Category: RC Truck Series

A caution on the last lap would seal the deal for Johnny Sauter as he would take the checkered flag to win the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

This marks the seventh victory of Sauter’s career in his 109th truck race. It also marks his first top 10 finish ever at Daytona after crashing last year while leading.

“So proud of this team,” he said. “We came so close a year ago and that was a tough one to swallow. Tonight it was about track position. I thought we were in trouble with 30 to go but when the good lord is with you, it happens. I am speechless right now. It means so much luck to win out there. to do it, its big. I can’t believe I’m in victory lane at Daytona.”

On the last lap after the leaders took the white flag, James Buescher got into Jeff Agnew, sending him up across the track. The incident also collected Joey Coulter.

The win for Sauter gave Toyota their seventh consecutive win at Daytona and their 100th win ever in the Truck series.

Kyle Busch would finish second with his fourth top 10 finish in five races at Daytona after racing within the top five all night.

“We would have had a really good day if it was a 100 lap race,” Busch said. “But it was only 99 today. I hate when that happens. You have a crash here after you take the white flag and then you don’t have a chance to get out and try it. We were right in position all night. Shoot, I think the worst I fell was fourth, fifth, or sixth. I had it all planned out. I was going to put on a show for the fans.”

Ron Hornaday Jr. finished third for his third top 10 finish in ten races at Daytona. Hornaday’s teammate Justin Lofton finished fourth, followed by Jeb Burton. Burton was the highest finishing rookie in the field.

Ty Dillon finished sixth, followed by Miguel Paludo, Ryan Blaney, Matt Crafton and Ryan Sieg.

The race would experience five cautions with the first on lap 26 for Scott Riggs blowing a motor.

The big one would happen on lap 54 when Brendan Gaughan would try to go between pole sitter Brennan Newberry and German Quiroga.

“I put myself back there messing up pit road,” Gaughan said. “He (Quiroga) left the hole about five times, I was at his tire, he kept leaving the hole and you have to take that hole. He then came down. It’s my fault cause I had a rookie on one side and a rookie on the other.”

The wreck collected Jason White, Bryan Silas, Chris Cockrum, Ryan Truex, Chris Fontaine, Max Gresham, Tim George Jr. and defending race winner John King.

The damage from the wreck would catch up with Jason White as he would wreck by himself with 38 laps to go. Jennifer Jo Cobb would then blow a motor with 23 laps to go.

The fourth caution came out with nine laps to go when Ryan Truex would have a tire go down, spinning in front of a pack of trucks. Timothy Peters, Ross Chastain and John Wes Townley was caught up in the wreck.

“I got in that first wreck there – was missing it, and then got pushed into it,” he said. “The guys worked hard to get the truck fixed. Me and James (Buescher) were going to the front there. I got the flat tire on the backstretch and was going back and forth there. I went to middle, hoping that James would go to the outside so I could go to the back. But it was too late there.”

Sauter leads the points early in the season, six points ahead of Hornaday Jr.

 

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race – NextEra Energy Resources 250
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida
Friday, February 22, 2013

1. (25) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 100, $73310.
2. (6) Kyle Busch(i), Toyota, 100, $46900.
3. (4) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 100, $33920.
4. (2) Justin Lofton, Chevrolet, 100, $28285.
5. (7) Jeb Burton #, Chevrolet, 100, $24835.
6. (5) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 100, $18610.
7. (8) Miguel Paludo, Chevrolet, 100, $17610.
8. (11) Ryan Blaney #, Ford, 100, $16610.
9. (17) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 100, $15610.
10. (31) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 100, $15885.
11. (26) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 100, $14510.
12. (14) Darrell Wallace Jr. #, Toyota, 100, $12085.
13. (3) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 100, $15235.
14. (16) Ross Chastain, Ford, 100, $14110.
15. (33) Chris Cockrum, Toyota, 100, $14785.
16. (24) Tim George Jr., Ford, 100, $13810.
17. (32) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 100, $13705.
18. (21) John King, Chevrolet, 100, $11335.
19. (13) Dakoda Armstrong, Chevrolet, 100, $13485.
20. (36) Dusty Davis, Chevrolet, 100, $11760.
21. (28) John Wes Townley, Toyota, 100, $13285.
22. (10) Joey Coulter, Toyota, 100, $13185.
23. (30) Jeff Agnew, Chevrolet, Accident, 99, $13060.
24. (12) Max Gresham, Chevrolet, Accident, 99, $11685.
25. (20) German Quiroga #, Toyota, 97, $11735.
26. (19) Clay Greenfield, RAM, 95, $10485.
27. (23) Timothy Peters, Toyota, Accident, 92, $10335.
28. (9) Ryan Truex #, Chevrolet, Accident, 91, $10235.
29. (15) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 74, $10135.
30. (29) Jason White(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 61, $10535.
31. (34) David Starr, Toyota, Suspension, 58, $9985.
32. (27) Bryan Silas, Ford, Accident, 54, $9935.
33. (1) Brennan Newberry #, Chevrolet, Accident, 54, $12185.
34. (22) Chris Fontaine, Toyota, Accident, 53, $9830.
35. (35) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, Engine, 37, $9780.
36. (18) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, Engine, 25, $9692.

