Notes: Busch keeping new Truck crew chief happy

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Doug George arguably is the happiest crew chief in the Camping World Truck Series garage. And who can blame him with a driver like Kyle Busch behind the wheel?

Winless as a crew chief entering the season, George now has gone to Victory Lane two races running following Busch's record-matching fourth victory Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Busch

George, who this season moved to Billy Ballew Motorsports' No. 51 from the team's No. 15 truck, is rare among crew chiefs with a pair of NASCAR driving championships in hand. The Atwater, Calif., native is a Camping World Series West titleholder as well as champion of the old Southwest Series.

The 48-year-old George meshes well with his 23-year-old driver having been there, done that. But not on the same level, George is quick to point out.

George figured victory was out the window when his truck lost second and third gears on the Atlanta race's final restart.

"I just closed my book and dropped my head down a bit," George admitted before watching Busch rocket from ninth place to victory in just four laps. "That kid's just a heck of a driver."

George isn't doing too bad a job on top of the pit box either.

In the Loop

T.J. Bell launched a Camping World Truck Series career in 2008 after several tough seasons of hit-and-miss competition. Bell ran 17 races last season, and now looks like a Victory Lane threat on a weekly basis.

Bell

He joined the series at Race 9 of last season, scoring a 31st-place finish at Michigan. It took him six races to score his first top-10 finish. The success then snowballed. He posted seven top-10s in nine races, including five in a row.

And this season, he's a legitimate title contender.

Bell, who sits eight in the standings, already has a fifth-place finish -- the first of his career -- and has finished inside the top 15 in all three races this season.

He also has some of the top stats in the series. Over the first three races, he has a Driver Rating of 92.1, an Average Running Position of 9.6, 295 Laps in the Top 15 (89.4 percent) and has more passes than any other driver -- 191.

The leader in most of those categories is Kyle Busch, winner of the last two races. Busch has a Driver Rating of 132.6, an Average Running Position of 4.1 and a Pass Differential of plus-45 (passes minus times passed). (Continued)