Tag: Camping World Truck Series

The Truck Series returned to Daytona International Speedway once again this week, but this time on the Daytona Road Course. There were three overtime restarts and on the second restart, Ben Rhodes was close to taking the white flag, but a late yellow flew. However, Rhodes prevailed and took home the win after starting on the pole and holding off Sheldon Creed for the win.

“It’s unbelievable,” Rhodes said about winning twice at Daytona. “I don’t have words for it. I don’t even know what to say. This is so cool. I just have to thank my team. The Bombardier Tundra was fast all day. ThorSport Racing gave me a truck that handled this year and we were fast. Rich (Luches) is a really good crew chief. It’s good to be paired up with him and all of the guys on my team. I’m just thrilled. I don’t know what to say. I’ve been on cloud nine all week, so it’s above that. I’m just so happy.”

Originally, 12-13-19 made up the 44-lap race, but three late-race yellows extended the race distance to 51 laps.

Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 12

Prior to the race start, NASCAR had determined a wet race for the initial green-flag since late day rain showers moved through the area, and left the track damp.

John Hunter Nemechek was fast from the get-go and dominated early on. He took the lead from pole-sitter Rhodes while Raphael Lessard and Zane Smith spun each other out in Turn 1. One caution slowed the stage with eight to go when the No. 04 of Cory Roper came to a stop in Turn 3.

The late yellow brought out a one-lap restart for the stage, but Nemechek held off Rhodes for the stage victory. Chandler Smith, Brett Moffitt, Ryan Truex, Matt Crafton, Johnny Sauter, Austin Hill, Sheldon Creed and Riley Herbst were the Top 10 finishers.

During the stage break, Nemechek stayed out to maintain the lead, but there were some penalties as Chase Purdy was penalized for a safety violation and Sam Mayer was penalized for not going to the rear in the previous restart.

Stage 2: Lap 14 – Lap 25

From the restart, last year’s Truck Series champion, Sheldon Creed, was able to nab the lead from Nemechek coming out of Turn 6 and going into Turn 1. The Californian dominated for the majority of Stage 2 until a late stage yellow came out on Lap 22. Stage 1 winner, Nemechek, came to a complete stop due to no oil pressure in Turn 10, prompting the yellow. During this, Creed was on pit road, changing from wet tires to dry tires.

As the yellow flag flew late, the stage ended under caution and 2020 Talladega winner Raphael Lessard took the stage victory. Grala, Zane Smith, Wayne Self, Gilliland, Crafton, Deegan, Creed, Purdy and Moffitt were the top 10. Rhodes was right outside the Top 10, finishing 11th.

Stage 3: Lap 27 – Lap 51

While the first two stages were relatively calm, the final stage saw five cautions. Creed was well on his way to victory but contact between Sam Mayer and Tanner Gray brought out the first overtime of the night.

On the first restart, Rhodes was able to get by Creed and was just inches away from taking the white flag before the yellow flew once again in a matter of seconds. This time, the No. 44 of Jett Noland, who was making his debut for Niece Motorsports, stopped in the grass and Austin Wayne Self came to a stop just off Turn 10.

The final overtime restart of the night was prompted by Jennifer Jo Cobb, who came to a complete stop on the frontstretch chicane. The restart came on Lap 48 with race leaders Rhodes and Creed battling hard with each other for the win. However, Rhodes was determined to hold off Creed and stretched out his lead over second place. After 51 laps, the finish came under yellow due to a truck stopped in the grass. Ben Rhodes would win his second consecutive race and give Toyota Racing their 200th Truck Series victory.

“So cool,” the Kentucky native added about getting Toyota Racing their 200th win, “200 wins for Toyota, I’m so proud to be able to get that for them. You always want to be the guy that delivers for people and I’m glad that I could be the delivery man. That’s so cool. Toyota, they’ve given so much support to us. I think that’s a big reason why we’ve been in victory lane both weeks.”

There were 10 cautions for 20 laps and nine lead changes among six different drivers.

Official Results:

1. Ben Rhodes, led 13 laps
2. Sheldon Creed, led 17 laps
3. John Hunter Nemechek, won Stage 1, led 14 laps
4. Todd Gilliland
5. Riley Herbst, led one lap
6. Matt Crafton
7. Derek Kraus
8. Kaz Grala
9. Timmy Hill
10. Christian Eckes
11. Stewart Friesen, led one lap
12. Chandler Smith
13. Camden Murphy
14. Carson Hocevar
15. Austin Wayne Self
16. Codie Rohrbaugh
17. Dawson Cram
18. Johnny Sauter
19. Tate Fogleman
20. Tanner Gray
21. Tyler Ankrum
22. Chase Purdy
23. Parker Chase
24. Timothy Peters
25. Brett Moffitt
26. Raphael Lessard, led five laps, won Stage 2
27. Bobby Reuse, 1 lap down
28. Hailie Deegan, 1 lap down
29. Jett Noland, OUT, Crash
30. Danny Bohn, 2 laps down
31. Ryan Truex, 3 laps down
32. Norm Benning, 3 laps down
33. Austin Hill, 3 laps down
34. Cory Roper, OUT, Fuel Pressure
35. Jennifer Jo Cobb, 4 laps down
36. Lawless Alan, 6 laps down
37. Sam Mayer, OUT, Crash
38. Jason White, 10 laps down
39. Spencer Boyd, OUT, Transmission
40. Zane Smith, OUT, Crash

Up Next: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will take next weekend off before heading out west to Las Vegas Motor Speedway Friday night, March 5, live at 9 p.m. ET on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to action to kickstart the 2021 season at the famous Daytona International Speedway.

