TRUCKS: Kyle Busch Beats Stewart Friesen in Photo Finish at Atlanta

Kyle Busch beat Stewart Friesen to the start-finish line by a narrow margin in Saturday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. | Screenshot from FS1 Broadcast

Kyle Busch, the winningest driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, came to Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon looking to have some fun, while also collecting yet another trophy from the 1.54-mile racetrack.

To the surprise of pretty much nobody, Busch did exactly that, capturing the victory in Saturday’s Fr8 Racing 208 – his record-extending 67th victory in the NASCAR Truck Series – after crossing the start-finish line first in an exciting final lap.

The Las Vegas, Nevada-native managed to park his No. 7 Gainbridge Chevrolet in Victory Lane for Spire Motorsports after beating Stewart Friesen to the finish line by a narrow margin of only 0.017 seconds.

AT THE LINE. Kyle Busch WINS the Truck Series race at Atlanta! #NASCARonFS1 pic.twitter.com/9nfv83HGhf

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 22, 2025

It’s the sixth NASCAR Truck Series victory for Spire Motorsports, three of which have come courtesy of the two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion – who with the win, records his eighth victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Truck Series.

“I don’t really remember,” Busch said when asked about the move that won him the race.

“Just trying to make sure that I stayed as far forward as I possibly could and those guys would kind of cycle to me and get to the next one in front of me, next one in front of me, next one in front of me, and I just kept trying to make sure that I battled back and got to that front so I could control it the best I could.”

RESULTS: Fr8 Racing 208 at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Busch did manage to stay at the front of the pack for much of Saturday’s 135-lap contest, leading a race-high 80 laps en route to the victory. However, as the field challenged him on the final lap, the No. 7 was unable to get clear and instead had to race side-by-side to the finish with Stewart Friesen.

“That inside was good, they were rolling forward, so it made for a heck of a race. So proud that we had a heck of a race there to the finish and it wasn’t single file, so there was some mixing it up for the fans out here to see a cool show.”

Stewart Friesen gathered his No. 52 Halmar Toyota Tundra TRD Pro up for a second-place result, finishing 0.017 seconds behind the race-leader. It’s the first top five finish for the Canadian-born driver since last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Despite having a damaged vehicle, Tyler Ankrum was able to tuck in line and finish third in the No. 18 for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. Bayley Currey brought home a fourth-place result in the No. 44 for Niece Motorsports, with Chandler Smith – in his second event as part of the Front Row Motorsports NASCAR Truck Series program – rounding out the top five.

Kaden Honeycutt came home sixth in the No. 45 for Niece Motorsports, with ThorSport Racing teammates Ben Rhodes, Ty Majeski, and Jake Garcia lined up nose-to-tail in seventh, eighth, and ninth place.

Grant Enfinger rounded out the top-10 and leaves Atlanta with the points lead over Ty Majeski.

Leaving Atlanta Motor Speedway, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series gets to take two weeks off before returning to action at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Coverage for that event will be on Friday, March 14 at 9:00 PM ET on FS1, The NASCAR Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.

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