Average Speed of Race Winner:  141.598 mph.
Time of Race:  1 Hrs, 45 Mins, 56 Secs. Margin of Victory:  Caution.
Caution Flags:  6 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes:  11 among 6 drivers.
Lap Leaders:    0; J. Lofton 1-6; T. Dillon 7-17; J. Buescher 18; T. Dillon 19-60; J. Sauter 61; T. Dillon 62-64; T. Bodine 65-68; K. Busch(i) 69; T. Bodine 70-73; K. Busch(i) 74-84; J. Sauter 85-100.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led):  T. Dillon 3 times for 56 laps; J. Sauter 2 times for 17 laps; K. Busch(i) 2 times for 12 laps; T. Bodine 2 times for 8 laps; J. Lofton 1 time for 6 laps; J. Buescher 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: J. Sauter – 47; R. Hornaday Jr. – 41; J. Lofton – 41; T. Dillon – 40; J. Burton # – 39; M. Paludo – 37; R. Blaney # – 36; M. Crafton – 35; R. Sieg – 34; T. Bodine – 34.

A wreck on the last lap would seal the deal for Johnny Sauter as he would pick up the victory in the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

 

Lap 1 Newberry and Lofton side-by-side for the lead. Hornaday pushes Lofton, they clear Newberry. Lofton first, Hornaday second

Lap 2 Lofton Hornaday Busch Newberry Buescher. Top three single-file while Newberry and Buescher side-by-side for fourth

Lap7 Dillon jumps to the outside line in front of Buescher

Lap 8 Dillon grabs the lead from Lofton. Down the backstraight, Dillon jumps to the bottom and now its Dillon and Buescher side-by-side for the lead. Cobb to the garage.

Lap 9 Lofton jumps to the outside of Dillon, Hornaday connects with Dillon, Dillon keeps the lead

Lap 10 Dillon Lofton Busch top three as top 10 are single file

Lap 14 Dillon Hornaday Busch while Buesher and Newberry are side-by-side for fourth

Lap 15 Dillon Hornaday single file while Busch and Buescher side-by-side for third

Lap 19 Dillon and Buescher side-by-side for the lead

Lap 23 Dillon holds the lead with Hornaday and Busch in toe

Caution lap 26 Scott Riggs blow a motor. Leaders pit. Darrell Wallace Jr. first off pit road, due to missing pit; made contact with Buescher while missing pit. Ty Dillon first off pit road for those who made it into their stall. Buescher stayed on pit road late to fix tail damage.

Restart. Coulter and Newberry make contact, save it

Lap 30 Dillon Coulter Busch single-file at the front.

Lap 33 Dillon Coulter Busch Lofton Hornaday single-file

Caution lap 54 Newberry, Silas, White, Gaughan, Cockrum, Quiroga, King, R. Truex, Fontaine, Gresham, George Jr……Gaughan tried to make it three-wide, cutting between Newberry and Quiroga. Leaders head down pit road. Agnew leads the race off pit road, followed by Dillon Lofton Peters off pit road. Agnew missed his pit stall so he will need to back down pit road.

Restart 40 to go Dillon restarts as leader but Sauter makes it by with help from Lofton and grabs the lead.

39 to go Sauter leads Dillon while Lofton and Busch side-by-side for third.

38 to go Dillon jumps out with Busch and grabs the lead from Sauter as they are three-wide behind them across the start-finish line. Hornaday turned sideways on the apron, but saves it. Caution Jason White wrecks by himself. Leaders pitted, different laps depending on strategy played. Bodine leads Armstrong Busch Burton Dillon Hornaday Lofton Coulter Sauter

Restart 33 to go Bodine leads

32 to go Armstrong pushes Bodine out front

31 to go Sauter and Bodine side-by-side for the lead…….Armstrong pushes Bodine back out front

28 to go Armstrong got Bodine sideways while leading. Busch to the lead

24 to go Bush Bodine Armstrong Burton single-file ahead of the field

23 to go Lofton put into the center. Jennifer Jo Cobb blows a motor.

