After a thrilling, action-packed season opener on the Daytona Beach high banks last week that resulted in 11 laps of overtime, the Gander Outdoors Truck Series regulars are no doubt looking forward to Saturday’s Ultimate Tailgating 200 (4:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The series crowned a first-time winner in Austin Hill and may crown its all-time winner this week. A victory by Kyle Busch would give him 52 career truck series wins, breaking a tie he holds with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. Busch boasts the most truck series wins at Atlanta (four), but this race has proven to be anybody’s to win in recent years.
There have been nine different winners in the last nine races. Last year’s eventual series champion Brett Moffitt picked up the first victory of what turned out to be a six-win season holding off rookie Noah Gragson and veteran Johnny Sauter for his second career win.
This weekend’s field is crowded with a mix of former champions such as Moffitt, Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton and Busch as well as perennial title contenders such as Stewart Friesen and Grant Enfinger along with talented young second-generation NASCAR drivers such as Todd Gilliland and Harrison Burton.
Fan4Racing Note: Coincidentally – perhaps not so much – Kyle Busch is piloting the No. 51 for Kyle Busch Motorsports in hopes of earning his 52nd NASCAR Truck Series victory on Saturday afternoon at Atlanta Motor Speedway.