Ben Rhodes, who started 23rd, made a thrilling move to the outside of Cory Roper coming off Turn 4 and claimed the season-opening win at Daytona as multiple trucks wrecked behind the leaders. The victory would mark the Kentucky native’s first superspeedway victory in 120 starts.

“This is so special, the biggest win of my career,” Rhodes said. “I can’t even believe this. As a driver, you’re always asked about what your biggest accomplishment is. This is it. This is hands-down it. This is the place to be. I can’t even believe it.”

Prior to the first race of the season, qualifying was held earlier today. Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 ThorSport team qualified on the pole. The pole marked Sauter’s first superspeedway pole position in his career.

Only one driver moved to the back, which was the No. 19 of Derek Kraus. Stages of 20/20/60 laps made up the original 100 lap event, before going into overtime, as a caution flew with six laps to go and extended the event by one lap.

Stage 1: Lap 1 – Lap 20

When the green flag flew, there were already sparks flying on the frontstretch. The No. 15 of Tanner Gray did not get going as the truck stalled somewhat on the initial start, which caused a stack up in the back. James Buescher in the No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevy had major damage to his front bumper and was credited with a last-place finish. Kraus and Gus Dean were also involved in the incident.

Despite the early caution, the rest of the stage remained green from Lap 5 to 20. Pole sitter Sauter dominated through the early portions before getting passed late in the stage by eventual Stage 1 winner, Raphael Lessard. Lessard, with the help of his teammate Sheldon Creed, drove right on by Sauter and Enfinger to win the first stage. Enfinger, Sauter, Nemechek, Rhodes, Chandler Smith, David Gilliland, Stewart Friesen and Timothy Peters rounded out the Top 10 in Stage 1.

During the stage break, Creed was penalized for being too fast on pit road while Codie Rohrbaugh was sent to the rear for a crew member being over the wall too soon. Meanwhile, Matt Crafton was penalized for one lap for pitting outside the box.

Stage 2: Lap 26 – Lap 40

Just one caution slowed the second stage when the No. 19 of Kraus spun in Turns 3 and 4 on Lap 35 after Kraus’s left-rear tire went flat. With the late caution, the restart came with two laps to go in the stage. John Hunter Nemechek edged out Lessard for the victory. Sauter, Creed, Rhodes, Chandler Smith, Hill, Peters, Enfinger, and Ankrum were the Top 10 finishers in Stage 2.

Stage 3: Lap 46 – Lap 101

In the final stage, there were six cautions that took place in the final 55 laps. One of the notable yellows in the final stage was for the No. 1 of Hailie Deegan. Deegan was making her first Truck Series start at Daytona and ran solidly before spinning on the backstretch and hitting the inside wall causing a yellow with 20 to go.

The next restart came with 15 to go and the intensity picked up with drivers pushing hard for the win. Unfortunately, the big one occurred with six laps to go with multiple drivers involved. John Hunter Nemechek, Tyler Ankrum, Timothy Peters, Drew Dollar, Raphael Lessard, Austin Hill, Johnny Sauter, Tate Fogleman, Bryan Dauzat and Carson Hocevar were collected in the incident.

With the late yellow, NASCAR Overtime was called and there was a two-lap dash to the finish. Rhodes got shoved out to the front with the help of his teammate, Matt Crafton, coming off Turn 4, following directly behind Roper who was leading the race. Rhodes had momentum and made the pass to the outside to win by .036 seconds over Roper and Jordan Anderson while another big one occurred behind the leaders.

By finishing third, Roper earned the first-ever top-five finish of his Truck Series career in 28 starts over a span of four years, dating back to 2018.

“We took the white flag, and I think it (field) just kind of got jumbled up and I think the 2 (Sheldon Creed) got in the wall a little bit, put me in the wall, flattened the right side and I pulled down to the bottom,” Roper said. “I was able to clear them and come off of (Turn) 2 with the lead. So, it was pretty exciting about that time and I just calmed down and try to stay, listen to my spotter, do what I needed to do. When I pancaked the right side, we got tight off of (Turn) 4 and I couldn’t pull down and got clogged in.”

There were 10 cautions for 43 laps and 31 lead changes among 12 different leaders.

Official Results

1. Ben Rhodes, led seven laps
2. Jordan Anderson
3. Cory Roper
4. Ryan Truex
5. Carson Hocevar
6. Sheldon Creed, led one lap
7. John Hunter Nemechek, won Stage 2, led 14 laps
8. Codie Rohrbaugh
9. Chandler Smith, led 22 laps
10. Drew Dollar
11. Grant Enfinger, led 13 laps
12. Kris Wright
13. Spencer Boyd
14. David Gilliland, led eight laps
15. Matt Crafton
16. Zane Smith
17. Danny Bohn
18. Jennifer Jo Cobb
19. Bryan Dauzat, led two laps
20. Jason White
21. Austin Wayne Self, one lap down
22. Austin Hill, two laps down
23. Raphael Lessard, won Stage 1, led 12 laps, two laps down
24. Hailie Deegan, three laps down
25. Brett Moffitt, led one lap, five laps down
26. Timothy Peters, led three laps, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
27. Johnny Sauter, led 12 laps, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
28. Tyler Ankrum, led six laps, OUT, Crash
29. Chase Purdy, OUT, Electrical
30. Tate Fogleman, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
31. Todd Gilliland, OUT, Crash
32. Stewart Friesen, OUT, Crash
33. Derek Kraus, OUT, Damage Vehicle Policy
34. Gus Dean, OUT, Crash
35. Tanner Gray, OUT, Drivetrain
36. James Buescher, OUT, Crash

Up Next: The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will stay in the Daytona area as the trucks will next race on the Daytona Road Course on Friday night. February 19. live on FOX Sports 1 and MRN Radio at 7:30 pm. ET.