In one of the most dominating performances the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series has seen this season, Darrell Wallace Jr. ended up in victory lane Wednesday night at Eldora Speedway. Despite his lack of dirt track racing experience, he was able to beat some of the best in the business en route to victory in the 1-800-CarCash Mudsummer Classic.
The unique race format consisted of 150 laps divided into three segments. The first segment was 60 laps, followed by a 50 lap segment and a final segment of 40 laps. The teams were allowed pit stops between each segment to make adjustments to their trucks and obtain fresh tires.
At the beginning of the race, it seemed like Wallace’s teammate Erik Jones would be the one dominating the night. However, his quick start went downhill fast as he suffered some tire issues. Wallace’s first glimpse at the lead came when he took the lead from Ron Hornaday Jr. on lap 49. From that point on, he rarely ran in any other position, leading the final 97 laps.
Some of the most exciting racing of the night came when Ty Dillon and Kyle Larson engaged in a heated battle for position during the 50 lap segment. Larson tried to maneuver around the No. 3 truck of Dillon on the outside. That didn’t work out so well as Dillon made contact with Larson, which sent Larson’s No. 32 truck spinning around in turn two. Larson would later bounce back to challenge Wallace for the win.
Wallace continued to put on a clinic at the front of the field throughout the second and third segments. He only had one major threat which came during the final segment from Larson. With 24 laps to go, Larson caught him and was fighting for the lead. He would take the position just as the seventh caution of the race came out.
Larson was unable to hold the lead on the restart as Wallace took the spot back. Larson battled back for one last charge in the closing laps. However, he slapped the wall a few too many times and damaged his truck, eventually slowing and coming to a stop with two laps remaining. He had to settle for a disappointing 26th place finish.
Wallace Jr. would acquire a lead the length of a straightaway at that point and cruise to victory. It’s his second win of the season and his third career win in the series.
“That’s so cool, on the dirt at Eldora,” Wallace said. “Really? Eldora? “The coolest thing about it is I came into this hoping we’d finish in the top-five. I was worried about the Toyota streak, not to lie.”
The victory is the eighth for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2014. It also extends Toyota’s winning streak as they have won 12 consecutive races going back to Phoenix International Raceway last November.
Hornaday finished second followed by Ryan Blaney, Ken Schrader and Ty Dillon to round out the top five.
Blaney took over the points lead in the series from Matt Crafton by four points. Johnny Sauter is third (-10), Hornaday is fourth (-19) and German Quiroga is fifth (-26).
The trucks are back in action next Saturday afternoon at Pocono Raceway for the Pocono Mountains 150.
