Kyle Busch secured the 68th win of his Craftsman Truck Series career at the EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta on Saturday and while it didn’t end his winless drought in the Cup Series, it did serve as a confidence-booster ahead of Sunday’s Cup Series race. The one person that Busch has to thank the most is Carson Hocevar. The youngster was a great aid to him in winning the race.
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Both drove under the banner of Spire Motorsports. While Hocevar displayed his usual characteristics of being overtly aggressive in the beginning stages, he got himself under control as time passed and began playing the role of a wingman for Busch. The race had been shortened to 125 laps due to weather conditions delaying the start of the event.
The racing at the front of the pack was completely frantic towards the end. But the top-2 spots remained in the control of the Spire drivers. They simply didn’t allow anyone to come between them. Busch was left thoroughly impressed with the camaraderie that Hocevar displayed.
He said in his post-race interview, “It was nice to see that he’s got it in him. In the beginning of the race, it was kind of normal Carson. All over the place. Not all over the place, like, out of control, just dicing it up, right? Like cutting moves and making plays like I probably once was. Then in the second stage, I was able to kind of be his wingman for a minute. That worked really well for it.”
Busch’s goal was to put one of the team’s trucks in Victory Lane. It ended up being his.
Busch and Hocevar prepare to compete with each other
Time is scarce for the drivers to change their race suits and get into their Cup Series cars. They will have to get rid of the mindset that they are on the track to help each other out, for they will be competitors once again on Sunday. Busch will drive the No. 8 Camaro for Richard Childress Racing and attempt to break his 94-race winless streak.
Hocevar, meanwhile, will try to secure his maiden Cup Series victory. He said in his post-race interview that the choice to help Busch was purely a business decision. He did not have a shot at winning the race. So, he’d decided to help his team reach Victory Lane. Rest assured, he won’t be offering such help in the Cup Series race.
