Kyle Busch proved that he had a fast No. 8 NASCAR Chevy Camaro ZL1 at Gateway (also known as World Wide Technology Raceway) on June 4th, 2023 by earning the pole position – and then, he worked hard to defend the top spot and ultimately took home the trophy.
Busch’s No. 8 NASCAR Chevy never strayed far from the front, but his lead was challenged by a series of five late-race restarts that forced him to fend off the likes of Kyle Larson’s No. 5 Camaro, Ryan Blaney’s No. 12 Ford Mustang and Denny Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota TRD Camry. Ultimately, Busch and the No. 8 Camaro crossed the line .517 seconds ahead of Hamlin’s No. 11 Camry on a NASCAR Overtime restart triggered by a brake rotor exploding on the No. 23 Camry of Bubba Wallace.
“That was pretty awesome,” Busch said after the race. “Man, to sit on the pole, lead a lot of laps and have my guys do such a great job today was pretty phenomenal for us. Great for RCR. Just win, baby! Thanks to Team Chevy, appreciate [sponsor] 3Chi… We’re going to have a great time with this one. This one is pretty cool.”
Meanwhile, the brake rotor issues didn’t stop with the No. 23 Camry of Wallace. Several NASCAR Chevy race cars were felled by similar occurrences. Carson Hocevar, subbing in the No. 7 Camaro for Corey Lajoie (while Lajoie subbed for the suspended Chase Elliott in the No. 9 Camaro), experienced a brake rotor failure on Lap 90 that ended his race. He ultimately finished dead last, in 36th.
“I thought it was great,” said Hocevar, who is a Truck Series regular, of his first stint in a Cup Series car. “I had a blast. Just so thankful for the opportunity. I don’t have a job for next year. I know Al Niece and Cody Efaw want me to run for them [in the Truck Series), and I will forever run a race or however many.”
| Finish | Start | Car Number | Driver | Team | Laps Run | Laps Led | Car |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 8 | Kyle Busch | 3CHI Chevrolet | 243 | 121 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 2 | 3 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | Sport Clips Haircuts Toyota | 243 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 3 | 6 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 4 | 22 | 5 | Kyle Larson | HendrickCars.com Chevrolet | 243 | 5 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 5 | 5 | 19 | Martin Truex Jr. | Auto-Owners Insurance Toyota | 243 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 6 | 2 | 12 | Ryan Blaney | Menards/Richmond Water Heaters Ford | 243 | 83 | Ford Mustang |
| 7 | 13 | 99 | Daniel Suarez | Freeway Insurance Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 8 | 7 | 24 | William Byron | Axalta Chevrolet | 243 | 30 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 9 | 21 | 34 | Michael McDowell | FR8Auctions.com Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 10 | 4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Busch Light Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 11 | 17 | 20 | Christopher Bell | DeWalt Construction Technology Toyota | 243 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 12 | 27 | 17 | Chris Buescher | Fastenal Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 13 | 10 | 2 | Austin Cindric | Freightliner Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 14 | 11 | 16 | AJ Allmendinger | Farmsmart Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 15 | 28 | 38 | Todd Gilliland | Serial 1 E-Bikes Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 16 | 23 | 31 | Justin Haley | LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 17 | 29 | 41 | Ryan Preece | HaasTooling.com Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 18 | 31 | 43 | Erik Jones | Bommarito.com Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 19 | 24 | 10 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 20 | 15 | 54 | Ty Gibbs # | Monster Energy Toyota | 243 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 21 | 30 | 9 | Corey LaJoie | NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 22 | 8 | 1 | Ross Chastain | Moose Fraternity Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 23 | 14 | 21 | Harrison Burton | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 24 | 36 | 51 | JJ Yeley(i) | Biohaven/Jacob Co. Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 25 | 33 | 77 | Ty Dillon | NationsGuard Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 26 | 18 | 48 | Alex Bowman | Ally Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 27 | 34 | 78 | BJ McLeod | Circle B Diecast Chevrolet | 243 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 28 | 19 | 6 | Brad Keselowski | King's Hawaiian Ford | 243 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 29 | 35 | 15 | Gray Gaulding(i) | Panini America Ford | 242 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 30 | 20 | 23 | Bubba Wallace | Leidos Toyota | 236 | 0 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 31 | 16 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Get Bioethanol Chevrolet | 223 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 32 | 12 | 47 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | NOS Energy Drink Chevrolet | 219 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 33 | 32 | 42 | Noah Gragson # | Sunseeker Resort Chevrolet | 197 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
| 34 | 25 | 14 | Chase Briscoe | Ford Performance Racing School Ford | 193 | 0 | Ford Mustang |
| 35 | 9 | 45 | Tyler Reddick | McDonald's Toyota | 174 | 4 | Toyota TRD Camry |
| 36 | 26 | 7 | Carson Hocevar(i) | Schluter Systems Chevrolet | 91 | 0 | Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 |
# – Rookie
i – Points ineligible
* – Part-time driver
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Comments
Good race. Good win for RCR!
Good for Chevy, still don’t like Kyle B though.
Great day for Richard Childress and Kyle Busch! Glad they are doing well. Kyle had a great weekend winning with his son at a local track too. Both got a win.