Kyle Busch was in his element while competing in the Truck Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday. Driving the No. 7 Spire Motorsports truck, Rowdy snagged his 67th win in the Truck Series and it looked as if he didn’t even break a sweat. Apart from the final few laps, the RCR driver was in control of the field leading 80 of 135 laps, and it looked as if he was toying with the novice drivers with his skills and racecraft.

Now, a win doesn’t add points to Kyle Busch’s tally as he is not a full-time competitor in the series. So whenever a Cup Series star or a seasoned driver bags a win in the lower division, it’s essentially points lost for those who are eyeing a playoff spot or contending for the championship. And, Tyler Ankrum couldn’t help but highlight this aspect of Truck racing, while also tipping his hat towards Rowdy.

Tyler Ankrum was not thrilled about Kyle Busch winning

“It is frustrating, super frustrating because you don’t know what to really take away from him and what to actually learn. Regardless, you still take something away from him. You can go race with him and say you contended with him. Nothing but help your stock as a driver. It can be frustrating, it is taking food, points and money off my plate and adding it to his. That’s our sport, that’s the way it’s always going to be, we’re extreme competitors and we got to get used to it.” Tyler Ankrum said this in an interview with Matt Weaver.

Rowdy was in a league of his own. He didn’t second guess his instincts while he was advancing positions on the racetrack. While others had trouble switching lanes, Busch did it with ease and the big one came with 5 laps to go. He chased the back bumper of Daniel Hemric and pulled off a slide job coming on turns 3 and 4. But Ankrum was a Chevy team player pushing the No. 7 truck to get Rowdy back in the lead as he beat Stewart Frisen to the checkered flag by .017 seconds. While Ankrum knew he could’ve gained more points if it wasn’t for a Rowdy win, he couldn’t help but tip his hat towards the veteran driver.

“Oh 100% [he toyed with them], you know he plays with his food. It’s like Tiger Woods going down to play the amateurs in Palm Springs. He’s going to wax the field, he can out drive everybody by 100 yards and he’s better on the putting green. That’s exactly when you have a Cup guy come down into the series, that’s where it’s frustrating. It does look like he’s messing with you because he cam go to the bottom and block the bottom lane. Go 20 rows back and make his way back up there, because he’s Kyle Busch and he can do that.” Ankrum added.

This win by Kyle Busch was his first in the national series since last year’s win at Las Vegas. This performance was a clear indicator that provided he has all the right tools and resources, he can dominate on the race track. The question remains, will this performance reflect when Busch takes command of the No. 8 RCR car on Sunday?

Busch didn’t have to do anything special to win at Atlanta

Now apart from racecraft and the skill of a driver, the resources and the setup by a race team play a huge role in the outcome on the racetrack. Rowdy’s struggles with the Next Gen car are well documented, but Richard Childress Racing just hasn’t been able to develop a race-winning car consistently. While they had joy at tracks like Daytona and Darlington, the No. 8 car certainly needs a huge boost to help Busch snap his winless streak in the Cup Series. The streak currently stands at 57.

Surely with a win in his bag to start the season, he must be feeling good about his chance for the Cup Series race at Atlanta. Well, the RCR star was quick to highlight the difference between the two series and how Spire Motorsports has put him in a good position to contest for wins. “No relief,  just here to race and do our job. We had a really fast truck each time I was out front leading the race… I could tow the lane faster on the racetrack. So that’s a kudos to the Spire guys and just the equipment that they brought for me to be able to race.”

Well someone at RCR needs to take pointers as this again could’ve been a subtle jab by their star drivers for them to deliver the goods. After a crashed-out Daytona 500, they will look to have a solid run at Atlanta Motor Speedway. We all know how close Busch came to winning the race last year, so he is among the favorites to win the race on Sunday.