Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Cessna Toyota, poses with his son, Brexton, with the Winner’s Sticker after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat Las Vegas 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

LAS VEGAS – Little would make Kyle Busch happier than a three-race weekend sweep in his home town. The driver of the No. 51 Toyota took the first step on Friday night, winning the Strat 200 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Cessna Toyota, takes the checkered flag to win the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat Las Vegas 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

For the second straight week, Busch swept both preliminary stages before taking the checkered flag. In his 2019 series debut last Friday at Atlanta, Busch broke a tie with NASCAR Hall of Famer Ron Hornaday Jr. for most career victories. On Friday, he extended the record to 53.

Despite leading 111-of-134 laps, Busch complained of a tight handling condition throughout much of the race.

“We fought it in practice a little bit,” said Busch, who now has 196 victories across all three of NASCAR’s national series combined. “We worked on it an awful lot to make it better. (Crew chief) Rudy (Fugle) and these guys did an amazing job on this Cessna Tundra. It was really, really fast. Just kept working on it all night long – every pit stop.

“It’s cool to win here in your home town, being in Las Vegas, starting off a triple weekend. Hopefully, we can keep it going.”

Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Cessna Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Strat Las Vegas 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

Busch, who finished 1.211 seconds ahead of runner-up and reigning series champion Brett Moffitt, will compete in Saturday’s Boyd Gaming 300 Xfinity Series race before trying for his second Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win at Las Vegas on Sunday.

Busch already has two weekend sweeps to his credit, both at Bristol Motor Speedway, in 2010 and 2017.

Moffitt had one shot at Busch in the closing laps after gaining ground on the race winner during the last cycle of pit stops. When Busch came to pit road under green on Lap 114, four laps after Moffitt, he lost most of a three-second lead as Moffitt ran those four extra laps with new right-side tires.

Moffitt got close to Busch’s rear bumper on Lap 119, but his No. 24 GMS Racing Chevrolet got loose behind the No. 51 Toyota and fell back. Nevertheless, the second-place finish was a victory of sorts for Moffitt, who recovered from a pit road mistake – the rear air gun hose was trapped beneath the rear tire during a stop under caution on Lap 33 – and worked his way back through the field.

Kyle Busch, driver of the #51 Cessna Toyota, poses with the pole award after taking pole position during qualifying for the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series The Strat Las Vegas 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Sarah Crabill/Getty Images)

“We had to use our stuff up getting back to the front – another pit road mistake,” Moffitt said. “I had one chance to get to (Busch’s) bumper. I knew it was going to be a make-or-break move. Unfortunately, it was ‘break.’”

Matt Crafton rallied from early rear end damage to run third. Stewart Friesen, who battled Busch during the second stage and led 20 laps, finished fourth, followed by Harrison Burton. Sheldon Creed, Todd Gilliland, Johnny Sauter, Ryan Reed and Ross Chastain completed the top 10.

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Kyle Busch – 

NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Race – 2nd Annual Strat 200

Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Las Vegas, Nevada

Friday, March 1, 2019

                  1. (1)  Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 134.

                  2. (2)  Brett Moffitt, Chevrolet, 134.

                  3. (15)  Matt Crafton, Ford, 134.

                  4. (7)  Stewart Friesen, Chevrolet, 134.

                  5. (3)  Harrison Burton #, Toyota, 134.

                  6. (9)  Sheldon Creed #, Chevrolet, 134.

                  7. (13)  Todd Gilliland, Toyota, 134.

                  8. (11)  Johnny Sauter, Ford, 134.

                  9. (10)  Ryan Reed, Toyota, 134.

                  10. (16)  Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 133.

                  11. (4)  Grant Enfinger, Ford, 133.

                  12. (18)  Timothy Peters, Chevrolet, 133.

                  13. (12)  Natalie Decker #, Toyota, 133.

                  14. (25)  Korbin Forrister, Toyota, 132.

                  15. (24)  Austin Wayne Self, Chevrolet, 132.

                  16. (22)  Angela Ruch, Chevrolet, 132.

                  17. (21)  Tyler Dippel #, Chevrolet, 132.

                  18. (14)  Anthony Alfredo #, Toyota, 132.

                  19. (17)  Jesse Little, Ford, 132.

                  20. (8)  Brennan Poole, Toyota, 131.

                  21. (20)  Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 130.

                  22. (26)  Gus Dean #, Chevrolet, 130.

                  23. (31)  Josh Reaume, Chevrolet, 129.

                  24. (5)  Cory Roper, Ford, 127.

                  25. (19)  Ben Rhodes, Ford, 125.

                  26. (28)  Jesse Iwuji, Chevrolet, 124.

                  27. (29)  Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 123.

                  28. (32)  Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 121.

                  29. (23)  Spencer Boyd, Chevrolet, Engine, 108.

                  30. (6)  Austin Hill, Toyota, Engine, 82.

                  31. (27)  Stefan Parsons, Chevrolet, Carburetor, 67.

                  32. (30)  Scott Stenzel, Chevrolet, Electrical, 34.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  139.449 mph.

Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 26 Mins, 29 Secs. Margin of Victory:  1.211 Seconds.

Caution Flags:  3 for 15 laps.

Lead Changes:  7 among 6 drivers.

Lap Leaders:   K. Busch(i) 1-33;S. Friesen 34-37;B. Rhodes 38;S. Friesen 39-54;K. Busch(i) 55-113;R. Chastain(i) 114;G. Enfinger 115-116;K. Busch(i) 117-134.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  Kyle Busch(i) 3 times for 110 laps; Stewart Friesen 2 times for 20 laps; Grant Enfinger 1 time for 2 laps; Ben Rhodes 1 time for 1 lap; Ross Chastain(i) 1 time for 1 lap.

Stage #1 Top Ten: 51,24,16,18,45,4,52,17,44,99

Stage #2 Top Ten: 51,52,45,4,99,18,2,16,88,24