SPARTA, Ky. — Noah Gragson held off team owner Kyle Busch for the win in the second stage of Thursday night’s Buckle Up In Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway.
Following on from Ben Rhodes’ breakthrough triumph in the opening stage, Gragson led every lap of the second stage after staying out on pit strategy at the first stage break, ultimately holding off Busch by just over a truck length at the line for his first-career stage win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Gragson banked 10 regular season bonus points towards his pursuit of a playoff berth, as well as a playoff point for his bank should he make the playoff cut later in the year.
Busch finished second ahead of Justin Haley, Chase Briscoe and Myatt Snider.
Christopher Bell, Austin Cindric, Johnny Sauter, Kaz Grala and John Hunter Nemechek completed the top 10 finishers at the second stage break and all scored points towards their championship runs.
A major incident on the green flag at lap 42 damaged three of the four ThorSport Racing trucks and eliminated Stage 1 winner Ben Rhodes, after Rhodes was stuck in the middle of a three-wide scrum entering in Turn 3 and spun before being pile-driven from behind by teammate Grant Enfinger.
The incident collected Matt Crafton and T.J. Bell, who were both able to continue.
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.
Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.
The 23-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
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