Restart 19 to go Armstrong pushes Busch ahead as Busch leads the field.

18 to go Busch Armstrong Hornaday Dillon Sauter

17 to go Top six single-file Busch Armstrong Hornaday Dillon Sauter Lofton. Burton gets major loose in the middle, saves it

16 to go Crafton has a flat tire. Sauter leads Bodine ahead of the field as they pass Busch for the lead

14 to go Sauter Bodine Busch Armstrong Hornaday

13 to go Crafton makes it to pit road.

11 to go top 13 are single file

9 to go Truex and Busecher make a run, but come up short

Caution Truex with a tire flat, spins in front of second half of the field. Peters, Chastain, Townley.

Restart 5 to go Sauter and Bodine lead the field. Armstrong misses a shift, Sauter pulls ahead with Busch on his bumper ahead of Hornaday, Lofton and Burton

Final Lap. Caution Buescher gets into the back of Agnew, Agnew comes back up across the track, clips Coulter. Collecting

Sauter Busch Hornaday Lofton Burton Dillon Paludo Blaney Crafton Sieg

At the end of qualifying on Friday afternoon, it’d be 23-year-old Brennan Newberry winning the pole for the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway.

The driver of the No. 14 Fight For Life Chevrolet timed in with a lap of 50.797 seconds, 177.176 mph, for his first career pole in his 11th career start. Newberry, a native of Bakersfield, California, made 10 starts last year with a best finish of 19th at Michigan.

Justin Lofton timed in second for his first top 10 starting spot ever at Daytona, just 0.118 seconds off of Newberry’s lap.

Defending Camping World Truck Series Champion James Buescher qualified third for his third top 10 start at Daytona International Speedway. Ron Hornaday Jr. and Ty Dillon rounded out the top five.

Kyle Busch, the only Sprint Cup Series regular in the field, qualified sixth. He was followed by Jeb Burton, Miguel Paludo, Ryan Truex and Joey Coulter.

Defending race winner John King qualified 21st.

The NextEra Energy Resources 250 will be live on SPEED tonight at 7:30 p.m. EST.

Starting Lineup
Nextera Energy 250, Daytona Int’l Speedway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/qual.php?race=1
===============================================================
Pos.	No.	Driver	Make	Speed	Time
===============================================================
1	14	Brennan Newberry	Chevrolet	177.176	50.797
2	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	176.765	50.915
3	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	176.751	50.919
4	9	Ron Hornaday Jr	Chevrolet	176.713	50.93
5	3	Ty Dillon	Chevrolet	176.637	50.952
6	51	Kyle Busch	Toyota	176.481	50.997
7	4	Jeb Burton	Chevrolet	176.474	50.999
8	32	Miguel Paludo	Chevrolet	175.95	51.151
9	30	Ryan Truex	Chevrolet	175.795	51.196
10	18	Joey Coulter	Toyota	175.764	51.205
11	29	Ryan Blaney	Ford	175.747	51.21
12	8	Max Gresham	Chevrolet	175.733	51.214
13	60	Dakoda Armstrong	Chevrolet	175.689	51.227
14	54	Darrell Wallace Jr	Toyota	175.466	51.292
15	62	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	175.463	51.293
16	19	Ross Chastain	Ford	175.077	51.406
17	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	174.595	51.548
18	92	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	174.517	51.571
19	68	Clay Greenfield	RAM	174.51	51.573
20	77	German Quiroga Jr	Toyota	174.348	51.621
21	33	John King	Chevrolet	174.338	51.624
22	84	Chris Fontaine	Toyota	174.287	51.639
23	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	174.189	51.668
24	5	Tim George Jr	Ford	174	51.724
25	98	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	173.769	51.793
26	99	Bryan Silas	Ford	173.504	51.872
27	7	John Wes Townley	Toyota	173.36	51.915
28	93	Jason White	Chevrolet	172.486	52.178
29	27	Jeff Agnew	Chevrolet	172.302	52.234
30	39	Ryan Sieg	Ford	171.841	52.374
31	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	171.546	52.464
32	7	Chris Cockrum	Toyota	171.008	52.629
33	81	David Starr	Toyota	170.02	52.935
34	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Chevrolet	168.102	53.539
35	13	Todd Bodine	Toyota	173.738	51.802
36	1	Dusty Davis	Chevrolet	172.292	52.237
37	82	Sean Corr	Ford	172.193	52.267
38	50	Rick Crawford	Chevrolet	171.145	52.587
39	63	Scott Stenzel	Ford	169.189	53.195

[media-credit name=”Chris Graythen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]With a last lap pass and some fender rubbing with Kyle Busch, Cale Gale was able to become the ninth first-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series by winning the Ford Ecoboost 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Meanwhile, Buescher would finish 13th to win his first ever championship, six points ahead of Timothy Peters.

“We had a shot last year,” he said. “Put a lot of work in to it in the off-season and won it. This is the biggest thing that I have done in racing.”

Buescher would avoid an incident with four laps to go between Kyle Larson and Ty Dillon and keep himself in the hunt all night long to take the championship.

“It was close and Ty (Dillon) and everybody at RCR, they were giving us a run for it and I guess he crowded the 4 (Larson) and they went up into the wall,” Buescher said. “We were putting everything into this Great Clips Chevy, sliding around – about slid into the wall but managed to hold on. This truck won us four races, and now it has won us a championship.”

Buescher added that he didn’t expect to win his first race and championship in the same season.

“If I had known that getting in the married in the off-season, I would have done it a long time ago,” he said. “That’s another thing that makes this special. Kristy gives me all the support I need. Mr. and Mrs. Turner gave me everything that I needed.”

It also marks the first championship for Turner Motorsports.

Dillon and Larson would make contact as Larson dived into turn four underneath Dillon while Dillon slid down slightly, resulting in the contact with both drivers hitting the wall.

“I hate it had to come down to getting into the wall like that, feel bad for my guys,” he said. “They worked hard this year. But what a year! We laid it all on the line. Not a lot of rookies get to have a shot like this to win a championship in their first year.”

The 2012 Rookie of the Year finishes the season fourth in points, 24 points behind Buescher. At the time of the wreck, Dillon had closed the gap between himself and Buescher to a single point.

“We tried to hit the home run in the bottom of the ninth,” Dillon said.

Dillon would be credited with a 25^th place finish.

“It’s tough I got a point contender there, I was trying to go for a race there,” Larson said. “I had position going into the corner, may had been on the apron a bit. I may be at fault there – I don’t know. It’s just racing – it sucks I took out Ty there, but like I said, it’s just racing.”

Larson would later apologize on twitter.

Watched the replay of the wreck. Feel REALLY bad for @tydillon. I definitely would never wreck someone on purpose. I just drove over my head

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) November 17, 2012

 

Also would never do that to help a teammate out. Can’t really express how bad I feel about it all.

— Kyle Larson (@KyleLarsonRacin) November 17, 2012

Ryan Blaney was also collected in the wreck, making hard contact with the outside wall after being tagged by Dillon.

“I’m alright,” he said. “Just knocked the wind out of me there.  It’s one of the worst hits when you clipped like that. It wasn’t a bad night, just struggled with speed all night. Was hoping to finish well there.”

That wreck set-up a late race green-white-checkered. Busch would restart as the lead while Gale would make a three-wide pass past both Matt Crafton and Johnny Sauter. Gale would then catch Busch on the final lap, getting alongside him down the backstretch.

[media-credit name=”John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignleft” width=”300″][/media-credit]As they came to the checkered flag, Gale would crowd Busch, finishing 0.014 seconds ahead. Gale becomes the 16^th different winner this year in the Truck Series.

“I can tell you right now – coming off of four, that’s not my driving style,” Gale said. “It was my first chance to taste NASCAR victory, I had the chance, Kyle Busch was to my outside – I don’t know what’s ahead and I went for it. I’m just a hard racer from Mobile, Alabama.”

Kyle Busch finished second, finishing the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season with no wins. Busch would say that the last lap “just didn’t matter” and would reveal that Dollar General will not be back with Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) in 2013.

“Just gotta thank Dollar General and Toyota and everybody that supports this program and everything we do,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’re sponsorless for next year, we’re losing these guys – but tough year, just the way things have always gone.”

Joey Coulter would finish third in his last race for Richard Childress Racing to finish third in points, 19 behind Buescher. Coulter will be joining KBM in 2013.

“It’s awesome,” he said. “I can’t say enough about these guys. It’s been an unbelievable two years and tonight as no exception. We worked hard all night. Harold made a good call at the end with those two tires –It wasn’t fun to drive but I just held on.”

Coulter added that he owes everything to RCR as they put him on the map.

“Just forward to making them proud, even though it’s on another team as they gave me the shot,” Coulter added.

Turner Motorsports teammates Nelson Piquet Jr. and Miguel Paludo rounded out the top five.

Sauter finished sixth, followed by Parker Kligerman, Timothy Peters, Justin Lofton and Ross Chastain. Peters would get second in points, six behind Buescher.

“So close, but it has been an awesome year,” he said. “Can’t thank everybody enough at Red Horse Racing. Those guys have worked a lot in the shop. Tonight wasn’t pretty, but it just shows how much our team preservers. We have a lot of momentum going into 2013…..”

With a last lap pass and some fender rubbing with Kyle Busch, Cale Gale was able to become the ninth first-time winner in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Meanwhile, Buescher would finish 13th to win his first ever championship.

 

Green flag as Parker Kligerman grabs the early lead into turn one ahead of Nelson Piquet Jr. and Ty Dillon

Lap 2 Kligerman leads Piquet Jr., Busch, Dillon, Larson, Gale, Crafton, Sauter, Paludo and Hornaday

Lap 3 Piquet Jr. and Busch side-by-side for second, Piquet holds Busch off

Lap 5 Larson passes Dillon for fourth

Lap 6 Piquet Jr. takes the lead from Kligerman……Busch third, followed by Dillon, Larson, Crafton, Gale, Sauter, Paludo and Hornaday

Lap 14 Piquet Jr. leads Busch, Kligerman, Larson, Dillon, Crafton, Gale, Sauter, Paludo and Blaney

Lap 21 Piquet Jr. leads Busch, Kligerman, Larson, Crafton, Gale, Dillon, Sauter, Paludo and Blaney

Lap 26 Larson passes Kligerman for third

Lap 35 Caution for debris…pit stops…..Piquet leads Busch, Larson, Kligerman. Buescher leads Dillon by seven points as they run currently. Buescher came in leading by 12 over Dillon

Restart Lap 41 as Busch pulls ahead of the field with Piquet Jr. and Kligerman side-by-side for second.

Lap 43 Busch leads Kligerman, Piquet Jr., Larson, Crafton, Gale, Dillon, Buescher, Sauter and Coulter. Peters 14th

Lap 44 Bryan Silas gets into the wall.

Lap 45 Caution for Silas as he slows. As they run, Buescher leads Dillon by 10, leads Peters by 16

Restart lap 49

Lap 50 Larson grabs the lead from Busch

Lap 58 Larson leads Piquet, Busch, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Sauter, Gale, Buescher and Blaney

Lap 59 Coulter passes Blaney for 10^th

Lap 67 Larson passes Piquet, Busch, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Sauter, Gale, Buescher and Coulter.

55 to go Busch passes Piquet for second

49 to go Gale passes Sauter for seventh

48 to go Dillon pits, giving up the sixth position…..Larson pits, giving up the lead to Busch…….Blaney pits

47 to go Busch pits, handing the lead over to Piquet…….Paludo pits.

46 to go Peters, Buescher and Piquet pit

45 to go Coulter and Sauter pit as Bodine leads. Leftler, too quick exciting so will need to serve a penalty

44 to go Agnew and Bodine pit

42 to go Larson back to the lead

37 to go Larson leads Busch, Piquet, Kligerman, Crafton, Dillon, Gale, Sauter, Coulter and Peters. Points leader Buescher is 12th

32 to go Sauter passes Gale

Caution 30 to go Gresham gets into the wall….pit stops. Sauter leads Larson…..Dillon sits five points behind Buesher.

Restart 26 laps to go as Sauter takes the lead with Busch second, while its four-wide behind them. Busch grabs the lead off of turn four.

25 to go Busch leads Crafton while Larson and Sauter battle for third

24 to go Dillon makes a three-wide move, looking to pass Sauter for third……Larson grabs third off of turn four, ahead of Sauter and Dillon

23 to go Crafton is all over Busch’s back bumper

22 to go Busch, Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Piquet, Kligerman, Dillon, Coulter, Gale, Blaney, Peters, Buescher

21 to go Gale passes Coulter while Dillon passes Piquet and Kligerman

19 to go Busch leads Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Kligerman, Dillon, Piquet

14 to go Busch leads Crafton, Larson, Sauter, Kligerman, Dillon, Piquet, Coulter, Gale, Blaney, Buescher, Peters

12 to go Crafton and Busch side-by-side for the lead through turns three and four. Busch holds him back off of turn four

Caution 10 to go Gresham gets into the wall after blowing a right front tire. Buescher leads Dillon by seven……….Peters pits, thinking he has a vibration. Blaney pits for tires. Paludo pits.

Restart 5 laps to go. Busch grabs the early lead as Crafton and Sauter fight for second. Sauter and Dillon pass Crafton for position. Dillon behind Buescher by 2.

4 to go Dillon passes Sauter for second, now behind Buescher by one point.

3 to go Larson gets by both Dillon Sauter and Buescher for position……Larson dives down to get under Dillon – Dillon goes down to block, both drivers wreck, collecting Blaney. Buescher and Peters escape the wreck.

Buescher pits to check if tires are alright…….Crafton slid back just before wreck, pits to make sure fenders are alright….Busch leads Gale, Sauter, Coulter, Paludo, Kligerman, Bodine, Peters, Chastain, Lofton, Crafton, Buescher, Piquet Jr.

First attempt at a green white checkered…..Busch gets a three-wide as Coulter, Sauter and Gale go three-wide through the middle of turns one and two……Busch leads as Gale and Coulter battle for second.

White flag as Busch leads Gale and Coulter…..Gale and Busch side-by-side down the backstretch……Gale and Busch make contact across the finish line with Gale winning it, 14-one thousandths of a second over Busch. James Buescher wins the championship. Ninth first time winner this year, 16 different winners this year.

[media-credit name=”Tom Pennington/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”300″][/media-credit]Brian Scott survived the wreck-fest in Phoenix and scored his second Camping World Truck Series victory after a battle with the young Kyle Larson on a green-white-checkered finish. Larson had the lead late before a caution set up the wild finish.

The race itself was great throughout. However; there was a point in the race where there was six consecutive cautions. six green laps were run during that time frame. Cautions breed cautions.

Jeff Choquette hit the wall hard off turn-2 to bring out the first yellow of the race, but then Todd Bodine received major front-end damage after a Jason White spun out.

Parker Kligerman followed suit on the very next green flag as he got loose and Matt Crafton was left helpless as he plowed into the accident. Kligerman was visibly upset with himself, but high-fived his crew and apologized for his mistake.

The chaos ensued as Nelson Piquet Jr. got loose on the very next restart in Turn 3 and wiped out both Ron Hornaday and Johnny Sauter. Piquet was a heavy favorite to pull out a victory here in the desert.

Eventually someone had to lost their temper after another caution. German Quiroga got loose entering turn-1 and plowed the No.2 Chevrolet Silverado of Brendan Gaughan from behind and both hit the wall very hard. Gaughan emerged from the truck and screamed things at Quiroga that probably nobody wants to hear. In Gaughan’s interview, he claimed that he spoke fluent Spanish and the kid simply “screwed up”, but no apology came from Gaughan. Quiroga was very apologetic and admitted to losing the handle of his No.51 truck.

James Buescher came into this race as the points leader and kept it despite losing a tire late in the race. Brian Scott survived the madness for his second Truck Series victory. His last victory came at Dover in 2009 in the AAA Insurance 200.

Tune in for coverage of the Nationwide race tomorrow on my Twitter @SirRyanTheOHara.

Unofficial Race Results
Lucas Oil 150, Phoenix Int’l Raceway
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=21
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	3	18	Brian Scott	Toyota	0
2	6	4	Kyle Larson	Chevrolet	43
3	17	22	Joey Coulter	Chevrolet	41
4	8	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	41
5	2	29	Ryan Blaney	Ram	39
6	14	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	38
7	4	33	Cale Gale *	Chevrolet	37
8	1	30	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Chevrolet	37
9	11	27	Ryan Truex	Chevrolet	0
10	22	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	35
11	23	135	Matt Merrell	Chevrolet	33
12	13	119	David Mayhew	Ram	0
13	27	9	John Wes Townley *	Toyota	31
14	15	32	Miguel Paludo	Chevrolet	30
15	21	3	Ty Dillon *	Chevrolet	30
16	32	99	Bryan Silas *	Ford	28
17	9	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	27
18	33	8	Todd Peck	Toyota	26
19	34	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	25
20	5	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	24
21	26	23	Jason White	Ford	23
22	10	9	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	22
23	19	2	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
24	18	151	German Quiroga	Toyota	20
25	16	13	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	19
26	30	174	Brian Weber	Chevrolet	18
27	7	7	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	17
28	12	11	Todd Bodine	Toyota	16
29	36	5	John King *	Ford	15
30	20	297	Jeff Choquette	Chevrolet	14
31	24	225	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	0
32	31	93	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	12
33	25	7	Ross Chastain *	Chevrolet	11
34	35	84	Chris Fontaine	Chevrolet	10
35	28	38	Chris Jones	Chevrolet	9
36	29	0	Blake Koch	Ford	0

[media-credit name=”Christian Petersen/Getty Images” align=”alignright” width=”283″][/media-credit]In a late green white checkered, Brian Scott would take the lead from Kyle Larson and lead the final laps to win the Lucas Oil 150 at Phoenix International Raceway for Kyle Busch Motorsports’ first win of 2012.

