DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Kyle Busch used a perfectly timed pass to edge Timothy Peters in the final few feet to win the NASCAR Truck Series season opener Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.
Peters was leading coming out of the final turn and did all he could to block Busch, even nearly forcing him into the wall. But Busch didn’t blink and drove by Peters just before the finish line.
It was Busch’s 36th Truck Series victory and first at Daytona.
“Well, it sounds awesome,” said Busch, admitting he would rather be a Daytona 500 winner. “This has been eluding me. I finally got one.”
Busch gave Toyota its eighth consecutive Truck Series victory at Daytona. It also was the automaker’s fourth victory in four races during Speedweeks.
Johnny Sauter was third, followed by Ryan Truex, Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ryan Blaney. Defending series champion Matt Crafton was 13th.
This one will be remembered for the finish, which was the series’ closest in 15 years at Daytona. It was the eighth-closest margin in series history.
“I thought I was going to throw it out there and see what happens,” Busch said of his 0.017-second victory.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/22/2014