Noah Gragson led the final five laps to win the Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, claiming his second career win and the first of the season.
Gragson, who started from the pole, assumed the lead when Myatt Snider ran out gas.
Gragson beat team owner Kyle Busch, Stewart Friesen, John Hunter Nemechek and Johnny Sauter.
The win comes a week after Gragson wrecked in the closing laps at Dover while battling Sauter for the lead.
“This is such a relief for a driver that had a hard week last week, we were battling for the win,” Gragson told Fox Sports 1. “We came back stronger this weekend, two consecutive poles in a row, led the most laps today. Man, this is pretty damn cool moment.”
Gragson led 128 laps. After winning the first two stages, Gragson lost the lead when he was the first driver to pit under green with 33 laps remaining. While Busch and Friesen took two tires, Gragson had four fresh tires.
“They were way faster than us, they deserved to win the race, they were better than us all weekend,” Busch told FS1. “I thought we were close, the truck felt good after about 15 laps. It just took long to come in.”
STAGE 1 WINNER: Noah Gragson
STAGE 2 WINNER: Noah Gragson
MORE: Race results, point standings
WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: John Hunter Nemechek finished fourth after starting the race from the rear for an unapproved adjustment ... Brandon Jones finished ninth in his first of four scheduled Truck races for Kyle Busch Motorsports ... Stewart Friesen earned his fourth career top five despite breaking the knob on his shifter under caution in the middle of the final stage while leading. He was then forced to restart ninth after he failed to maintain pace car speed. He made it to second in one lap.
WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Ben Rhodes finished 18th, five laps down after power issues forced him to pit with 15 laps to go in Stage 2 while he was running second. He was then penalized for having too many crew members over the wall … Brett Moffitt pitted with 73 laps left in the race to get a new battery after running in second early in the final stage. He finished 16th, four laps down.
QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “He’s not a fluke.” - Kyle Busch on Noah Gragson.
NOTABLE: Late in the race Kyle Busch and Stewart Friesen were fighting for position out of Turn 4 when Friesen blocked Busch and sent him onto the edge of the infield grass. During Busch’s post-race press conference, Friesen approached Busch at the podium and apologized.
POST-RACE INSPECTION: Stewart Friesen’s No. 52 Chevrolet was found to have an interior hose violation. Any penalties will be announced next week.
WHAT’S NEXT: North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 8:30 p.m. ET on May 18 on Fox Sports 1.
Stewart Friesen came out of SiriusXM interview room and walked up to Kyle Busch on the podium to apologize. Not sure Kyle was feeling it though; didn’t seem thrilled.
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) May 12, 2018
