Busch and Eckes dominated the race, leading a combined 249 of the 250 laps, but Eckes got a good jump on the field on a restart with 24 laps remaining.
While Eckes built his lead to more than a second, Busch was able to significantly close the gap on the final lap and close to the left rear of Eckes’ No. 19 Chevrolet exiting Turn 4.
Eckes held on for the 0.141-second win at the checkered flag over Busch, who is the all-time series wins leader.
The victory is the first of the 2024 season for Eckes, who enjoyed a breakout year in Trucks last year, winning four times and finishing fifth in the series standings. He dominated the Truck race here last fall before losing the lead in the race.
“It’s so sweet. There’s just so much behind this win, you know, from last year missing out on making the Championship 4 and losing the race with five to go,” Eckes said. “To come back and redeem ourselves was our No. 1 goal.
“Not only that, but with the first three races (of the year) and how terribly they’ve gone, to come back and run really good is big for the team.”
Zane Smith finished third, Matt Crafton was fourth and Tyler Ankrum rounded out the top five.
Completing the top 10 were Corey Heim, Taylor Gray, Rajah Caruth, Grant Enfinger and Layne Riggs.
Stage 1
Busch took control of the race early and easily held off Eckes to take the Stage 1 win. Nick Sanchez was third, Ty Majeski was fourth and Smith rounded out the top five.
Stage 2
Busch completed a sweep of the stages by holding off Sanchez by 1.219 seconds to win Stage 2. Eckes was third, Majeski fourth and Smith was fifth.
Stage 3
Following the break between Stages 2 and 3, Busch continued to lead the way.
Majeski, who had been in contention for the win most of the race, was forced to take his No. 98 truck behind the wall after 170 laps due to engine issues.
On Lap 159, Eckes got around Busch to take the lead after the two briefly made contact.
With 50 laps remaining, Eckes maintained about a half-second lead over Busch as Crafton moved into third.
With 35 laps to go, Crafton closed the gap and for several laps made it a three-wide battle for the lead.
Stewart Friesen spun down the frontstretch after contact with Sanchez to bring out the sixth caution of the race on lap 219.
Although Busch flirted with pitting for tires, the lead-lap trucks remained on the track and Eckes led Busch when the race returned to green on lap 227.
With 10 laps remaining, Eckes…
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