Busch looking for first truck win at Michigan

Aug 15, 2014 - 8:13 PM Brooklyn, MI (SportsNetwork.com) - The Camping World Truck Series will join the Sprint Cup Series this weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Of the 29 drivers on the entry list for Saturday's Careers for Veterans 200, none has won a previous truck race at Michigan.

Kyle Busch is the clear-cut favorite to win this 200-mile event. Busch, who is one of three Sprint Cup Series regulars entered, has won all five truck races he's competed in this season -- Daytona, Kansas, Charlotte, Dover and Kentucky.

Busch, the driver/owner of the No. 51 Toyota, has four second-place finishes in seven truck starts at Michigan. He was the runner-up to James Buescher in last year's event here. Buescher is not entered in Saturday's event, as he is now a full-time competitor in the Nationwide Series.

In the truck race at Michigan, Busch is expected to make his 500th career NASCAR national touring series start.

"I'm excited about it," Busch said. "It's obviously a bit of a milestone whether you run just Cup races and reach 500 or whether you run all three and you reach 500. There's been a lot of success in-between those 500 starts and yet some heartache as well too. It's exciting to have as many wins as I do have across all three series of NASCAR with the Sprint Cup Series, Nationwide Series and Camping World Truck Series."

Busch has 135 wins combined in all three series (29 in Sprint Cup, 66 Nationwide and 40 Camping World Truck).

In the most recent truck race two weeks ago at Pocono, Toyota had its streak of 12 wins come to an end. Austin Dillon drove his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to victory lane there.

Dillon, who is a rookie in Sprint Cup this season, is competing in the truck event at Michigan, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for NTS Motorsports.

"Michigan International Speedway is a big, fast track that works really well with my driving style," Dillon said. "I've come close to winning there before in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, and we were close to having a really good finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in June but had some bad luck which required us to make an unscheduled pit stop at the end of the race. I'm looking forward to running with NTS again, because I know they will give me a fast Chevrolet. Hopefully, we can get a win this weekend."

Sprint Cup regular Joey Logano will drive the No. 19 Ford for Brad Keselowski Racing in this event.

Ryan Blaney, the driver of the No. 29 Ford for Keselowski's team, enters this race with a seven-point lead over Johnny Sauter and a 12-point advantage over Matt Crafton, the defending series champion.

Series: NASCAR Camping World. Date: Saturday, Aug. 16. Race: Careers for Veterans 200. Site: Michigan International Speedway. Track: 2-mile oval. Start time: 12:30 p.m. ET. Laps: 100. Miles: 200. 2013 Winner: James Buescher. Television: FOX Sports 1. Radio: Motor Racing Network (MRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio.