 2016 So Far
The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will come in just under two weeks, with one of the most unique events on the stock car racing calendar. The series returns to it roots, racing at Eldora Speedway on the dirt in Rossburg, Ohio. See the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby on Wednesday, July 20 on FS1.