Jeb Burton started on the pole. It was Burton's sixth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole of 2013.The race went green for the first time and Burton was able to lead the first lap as the crazy racing began behind him. Burton would not hold the lead long as teammate, James Buescher, took the lead on lap 2. The race went a short time after this before the first caution waved on lap 8. Mason Mingus's truck had been sending smoke from behind it for a few laps. His team finally brought him to pit road and they diagnosed the problem as a terminal one. Mingus would not return to the race as fluid was spotted on the track. No drivers received the lucky dog. The strategy began early in the race. James Buescher, Ron Hornaday Jr., Jeb Burton, and others stayed on track while Kyle Busch, Max Gresham, Matt Crafton, Ty Dillon, and others came down pit road. It would be interesting to see which strategy would work to give a driver a win. The race went back green and James Buescher was able to hold the lead. He would not hold it long as Chris Fontaine passed him on the next lap with help from Kyle Busch. Fontaine stayed in front of the field for a few laps before Buescher took the lead back on lap 18. The race went a short time after this before the second caution waved on lap 20. Debris was spotted on the frontstretch of the track due to a blown tire on Chris Cockrum's truck. No drivers received the lucky dog. A good bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Kyle Busch, Ty Dillon, Johnny Sauter, and others took took fuel only while James Buescher, Ron Hornaday Jr., and others took two tires. The rest of the drivers who came in took four tires. It would be interesting to see which strategy led to a win.
The race went back green and Ty Dillon took the lead from Kyle Busch. Dillon would hold the lead for a few laps before Ross Chastain passed him on lap 31 with help from Ryan Blaney. This led to a rash of lead changes. Ty Dillon took the lead back from Chastain on the next lap, Joey Coulter took the lead from Dillon on lap 36 with help from Parker Kligerman, Dillon took the lead back on the same lap, Parker Kligerman took the lead from Dillon on lap 38 with help from Kyle Busch, and Dillon took the lead back from Kligerman on lap 42. This stopped the lead changes for the moment and led to the first round of green flag pit stops of the race on lap 53. Most of the leaders came to pit road before the race was interrupted by the third caution on lap 56. Sean Corr decided to make the move to pit road. He passed Ty Dillon, who had just pitted and was up to speed, and put on the brakes. Dillon did not have enough time to react and ran into the back of Corr. This sent Corr around and caused him to slide through the frontstretch grass. He was able to corral the car in the frontstretch grass and avoid damage, but he would have to come back around to pit. Justin Lofton received the lucky dog. All the drivers who had not pitted during the cycle of stops came down pit road with Kyle Busch taking the lead over the field. The race went back green and Darrell Wallace Jr. took the lead from Kyle Busch. Wallace would not hold the lead long as Johnny Sauter took the lead on lap 64. Ty Dillon took the lead from Sauter on the next lap with help from Parker Kligerman. The race would go a lap before the fourth caution waved on lap 66 and the first big one of the day happened.
Jeb Burton tried to make a move between Caleb Holman and John Wes Townley entering turn 3. There was not enough room and Burton made contact with Holman, which caused Holman to go down the track. Holman made contact with Timothy Peters and both went up the track. This caused a huge melee in turn 3 with Brennan Newberry, German Quiroga, Sean Corr, and Chris Cockrum piling into the wreck. All of the drivers slammed into the outside wall hard. All of the drivers reached a stop on track with huge amounts of damage. None of these drivers would return and their chances for a magical Talladega victory were over. Bryan Silas received the lucky dog. A little bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Matt Crafton and Parker Kligerman stayed on track while the rest of the lead lap drivers came down pit road for the final time in the race. It would be interesting to see if the two leaders had enough fuel to make it to the finish. The race went back green and Parker Kligerman held the lead. Ryan Blaney was able to pass Kligerman on the backstretch. Kligerman was able to get back by Blaney on the next lap with help from Kyle Busch. Ty Dillon passed Kligerman on lap 76 with help from James Buescher. For a short while after this, the lead changed hands every lap before the fifth caution waved on lap 80 due to the second big one of the race.
Ron Hornaday Jr. tried to make a move between Justin Lofton and James Buescher exiting turn 2. The three made contact on the backstretch and Lofton went down the track. Hornaday's hood went up over his window and Buescher spun due to contact with Lofton. Buescher went up the track and Joey Coulter made contact with him. Jeff Agnew made an evasive view around Buescher and slid down the track. Agnew and Buescher both made hard contact with the inside wall and slid to a stop on track. Both drivers had heavily destroyed race cars and they would not continue on. Coulter drove away from the scene, but he would not return to the race. Ron Hornaday would return, but he would not be super competitive. Norm Benning received the lucky dog. None of the drivers made the move to pit road and the race would go back green. Ross Chastain was able to take the lead with help from Kyle Busch, but the race would only go a few laps before the sixth caution waved on lap 88. Exiting turn 2, the field got stacked up behind Ryan Sieg. Ron Hornaday Jr., Ryan Blaney, and Scott Stenzel made contact, which caused all three to slide down the backstretch. All three piled into the inside wall and received huge amounts of damage. Stenzel and Hornaday would exit from the event, but Blaney would return even though he wasn't a factor. Justin Lofton received the lucky dog. None of the drivers came to pit road and the final run to the checkered flag was set up.