 

Lap 1 Nelson Piquet Jr. grabs the lead early while Scott clears Ryan Blaney for second

Lap 2 Piquet Jr. leads Scott, Blaney, Crafton, Gale, Buescher, Peters, Truex, Larson and Mayhew.

Lap 6 Mayhew passes Larson for ninth

Lap 7 Paludo passes Larson for 10^th

Lap 9 Scott passes Piquet Jr. for the lead

Lap 23 Scott leads Blaney, Crafton, Piquet Jr., Gale, Buescher, Peters, Mathew, Truex and Sauter

Caution Jeff Choquette gets into the wall after a flat right front tire……pit stops. Buescher pulls close to the wall; Scott takes two tires, though reports possible motor issue. Scott leads Peters, Dillon, Kligermann off pit road.

Restart lap 42. Scott leads as Dillon grabs second ahead of Peters and Kligermann

Caution lap 44 John King gets into the wall

Restart lap 48. Dillon and Scott side-by-side for the lead. Scott clears Dillon off of turn four.

Caution lap 49 wreck on the front stretch after Jason White has some issues, collecting Bodine

Restart lap 54. Dillon and Scott side-by-side for the lead. Dillon grabs the lead…..Caution. Kligermann got into the wall. Kligermann gets loose underneath Blaney, collecting Crafton.

Restart lap 56……Caution as Piquet Jr. turns Sauter into the wall while battling for position, collecting Hornaday

Restart lap 73…..Dillon pulls ahead of Scott off of turn two

Caution lap 74 Gale goes around after getting loose underneath Blaney. Piquet Jr. gets the lucky dog…..leaders Ryan Truex stays out, inheriting the lead. Top seven trucks stayed out.

Restart 72 laps to go as Truex holds the lead.

71 laps to go Peters gets into Truex down the front straight, Truex saves it.

70 laps to go Truex leads Peters, Mayhew, Larson, Dillion, Scott, Gaughan, Blaney and Buescher

68 to go Truex leads Lofton, Peters, Larson, Mayhew, Gaughan, Dillon, Scott, Blaney and Buescher; Scott passes Dillon for seventh

64 to go Scott and Dillon pass Gaughan for sixth and seventh after Gaughan got into the wall slightly

60 to go Mayhew and Blaney pass Gaughan for eighth and ninth while Coulter passes Buescher for 10^th after Gaughan gets sideways and Buescher slows to avoid

59 to go Truex leads Lofton, Peters, Larson, Scott, Dillon, Blaney, Guaghan, Coulter and Buescher. Sieg 11^th with Mayhew 12^th after Mayhew got loose.

54 to go Lofton and Peters pass Truex for first and second

52 to go Scott passes Truex for third

49 to go Lofton leads Peters, Scott, Truex, Larson, Dillon, Blaney, Coulter, Gaughan and Buescher.

48 to go Caution Truex runs out of room trying to get around the lap truck of Mike Harmon and spins him. Blaney made slight contact with Harmon. Lofton pits as the leader for four tires.

42 to go Peters battles with Larson and Scott for the lead three-wide down the back – Larson grabs the lead through turns three and four. Quiroga gets into Gaughan, collecting Dillon. Gaughan expressed his displeasure with Quiroga. Red flag.

Restart 36 laps to go as Larson holds the lead while Scott passes Peters.

