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Kyle Busch Earns 68th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Win At EchoPark Speedway

by Hunter Thomas February 21, 2026 0 comments

HAMPTON, Ga. – Kyle Busch earned his 68^th NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in the Fr8 Racing 208 on Saturday at EchoPark Speedway.

With time being of the essence, quite literally due to the television window, the pack amped up in the closing laps. Busch was out in front of the field on the final lap, and as the field made its way through Turn 3, Carson Hocevar slipped up the track, and that sealed the deal for Rowdy. The win marked Busch’s ninth series victory at EchoPark Speedway, and this time, his son Brexton was able to join in on the celebration.

“This is cool,” Busch said. “Huge help from behind. Carson Hocevar was a great teammate today. Early on in the race, I was like ‘wait a second, okay, same old Carson’, but as we got towards the end we started working together, and we started being able to maneuver our way through the end of the second stage there. I was behind him pushing him, and we were able to move forward and then there at the end, he was my wingman.”

Hocevar held on for a second-place finish, followed by Giovanni Ruggiero.

“I didn’t really set myself up to have a good run off of (turn) two,” Ruggiero said. “I tried to, but it just really didn’t happen down the back straightaway. I knew if I stayed third in line on the top, I would definitely be able to bring it home third in our First Auto Group Tundra, which is good for points, but yeah, I wasn’t sure if I would have the help out back to make a move to the bottom.”

Ben Rhodes and Corey Heim rounded out the top-five. Completing the top-10 was Chandler Smith, polesitter Jake Garcia, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Justin Haley.

There were 13 leader changes among five drivers. Rhodes led a race high of 70 laps.

There was only one caution for an accident, and it occurred on Lap 102, when Cole Butcher got squeezed up towards the wall by Kris Wright. Butcher lost control and pounded the SAFER barrier. Dawson Sutton was also involved as he crashed on the frontstretch.

Smith leads Ruggiero in the standings by 28 points.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will visit St. Petersburg for the first time ever on Saturday, Feb. 28 The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will broadcast live on FOX at 12 p.m. ET.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com