NASCAR
Kyle Busch Wins Third-Straight Atlanta Truck Race with Help from Hocevar
HAMPTON, Ga. – For three consecutive years now, Rowdy is top the Trucker in Atlanta. Driving the Spire Motorsports No. 7 Chevrolet once again, Kyle Busch used every bit of his veteran experience to take a ninth career EchoPark Speedway triumph. Now owning 68 Truck Series checkered flags, the all-time winningest man only further extends his own record.
Although Ben Rhodes appeared to be class of the field, he was not rewarded much for this early pace. Rhodes would be passed by Corey Heim for the Stage 1 win, and ran out of fuel late in Stage 2. As the ThorSport No. 99 was on pit road, Stewart Friesen took the second segment win.
.@benrhodes pits out of fuel as Stage 2 ends.
Also closeup on @Justin_Haley_’s @Kaulig_Trucks RAM team servicing the No. 16. #Fr8208 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/2rwEosjdJR
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
Due to time constraints with the NASCAR O’Reilly Series race, this already short race would be cut by ten laps. This rule was only made official after a late caution in Stage 3. The green flag would fly with under 10 minutes of time left, setting up a frantic sprint. In shades of last year, it was Busch battling against Friesen for this victory, but this time Rowdy had teammate help. Carson Hocevar found Busch’s rear bumper and stayed committed to him through the finish, earning Spire Motorsports a 1-2 result. Both drivers would celebrate this big team-wide win together after the checkered flag.
Double the celebration yesterday for @SpireMotorsport after @KyleBusch and @CarsonHocevar were 1-2 in the @NASCAR_Trucks from @EchoParkSpdwy #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/aKxjwKRWdu
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 22, 2026
“Finally, I win one that (Brexton, son) is here,” Busch said. “This is cool, but huge help from behind, you know? Carson Hocevar was a great teammate today. Early on in the race, I was like ‘wait a second, same old Carson.’ But as we got towards the end we started working together and being able to maneuver our way through the end of the second stage there. I was behind him pushing, we were able to ratchet forward. Then there at the end he was my wingman, so if he gives me a hat, I might wear a hat. Thanks to HendrickCars.Com, appreciate you guys. Thanks to Spire Motorsports, Gainbridge, Brian Pattie, all these guys. Brexton, momma’s here, Lennix is here, so great to have the family here to win one and celebrate in victory lane.”
“There’s just so much going on, right? You’re just trying to protect your lane, just trying to get the slingshot when you need the slingshot back to the front. Those guys were trying to use that on us, so we were having to defend that. If Carson would have pulled out of line once or twice, that would’ve been a whole hell of a lot bigger mess than what it was. He kept it pretty calm, because we had a wingman. You gotta have a teammate in this sort of thing, until it gets really really spread out, on a 50-lap run or whatever. You don’t get a chance to have separation, so you’re going to have to race it out in a group.”
Behind the Spire Motorsports tandem, Gio Ruggiero, Ben Rhodes, and Corey Heim were the top-five. Other top finishers were: Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, John Hunter Nemechek, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., and Justin Haley. Hear from some of these drivers below.
.@CarsonHocevar finds it ironic that him and @KyleBusch got into it here in last year’s Cup race only to finish 1-2 today as teammates with @SpireMotorsport.
“It was probably a good picture…huge for the team!”#Fr8208 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/WvPxVVF3JC
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
.@Gio_Ruggiero1 leaves another drafting race with a top-5, calling today’s 3rd-place run a great points day. #Fr8208 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/dwt1HAsK1E
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
Mega Stage 3 recovery for @benrhodes, who ran out of fuel late in Stage 2 but persisted to finish 4th.
“I was ready to fight my guys!”#Fr8208 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/sWXZkzYfwV
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
.@CoreyHeim_ was not a fan of racing against the clock, calling shortening the race stupid and saying it reminds him of racing against a curfew in bandos.
The @TRICONGarage 1 was 5th from ATL#Fr8208 #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/imKU9TOuy7
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) February 21, 2026
The Craftsman Truck Series season rolls on with a brand new event next week. Truckers will be paired with IndyCar on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida in their first ever street race. The OnlyBulls 150 goes green Saturday, Feb. 28 at noon on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
Written by Peter Stratta
Be sure to follow us on Twitter/X
Be sure to follow the writer on Twitter/X
Photo credit to Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
