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LONG POND, Pa. — Kyle Busch, with a dominant truck beneath him, appeared to be sailing smoothly to his 49th career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win at Pocono Raceway on Saturday afternoon.
Justin Haley had other ideas.
After having swept each of the first two stages, Busch’s No. 51 Toyota and Haley’s No. 24 Chevrolet got into it in Turn 2 on Lap 36, sending the Kyle Busch Motorsports driver into the outside wall, ending his day.
Busch had led 32 laps to that point, and was saddled with a 25th-place finish.
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“Thought we were only three-wide, then just got door-slammed three or four times … got loose and backed it into the fence,” Busch said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “I don’t know why he’s mad at me, but I felt like I got crashed. You know, it’s pretty bad to see that happen and to see that happen getting into the corner like that. It’s frustrating. That was a brand-new truck and pretty sure it’s hurt.”
Busch, who moonlights for his own team in the Truck Series, said he’ll move on, but won’t forget the incident in the future.
“Oh, I’m keeping it (in the back of my mind), for sure. I don’t know what excuse he would have, but I’ll move on. Tomorrow’s tomorrow and we’ll play with the big boys tomorrow.”
The Joe Gibbs Racing driver will go for his first Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win of the season in Sunday’s Overton’s 400 (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.)