The race went back green and Ross Chastain held the lead with help from Parker Kligerman. The tandems of Johnny Sauter and Matt Crafton along with Dakoda Armstrong and Kyle Busch formed behind the two leaders. These two tandems made their way to the front and it would be up to these six drivers to decide who would win the race. As the leaders crossed the line with two laps, all three tandems ran three wide. They continued this around the track with most of the drivers behind them falling back. It would be a race between these six drivers as the white flag waved. Dakoda and Kyle ran in the outside lane with Johnny and Matt in the middle and Ross and Parker holding onto the bottom. The tandems were still three wide as they exited turn 4 to take the checkered flag. No one knew who would win and then the wrecking labeled as the seventh caution started happening. Miguel Paludo bumped Jeb Burton in the trioval and sent him up into Kyle Busch. This eliminated Busch, but five were still left in the battle. Busch went down the track and made contact with Paludo, Burton, and Darrell Wallace Jr. Paludo went on his lid and began to slid down the frontstretch. Busch slammed the inside wall with enough force to break it. Meanwhile, the five leaders came within a few hundred yards of the finish line. Parker Kligerman made contact with Ross Chastain and sent him up the track. Chastain made contact with Matt Crafton and Dakoda Armstrong. Chastain, Crafton, Kligerman, and Armstrong slammed the outside wall as the lone contender left, Johnny Sauter, coasted to the line for the win. This would not be the end of the mayhem. Behind the leaders wrecking, Timmy Hill, John Wes Townley, Max Gresham, Clay Greenfield, Justin Lofton, and others piled into the drivers who had already wrecked. Only Sauter and David Starr made it clean across the finish line as all the other trucks had some amount of damage. It was an insane finish to a race that was already crazy in its own right.
Wow, what a finish. I can only remember a few finishes like this one, but this one has to be one of the best. Justin Lofton walked away with a fractured left thumb, but all the other drivers walked away without major injuries. It has been a definite struggle for Johnny Sauter this season. Even though he took the win in the first two races of the season, it was downhill from there. He had mechanical troubles, wrecked race cars, and even the loss of a crew chief during the rest of the races. This win puts him back on track to finish the season strong and get next year started with a bang. What a finish it was for David Starr. After missing a few races, Starr came back strong. He avoided some wrecks during the middle of the race and was able to avoid the final lap wreck to take an easy second place finish. It was a definite momentum shift for Starr and one that could, hopefully, lead to a win to end the season. It was definitely a tough day for some truck regulars. Ryan Blaney, James Buescher, Ron Hornaday Jr., Brennan Newberry, Joey Coulter, and others wrecked before the final lap even came around. Matt Crafton, Ty Dillon, and others could not capitalize on the final lap and finished okay in the end. It was definitely a difficult race, but Crafton was able to hold his points lead. Finally, there were a whole lot of good finishes for underfunded teams. David Starr finished second, Dakoda Armstrong finished fifth, Timmy Hill finished sixth, Norm Benning finished twelfth, Clay Greenfield finished thirteenth, and Chris Fontaine finished fifteenth. It was an excellent day for some lower tier drivers in the truck series and one that is definitely a welcome change. After the craziness that was Talladega, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to the small, but mighty track in Martinsville, Virginia. Martinsville is always known for wrecked race cars and flared tempers when the race is over. Will Matt Crafton continue to hold his points lead over the rest of the field, will Kevin Harvick dominate the truck drivers in a rare chance to race with the lower guys, or will Ty Dillon or James Buescher move closer to Crafton for the points lead? We will have to wait until next Saturday afternoon to find out.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 8- Fluid from Mason Mingus's truck was spotted in turns 1 and 2 on the track.
2nd Caution: Lap 20- Debris from Chris Cockrum's blown tire was spotted on the frontstretch of the track.
3rd Caution: Lap 56- Ty Dillon bumped Sean Corr after Corr had made a last minute move to pit road. Corr slid through the frontstretch grass.
4th Caution: Lap 66- Jeb Burton made contact with Caleb Holman entering turn 3. Holman slid down the track and made contact with Timothy Peters. A melee began and Brennan Newberry, German Quiroga, Sean Corr, and Chris Cockrum made contact with the outside wall.
5th Caution: Lap 80- Ron Hornaday Jr. made contact with Justin Lofton on the backstretch. Lofton slid down the track and made contact with James Buescher. Buescher and Jeff Agnew slammed the inside wall after Joey Coulter had made contact with Buescher.
6th Caution: Lap 88- Ron Hornaday Jr., Ryan Blaney, and Scott Stenzel made contact on the backstretch after Ryan Sieg stacked up the field. All three drivers slammed the inside wall hard.
7th Caution: Lap 94- Miguel Paludo bumped Jeb Burton on the trioval, which caused a huge melee. Paludo went on his roof as Kyle Busch, Darrell Wallace Jr., Parker Kligerman, Matt Crafton, Dakoda Armstrong, Ross Chastain, Timmy Hill, John Wes Townley, Max Gresham, Clay Greenfield, Justin Lofton, and others got involved in the wreck.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: None
3rd Caution: Justin Lofton
4th Caution: Bryan Silas
5th Caution: Norm Benning
6th Caution: Justin Lofton
7th Caution: None
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Johnny Sauter
2nd: David Starr
3rd: Ross Chastain
4th: Parker Kligerman
5th: Dakoda Armstrong
Notables Not in Top 5:
9th: Matt Crafton
10th: Kyle Busch
14th: Ty Dillon
18th: Jeb Burton
21st: Ryan Blaney
24th: Ron Hornaday Jr.
26th: James Buescher
27th: Joey Coulter
29th: Timothy Peters
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/camping-world-truck-series/leaderboard/leaderboard-live.html
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/camping-world-truck-series/lapbylap/view-all-laps.html?intid=lapbylap_lapbylapleaderboard_08292013
http://www.nascar.com/en_us/camping-world-truck-series/live-standings.html
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Freds_250_Powered_by_Coca-Cola/C
-Image:
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/10/19/2823958/last-lap-wreck-overshadows-johnny.html
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