[media-credit name=”Credit: Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR” align=”alignright” width=”225″]
[/media-credit]When the trucks hit Daytona International Speedway, they’ve been known to create a lot of sparks. This year was no exception as after three green-white-checkereds (GWC, rookie John King took the checkered flag.
“I’m a rookie – I’m not supposed to be here,” King said afterwards in victory lane. “This is unreal. This Red Horse Racing team is unbelievable. I don’t know what to say. This is a dream come true.”
A caution with seven to go for Parker Kligermann and others wrecking would set off the chain of GWCs. Kligermann wrecked after Dusty Davis and David Starr squished him in the middle, collecting Bryan Silas and Ross Chastain.
On the first GWC, it was Jason White leading them to the green, but Johnny Sauter taking the lead with help from Ron Hornaday, before dropping down inline on the bottom in front of White. Sauter looked to have the win in hand before a caution came out before the field took the white flag when Brad Keselowski wrecked. Clay Greenfield got into the back of Keselowski, turning him into Rick Crawford. Rookie Max Gresham was also collected in the wreck with significant damage.
On the restart, Sauter looked to have the win in hand again as he pulled ahead with help from King. However, coming to get the white flag, King turned Sauter into the outside wall, collecting Brendan Gaughan, Starr, Grant Enfinger, Matt Crafton, Nelson Piquet Jr., Chris Fontaine and Ryan Seig.
“It was substainable help,” Sauter said of the contact he got from King to send him around. “He’s obviously getting help from behind – that’s Bodine, typically known for driving over his head at these places.”
“I apologize to Johnny Sauter,” King said. “I shouldn’t have been there. I closed up real fast. … I couldn’t get off of him.”
The field then restarted for the final attempt at a green flag finish with King leading Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters and Joey Coulter. On the restart, Bodine and Coulter didn’t get a good start on the outside, causing them to drop back through the field as King pulled out to the lead with help from Peters. Coming to get the white flag while Coulter and Bodine were trying to mount a charge back to the front, James Buecher would turn Coulter into the outside wall. The contact would cause Coulter to go airbourne and make contact with the catch fence. Coulter were emerge from the crash with no injuries, while a track spokesperson reported two fans were injured but would be okay.
Coulter’s wreck would hand the win to King, who was making his eighth Camping World Truck Series start.
King’s Red Horse Racing teammate Timothy Peters would be credited with second for his third top-10 at Daytona.
“It was an action-packed night,” Peters said. “We were fortunate enough to keep our nose clean all night long. That right there is what it’s all about, seeing that boy right there celebrating in Victory Lane. That’s a special place. It couldn’t have been a better night for Red Horse Racing as a company, 1-2 finish, Todd coming in fifth.
“Can’t say enough about my guys, Butch Hylton, guys on pit row, Service Central, Tire Kingdom, Toyota Tundra, Joe Gibbs Engine. It was an awesome night tonight. These guys worked hard on our truck since we left Daytona last year. We got some momentum. It’s showing. We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in year.”
Justin Lofton would be scored in third to score his first top-10 at Daytona.
“It was an exciting one,” he said. “I mean, we had a game plan of sticking to the bottom. Unfortunately our teammates were taken out halfway through the race. Team owner (Eddie Sharp) was spotting for me also. That definitely helps a lot. It was a really cool run. We had good pit stops all night. We played the right strategy. Eddie kept me calm. When they would get that run on the outside, I wanted to drive up there, but he kept me down. We found ourselves in the right place at the right time. I tried to push Timothy to get us in a better position.”
Travis Kvapil , who found out just a couple weeks before Daytona that he’d be racing, came home in the fourth position.
“All the credit goes to Robby Benton and the RAB racing team,” he says. “They brought me a solid Toyota Tundra tonight. We just kept it out of trouble. We knew we had a strong truck – just kept out of trouble, made the right moves at the right time. To come out of here with a top five finish makes me really happy.”
Jason White would round out the top five, followed by Todd Bodine, Chris Fontaine, Ward Burton, Ty Dillon and Clay Greenfield. Dillon was able to come home with a ninth-place finish after barely dodging the wrecks at the end.
“Going into tonight, we knew it was going to be a wild night and we just wanted to finish the race,” the rookie said. “We played it a little conservative – it hurt us a bit. Felt like I was a magnet tonight. We had a strong truck, could do whatever we wanted, and we’d make it to the end.”
The three wrecks at the end weren’t the only action for the night, as there was action for fans from top to bottom.
On lap seven, Paulie Harraka got sideways and shot up into Jason Leftler, taking him out, while Dakota Armstrong wrecked behind them.
“It’s just too good to be true,” Leftler said afterwards. “The truck was really good. The truck was fast. Kind of just sitting there, couldn’t get anybody to work with me that early in the race. It just happens. I don’t know what happened, the No. 5 (Harraka) just shot up into me. The next race is at Rockingham and there’s no question that I’ll be quick there.”
On lap 60, eventual race winner King moved up to the track, hitting Cale Gale, turning him and collected TJ Duke, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner and J.R. Fitzpatrick.
“Can’t teach patience,” Skinner said afterwards. “You can’t teach people how to drive racecars; they obviously are great racecar drivers. I’m not going to blame Cale for that; I wish he would’ve just rode behind us. I was running half-throttle, the other veterans were running half-throttle; they were just running all over.”
“It’s just one of those things,” Gale said. “We got a little behind in a fuel window there, came back on track and were trying to move up. I don’t know what happened there. I tried to be patience. I was to the point of ‘Do I need to ride and wait it out?’. I guess it’s just our fault.”
Pole Sitter Miguel Paludo wouldn’t find much luck as with 30 laps to go, he would make hard contact with the inside wall after getting loose behind teammate Nelson Piquet Jr.
“That was a hard hit for sure, I lost my breath,” Paludo said. “All in all, it was a good day for us. Got the pole, led some laps. Just got loose up there; I had been loose all day. Just so proud of my guys, having all three Turner Motorsports trucks up there. We’re going to win some races this year.”
The next race for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is in five weeks at Martinsville Speedway.
