Kyle Busch, the winningest driver in the history of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will lead the field to green in Friday’s ECOSAVE 200 at Dover Motor Speedway, his 24th career pole.
Piloting the No. 7 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, Busch laid down a quick time of 22.258 seconds (161.740mph) to set a brand-new track record for the Truck Series at the one-mile concrete oval.
Brett Moffitt held the previous track record with a qualifying time of 22.303 seconds, set back in 2019 — the last time the series had a qualifying session at Dover.
Friday’s 200-lapper at Dover marks the fourth of eight scheduled NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series starts for Kyle Busch in 2026, all of which will come behind the wheel of the HendrickCars.com No. 7.
I think a lot of guys were [letting it all hang out]. I heard a lot of on-throttle time; it’s just a matter of how fast your truck can carry it, right? Busch told FOX Sports after winning the pole. “Brian Pattie and these guys got out Spire Motorsports [Chevrolet Silverado] tuned right up, and it’s so nice to put the HendrickCars.com Chevrolet on the pole here, and lead the field to green.”
Ty Majeski was the second-fastest driver in qualifying on Friday and will start alongside Busch in the series’ return to Dover Motor Speedway, known as one of the trickiest tracks on the NASCAR circuit.
TRICON Garage teammates will roll from the second row, with Gio Ruggiero in third and the most recent NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series winner (at Watkins Glen International), Kaden Honeycutt, starting fourth. Christopher Bell, making another Truck Series start in the No. 62 for Halmar Friesen Racing, will round out the top-five.
Brandon Jones, Jake Garcia, Ross Chastain, Andres Perez De Lara, and Daniel Hemric completed the top-10 in qualifying. Hemric, driving the No. 19 Chevrolet Silverado RST, was the only entry from McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the top-25, with Christian Eckes qualifying 27th, Kris Wright 29th, and Tyler Ankrum 30th.
Mini Tyrrell, one week removed from collecting his first top-10 result in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition at Watkins Glen, qualified a career best 16th, the best of the five RAM Trucks, which included Clint Bowyer. Bowyer will start 22nd.
Dystany Spurlock will make her NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut on Friday in the No. 69 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro for MBM Motorsports. Spurlock is a former NHRA Motorcycle Racer and will become the first Black Woman to run a NASCAR race.
The ECOSAVE 200 will take place Friday, May 15 at 5:00 PM ET on FS1.
Photo: Sean Gardner, Getty Images
