By: Zach Arnold

Winning at Bristol on its own is a privileged feeling that not many feel; it must feel even sweeter when beating a veteran in Kyle Busch to the finish line.

Saturday’s Craftsman Truck Series race opened up with Nick Sanchez leading the field to the green flag. The opening run did not last many laps, as the first caution came out when Matt Mills spun on Lap 6. The No. 42 did not experience heavy damage and was able to continue the race. Eckes took the lead from Sanchez on the next restart and battled Busch for the lead until the second caution occurred as Keith McGee spun out. This set up a 13-lap finish to end stage one which was won by the No. 7 of Busch.

Stage two began with a short battle between No. 19 and No. 7, and the 38-year-old Busch prevailed to the lead. Busch remained out front for the entire stage which was run under the green flag conditions. With fewer than five laps to go in stage two, Conner Jones made a very aggressive move in an attempt to stay on the lead lap by driving on the apron of the track. Unable to hold off the leaders, Jones ended the stage one lap down and was called to report to the NASCAR hauler post-race.

The first two stages were raced clean. Only two trucks were in the garage as stage three began. Busch and Eckes continued to fight each other for the lead; at this point, it is clear that these two drivers had the strongest trucks.

Shortly into the stage, ThorSport Racing teammates Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes were involved in a wreck. This wreck ended Majeski’s night as Rhodes was able to continue. Nick Sanchez and Stewart Friesen brought out the final caution of the race. This set up a 24-lap shootout for the race win.

Eckes was able to hold off Busch and would lead all 24 laps. This resulted in Eckes’s first win in 2024.

The next race in the Craftsman Truck Series season is in Texas for the XPEL 225 at the Circuit of the Americas. Catch the race on FS1 next Saturday at 1:30 pm.