Jeb Burton started on the pole. It was his third pole in five races this season. The green flag waved and Burton was unable to lead the first lap as Ty Dillon was able to get by him. It was only a short time before Kyle Busch flexed his muscles and made it to the lead. On lap 8, the first contact of the race occurred. German Quiroga and Caleb Holman ran into each other coming out of turn 4. Quiroga moved up the track and Holman was there and the two went up into the wall. Quiroga received the most damage, but both drivers made it back around to the pits. Oddly enough, the caution did not wave and the race continued. It was a short time after this when the first caution of the race came out on lap 17. Bryan Silas blew an engine in turn 1 and left some oil in turn 2 and on the backstretch. Todd Bodine received the lucky dog. But the weirdest part of this caution was yet to come.
German Quiroga made his pit stop and came back out on the track. He was going down the backstretch when he blew a tire and slammed into the outside wall in turn 3. His truck slid down the track and he stopped at the bottom of the turn. The damage was too much to continue in the race. With that incident cleaned up, the race went back green and continued on until the second caution of the race on lap 25. Caleb Holman made huge contact with the wall in turn 4. He received a lot of damage and did not continue on in the race. No drivers received the lucky dog. The race went green and continued on until the first round of green flag pit stops on lap 69. Immediately after these stops, one driver would have some problems.
Joey Coulter made his pit stop on lap 69 and got four tires and fuel. He came back on track and his night went downhill. He made one lap, but on lap 71, he blew a tire in turn 4 and slammed into the outside wall. He received a good bit of damage and the third caution flag of the race waved. Jake Crum received the lucky dog. The race went back green and there were more tire problems. Ross Chastain, Matt Crafton, and Ryan Blaney all pitted within the span of two laps due to right side tires going down. It was a short time after this when the fourth caution of the race came out on lap 84. Tyler Young got loose coming out of turn 4 and went for a spin down the frontstretch. Danny Efland drove into the grass to avoid Young and went for a spin as well. Amazingly, both drivers avoided each other and kept their trucks out of the wall. Brennan Newberry received the lucky dog. But the importance of this caution occurred during the pit stops.
Kyle Busch made his way down pit road as the leader of the race and had a routine stop. When he pulled out his stall, it all went downhill. His gasman was getting as much fuel in as possible when Kyle pulled out. His gasman could not pull the can out and it slid out of the stall. This garnered a pass through penalty that put Kyle at the back of the field. Now, he would have to fight his way back to the front and he would have only have a short time.
The race went back green and it was a short time before the fifth caution of the race came out on lap 95. Ron Hornaday blew a tire on the backstretch from previous contact with the wall. He was trying to make it down pit road, but the truck went up the track and Ryan Blaney and Jake Crum were there. Blaney got away with minor damage, but Crum could not avoid and slammed into Hornaday's rear, causing Hornaday's truck to rise off the track. Both drivers received damage, but Crum's was much worse. Ross Chastain, who had just had tire problems, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and it was a short time before the sixth caution of the race on lap 06. Tyler Young made contact with the outside wall on the frontstretch. Matt Crafton, who had also had tire problems, received the lucky dog. The race went back green and a championship contender would have a lot of trouble.
On the restart, James Buescher and Johnny Sauter made contact after Sauter got loose in a three wide situation. Buescher fell back and was not too happy with Sauter. Buescher was able to catch up to Sauter and he made the most of his opportunity for revenge. In turn 4, Buescher tapped Sauter and Sauter sailed hard into the outside wall. He had a good bit of damage and his night was over. This resulted in the seventh caution of the race on lap 116. Tim George Jr. received the lucky dog. The race went back green and the eighth and final caution of the race came out on lap 123. Justin Lofton got loose in turn 2 and went for a spin. Somehow, James Buescher and Brennan Newberry avoided Lofton and prevented a major incident from occurring. But that wasn't all that happened.
Darrell Wallace Jr. and Brad Keselowski were running up front as the caution occurred. When the two drivers were coming out of turn 2, Wallace got loose and went up into Keselowski. Keselowski hit the wall and Wallace went for a spin down the backstretch. Wallace slammed into the inside wall and his night was over. He had done an excellent job all night, but he had nothing to show for it. Todd Bodine received the final lucky dog of the race. Now, the final mad dash of the race was set up and it was sure to be a good one.
The race went back green and Kyle Busch immediately jumped out to the lead. Brendan Gaughan stayed close and made sure that Busch did not get away, but Busch's truck was too much to overcome and Gaughan was unable to catch him. This gave Busch his first win of the season in the NCWTS and his thirty first career win. He had overcome the adversity and proved that he wasn't just good out front; he could move his way from the back.
The race was filled with a lot of exciting moments and was one of the best of the year. Matt Crafton was able to further solidify his points position and Jeb Burton continued his great beginning to the season by holding his second place points position. The NCWTS takes a week off and then heads to the always exciting Dover International Speedway. Will the rain allow a full race or will Todd Bodine repeat at Dover? We will have to find out in a couple of weeks.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 17- Bryan Silas blew an engine in turn 1 and left some fluid on the track.
2nd Caution: Lap 25- Caleb Holman made contact with the wall in turn 4.
3rd Caution: Lap 71- Joey Coulter blew a tire in turn 4 and slammed into the outside wall.
4th Caution: Lap 84- Tyler Young and Danny Efland both spun coming out of turn 4.
5th Caution: Lap 95- Ron Hornaday blew a tire and went up the track in turn 3. Jake Crum slammed into the rear of his truck, causing Hornaday's truck to lift off the track.
6th Caution: Lap 106- Tyler Young made contact with the wall on the frontstretch.
7th Caution: Lap 116- James Buescher bumped Johnny Sauter in turn 4 and Sauter sailed into the outside wall.
8th Caution: Lap 123- Justin Lofton got loose in turn 2 and went for a spin. Darrell Wallace Jr. got loose coming out of turn 2 and made contact with Brad Keselowski. Keselowski hit the wall and Wallace spun towards the inside wall and made contact with it.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Todd Bodine
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Jake Crum
4th Caution: Brennan Newberry
5th Caution: Ross Chastain
6th Caution: Matt Crafton
7th Caution: Tim George Jr.
8th Caution: Todd Bodine
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Brendan Gaughan
3rd: Max Gresham
4th: Matt Crafton
5th: Ty Dillon
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: James Buescher
13th: Jeb Burton
14th: Brad Keselowski
17th: Todd Bodine
27th: Darrell Wallace Jr.
28th: Johnny Sauter
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_North_Carolina_Education_Lottery_200_(May)/C
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/camping-world-truck-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
-Image:
http://images.news14.com/media/2013/5/18/images/ENLARGE_01Busch.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment