FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Busch returns to action in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, and that may spell bad news for series regulars hoping to win Friday night’s SpeedyCash.com 250.
The Craftsman Truck Series hasn’t raced on a 1.5-mile intermediate track since last May at Charlotte Motor Speedway, a gap of more than 11 months.
In Texas, the series returns to a venue that presents unique challenges, where the backstretch flows from relatively flat Turns 1 and 2 into high-banked, high-speed Turns 3 and 4.
The 52nd Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas (most of any track) is unlikely to present a problem for Busch, who has won six of the previous 51 races there. In fact, Busch is nearly as prolific at Texas as he is at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Across all three of NASCAR’s national series, Busch has won 20 times in Fort Worth (four Cup, 10 O’Reilly and six Truck) versus 22 victories at Thunder Valley.
“Texas is a track where I’ve had a lot of success in the Truck Series, including a win with Spire a couple of years ago,” said Busch, who will drive Spire’s No. 7 Chevrolet on Friday night.
“We had a lot of speed in our HendrickCars.com Silverado at Atlanta, and I know (Carson) Hocevar was really fast at Texas last year, so hopefully we can capitalize on the speed that Spire is bringing to the mile-and-a-half tracks and add another trophy to the trophy case.”
Hocevar will compete in the No. 77 Spire Chevrolet Silverado. He, Busch and Ross Chastain (No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevy) are the only three full-time NASCAR Cup Series drivers entered in Friday night’s race.
However, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regulars Brandon Jones and William Sawalich will be driving Toyotas for TRICON Garage.
Last year’s winner, Corey Heim, is not entered. Busch is the most recent Texas winner in the field (2024).