Just passing through
SPARTA, Ky. — Kyle Busch spent six long hours practicing at Kentucky Speedway in 90-plus degree heat on Thursday.
When he failed to make it to the driver’s meeting before the NASCAR Truck Series race, officials penalized him, sending him to the back of the 36-truck field. As a small protest, Busch skipped driver introductions to spend a couple extra minutes in the comfort of his hauler.
“I was just trying to cool off,” Busch said.
Besides, given the way the 26-year-old star is dominating the Truck Series these days, starting from the rear of the field is hardly a big deal.
Busch deftly picked his way to the front then held off a late challenge from upstart Parker Kligerman to win the 225-mile race and move up another spot in the NASCAR books.
The victory was the 98th of his NASCAR career, moving him into third place on the all-time list. He has 21 Sprint Cup victories, 48 in the Nationwide and 29 in the Truck.
“He’s just got that Michael Jordan flow going right now,” said Brendan Gaughan, who finished third. “It’s really fun to watch. Even though people don’t like him ... you’ve got to enjoy watching him.”
Though he led a race-high 61 laps, Busch figured he’d get passed at some point by Austin Dillon or Joey Coulter.
“Those guys were really running me down and a lot faster than I was, the 3, the 22, maybe a couple of others but they had problems,” Busch said.
And as tends to happen when he’s in contention, Busch did not.