35 to go Larson leads Scott, Peters, Coulter, Seig, Buescher, Blaney, Piquet Jr., Truex, Mayhew

32 to go Truex passes Piquet Jr for eighth; Gale passes Mayhew for 10th; Busecher passes Seig for fifth

31 to go Gale passes Piquet Jr. and Truex both to move up to eighth

30 to go Larson leads Scott, Peters, Coulter, Buescher, Seig, Blaney, Gale, Piquet Jr. and Truex

27 to go Scott and Larson get side-by-side off of turn two; Larson drives it deep into turn three, holding Scott off as Scott slid up due to Larson’s move

17 to go Dillon, who came into the night second in points, falls a lap down to race leader Kyle Larson

16 to go Larson leads Scott, Peters, Coulter, Buescher, Seig, Blaney, Gale, Piquet Jr., Truex

8 to go Seig passes Buescher for fifth; Blaney passes Buescher for sixth

6 to go Lofton gets into Truex, passing him for 10^th

3 to go Caution – Buescher gets into the wall after a flat right front tire

Restart 2 to go Brian Scott passes Kyle Larson for the lead through turns one and two

Brian Scott wins the race! Larson. Coulter. Peters. Blaney. Seig.

[media-credit name=”David Yeazell” align=”alignright” width=”247″][/media-credit]Johnny Sauter won Friday nights NASCAR Camping World Truck Series WinStar World Casino 350 at Texas Motor Speedway.  Sauter took over the lead with 11 laps remaining and captured his second win of the season (both at Texas) and the sixth of his career.

“We’ve had the truck to beat I felt last week and just had a lot of bad luck this year quite frankly.  Toyota had a great week down in San Antonio at the Toyota Tundra plant down there.  Say, ‘Hi,’ to all of those people down there.  Just an awesome performance.” Sauter said.

Parker Kligerman only took two tires on his final pit stop and could not hold off Sauter for the lead.  Kligerman finished second.

“I hate finishing second man — so does this truck.  This truck is 001, the one of the first of the new trucks Red Horse built, the new generation.  Every time we’ve run it we either finished fourth or second.  It wants to win so bad, but sadly this is probably its last race.” Kligerman said.

Polesitter Nelson Piquet Jr. led twice for a race-high 65 laps and finished third.

Chevrolet clinched the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Manufacturers’ Championship with Piquet Jr.’s third place finish.  Chevrolet has captured the prestigious title for the eighth time since the 1995 inception of the Series.

Kyle Busch finished fourth and Ty Dilon finished fifth.

Dillon’s fifth place finished moved to within 15 points of the series points lead after current points leader James Buescher finished 11^th, after he reported a vibration about midway through the race and contact from Matt Crafton on the restart after the second caution flag.

“It could have been worse.” Buescher said. “I thought we were controlling our own destiny tonight and we got run into on a restart.”

Unofficial Race Results
WinStar World Casino 350, Texas
http://www.speedwaymedia.com/truckseries/race.php?race=20
=========================================
Pos.	St.	No.	Driver	Make	Points
=========================================
1	13	13	Johnny Sauter	Toyota	47
2	10	7	Parker Kligerman	Toyota	43
3	1	30	Nelson Piquet Jr.	Chevrolet	43
4	3	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	0
5	9	3	Ty Dillon *	Chevrolet	40
6	11	88	Matt Crafton	Toyota	39
7	5	22	Joey Coulter	Chevrolet	37
8	19	11	Todd Bodine	Toyota	36
9	7	5	Aric Almirola	Ford	0
10	14	17	Timothy Peters	Toyota	34
11	2	31	James Buescher	Chevrolet	34
12	21	8	Max Gresham *	Chevrolet	32
13	18	39	Ryan Sieg	Chevrolet	31
14	4	32	Miguel Paludo	Chevrolet	31
15	12	33	Cale Gale *	Chevrolet	30
16	8	9	John Wes Townley *	Toyota	28
17	15	2	Brendan Gaughan	Chevrolet	0
18	17	4	Brandon McReynolds	Chevrolet	26
19	20	23	Jason White	Ford	26
20	22	9	Ron Hornaday	Chevrolet	24
21	27	81	David Starr	Toyota	23
22	23	6	Justin Lofton	Chevrolet	22
23	25	99	Bryan Silas *	Ford	21
24	6	119	David Mayhew	Ram	0
25	26	7	Jeff Agnew	Chevrolet	19
26	34	57	Norm Benning	Chevrolet	18
27	36	10	Jennifer Jo Cobb	Ram	17
28	24	151	German Quiroga	Toyota	16
29	35	84	Russ Dugger	Chevrolet	15
30	16	29	Ryan Blaney	Ram	14
31	31	8	Ross Chastain *	Toyota	13
32	33	27	Stephen Leicht	Chevrolet	0
33	29	25	B.J. McLeod	Chevrolet	0
34	30	174	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	0
35	32	93	Dennis Setzer	Chevrolet	9
36	28	38	Chris Jones	Chevrolet	8