Jeb Burton started on the pole. It was his seventh NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole in his rookie year in the series. The race went green and Burton took the lead heading into turn 1, but he would not hold it long. Ty Dillon made a three wide move underneath Burton and Justin Lofton in turn 2 to take the lead. Dillon came around and led the first lap of the race. Behind him, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski began their push to the front. Both drivers moved to near the top 5 with only twenty laps completed after both started outside the top 10. It looked like both would be in the battle for the win shortly, but it would quickly go downhill for Keselowski with the first caution on lap 24. Keselowski was making a move underneath Justin Lofton on the frontstretch when Keselowski broke loose passing the start/finish line. His truck slid around and drifted down the track. He went through the frontstretch grass and came out on the other side of the second dog leg. Somehow, all the other drivers behind him avoided and he was able to come to a stop without hitting anything. He was able to get back going, but he would have to be careful since all four tires were flat. He was able to coast around and make it to pit road without receiving any damage, but he had lost a lap and he would need a huge break. Scott Riggs received the lucky dog. During the caution, the leaders made their first stops of the race. All of the drivers took four tires except for Kyle Busch, who took two tires. It would be interesting to see if this move worked for Busch.
The race went back green and Ty Dillon began battling hard with Kyle Busch. The two ran side by side for the lead for a couple of laps, but Dillon eventually overtook Busch for the lead. After passing Busch, Dillon began to streak away from the field once again. Dillon continued to lead as the laps clicked by. The race would go a little while before some trouble erupted for Kyle Busch. On lap 47, Busch had to make an unscheduled pit stop due to water coming out of the overflow just in front of the windshield. This was an obvious sign that the truck was overheating and he had debris on the grille. His team cleaned off the grille and made sure the temperature was down. Busch returned to the track with a problem avoided, but he lost a lap and a bunch of spots. The race continued a few laps after this before the second caution waved on lap 59. Bryan Silas got loose exiting turn 2 after German Quiroga took air off of Silas's spoiler. This caused Silas's truck to slid around. He slid down the track toward the inside wall. He came to a stop before hitting the inside wall, but drivers were still racing around him. Somehow, all of them avoided him and he was able to make it to pit road without damage. Scott Riggs received the lucky dog. Brad Keselowski came within a driver of getting the lucky dog, but he would stay a lap down. Another rash of stops occurred during the caution. All of the drivers came to pit road for four tires with Justin Lofton coming out as the leader. It would be interesting to see if Lofton could take over the lead from Ty Dillon.
The race went back green and Ty Dillon quickly proved this was a tough task. He began to battle hard with James Buescher and Dillon finally took the lead after a quick fight. Dillon once again cruised away from the field with the lead. The race would only go a few laps before Kyle Busch would once again have trouble. His truck began to slow on track on lap 73 and he reported to pit road. The overheating problem earlier had caused him to lose some engine power and it would be a matter of time before it went up in smoke. He returned to the track, but he was slow and he would not have a chance for a win. As Busch returned to the track, Ty Dillon continued to lead. Dillon ran lap after lap ahead of everybody until the third and final caution waved on lap 99. Kyle Busch's engine finally let go on the frontstretch of the track. Smoke poured out the back and a little fire erupted, but it went out quickly. Busch coasted to the pit road and then to the garage, but he would not return to the event. Spencer Gallagher received the lucky dog. Brad Keselowski once again missed the lucky dog by a spot and he finally ran out of chances. The final pit stops of the race occurred under the caution. All of the drivers took four tires with Ty Dillon coming out as the leader. It would be interesting to see if his dominating truck would lead him to a victory.
The race went back green and Dillon's domination immediately went into question. On the backstretch, Ryan Blaney made a three wide move underneath Dillon and Johnny Sauter to take the lead. He distance himself a bit as Sauter and Dillon ran side by side behind him for second. Dillon eventually cleared Sauter and set his sights on Blaney. It would not take Dillon long to surpass Blaney as he took the lead on lap 117. Now, he would have to hold off a raging group of truck drivers behind him. He began to stretch his lead out and the laps started to click by. Thirty laps to go, twenty five laps to go, twenty laps to go, and fifteen laps to go all clicked off on the board as Dillon continued to dominate. His win almost went up in smoke as Bryan Silas slowed on the backstretch with ten laps to go. Silas had a possible engine problem and he would have to make it to pit road without power. He was able to coast through turns 3 and 4 to make it to the garage. Dillon had dodged a huge bullet, but he would have one last one to dodge. With six laps to go, Jeb Burton slowed on the backstretch. His truck was out of fuel and he was even slower than Silas. His truck creeped around the race track and hit the entrance to pit road. He made it to his stall without stopping and Dillon dodged his final bullet. He took the white flag and cruised around to his second checkered flag of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season. It was a very much needed performance for Dillon after the fight that was the race at Martinsville one week ago.
There is only one word to describe Ty Dillon's win at Texas: domination. His truck was great while leading and could even fight the few moments he was stuck in traffic. It was definitely a welcome sight for him and Richard Childress, his owner and grandfather, after the battle the two had with Kevin Harvick after the race one week ago at Martinsville. With his win, Dillon sits forty seven points away from Matt Crafton and still in the championship hunt, but a long way away still. Give a call to Ron Hornaday Jr. and John Wes Townley. Hornaday took a top five finish and Townley took a top ten finish. Both of these drivers have looked great in the past few weeks and it is very amazing to see. Plus, give a huge call to Justin Lofton. Lofton, who broke his thumb in the crazy last lap at Talladega, returned at Texas and was able to take a top 5 finish. That is an absolutely amazing accomplishment for Lofton and one that should give him a lot of momentum. Matt Crafton continued to prove he deserves the title. He struggled all night long and did not touch the top ten at all. Somehow, his truck came on in the last few laps and he took a top ten finish. This allowed him to hold his lead in the points and practically guarantee a championship for the team. It is not over yet, but Crafton looks in complete control. The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series heads to Phoenix next week for the penultimate round of the regular season. Will Matt Crafton assure his first career championship in the series, will Ty Dillon or James Buescher make it close heading into the final round, or will another driver show all of them up and take the win? We will have to wait until next Friday night to find out these questions and more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 24- Brad Keselowski broke loose on the frontstretch while running side by side with Justin Lofton.
2nd Caution: Lap 59- Bryan Silas spun out exiting turn 2 after contact with German Quiroga.
3rd Caution: Lap 99- Kyle Busch blew a motor on the frontstretch.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: Scott Riggs
2nd Caution: Scott Riggs
3rd Caution: Spencer Gallagher
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Ty Dillon
2nd: Johnny Sauter
3rd: Ron Hornaday Jr.
4th: Brendan Gaughan
5th: Justin Lofton
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: James Buescher
7th: Darrell Wallace Jr.
10th: Matt Crafton
15th: Ryan Blaney
21st: Brad Keselowski
26th: Jeb Burton
28th: Kyle Busch
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_Winstar_World_Casino_350/C
-Image:
http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/truck/story/_/id/9914563/ty-dillon-dominates-trucks-race-texas
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