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Ben Kennedy started on the pole. Qualifying scheduled for earlier in the day was rained out and the line-up was based on fastest laps from the three combined practice sessions. Kennedy had the fastest lap from all three practices and, thus, the great grandson of the founder of NASCAR was on the pole for the first time at Daytona. Before the race could begin, there was an hour and a half delay to ensure the track was dry after rain showers throughout the afternoon. The track was finally dried and the first command of the season was given for the series. Ben Kennedy lead the field out on track and he took the green flag from the outside line. He quickly moved down in front of Turner-Scott teammate, Ron Hornaday Jr., to start the inside line. Kennedy was able to come back around and lead the first lap of the race. The inside line began to pull away from the outside line slightly, which was led by Matt Crafton. Kennedy was in complete control of the race as the first caution of the race waved on lap 21. NASCAR waved a competition caution because of the rain showers around the track throughout the day. None of the drivers received the lucky dog. This caution led to the first pit stops of the race and the round of stops was filled with strategy and mistakes.
Kyle Busch, Joey Coulter, and other drivers decided to take two tires on their first stop while Ben Kennedy, Ron Hornaday Jr., and the rest of the drivers decided to take fuel only to keep their spots at the front. There were also a few mistakes by some of the drivers. Rookie Tyler Reddick stalled his truck on pit road after changing two tires. He managed to get his truck back started, but he had lost a good many spots and his team decided to come back down during the caution laps and change the other two tires. After the stops, NASCAR lined the field up and the race went back green. Ben Kennedy was able to hold the lead with Ron Hornaday still running behind him. Kennedy continued to lead as the inside line began to pull away from the outside line. The laps clicked by throughout the night as the second caution of the race waved just past halfway on lap 51. Jennifer Jo Cobb's truck slowed on the backstretch. The problem seemed to be no fuel in her truck and she moved to the apron of the track. Her truck began to stop and NASCAR was forced to wave the caution flag. Chris Cockrum received the lucky dog. This caution held the second round of pit stops of the race and this set of stops was filled with mistakes and strategy.
Ben Kennedy and a few others decided just to take fuel only while Kyle Busch, Ryan Blaney, and the rest of the drivers took two tires, but there were a bunch of mistakes to go with this strategy. While leaving his pit box, Ryan Blaney bumped Ryan Ellis, who was entering his box. Ellis went around in his box while Blaney drove away, but both drivers had slight damage to their trucks. Tyler Reddick once again stalled on pit road and came to a complete stop. He needed a push to get back started, but he remained on the lead lap. Ben Kennedy, who had dominated the entire first half of the race, made his first crucial mistake. He had trouble leaving his pits after getting fuel only. He beat Kyle Busch to the pit exit line for the lead, but his truck wasn't up to speed. He kept trying to get the truck to fire and it eventually started up. Kennedy tried to return to his spot after the stops, but he did not keep a cautious pace and NASCAR put him in the position where he came back up to speed after the stops. It wasn't just the younger drivers having trouble. Matt Crafton, last year's Truck champion, overshot his pit box and his crew had to push him back into the box. They filled the truck up with fuel and put two tires on, but, since they lost so many positions, Crafton came back in to change the other two tires. That was all for the pit stops and Kyle Busch was now out front for the first time.
The race went back green and Kyle Busch was able to hold onto the lead. Busch held onto the lead for a few laps before Timothy Peters used the outside line to make it up to Busch. On lap 58, Peters took the lead for the first time on the race. The two began to battle hard for the lead as the two lines rode side by side around Daytona. After a five lap battle, Peters jumped to the inside line ahead of Busch and began to cruise around the track as the leader. It looked like Peters would run away until the end of the event came near, but the third caution waved on lap 73 and the big one happened to the truck field during the middle of the event.
Ross Chastain bumped Parker Kligerman entering turn 3. Kligerman got a bit loose and bumped Mason Mingus, who was on the inside below him. Mingus pointed straight towards the outside wall and piled into it hard. Drivers like Darrell Wallace Jr., Brennan Newberry, Joey Coulter, Brian Ickler, John Wes Townley, Tyler Reddick, John King, Sean Corr, Chris Fontaine, Tyler Young, and Chris Cockrum had nowhere to go and piled straight into the other spinning trucks. Trucks spun through turn 3 and trucks slid through the grass down in the corner. After all the wrecking and spinning had finished, trucks were sitting stopped everywhere in the two turns. Some had been able to drive away with slight damage, but others had huge damage and would have to leave their trucks stopped on track. Ryan Sieg received the lucky dog. The huge big one resulted in the final pit stops of the race. Kyle Busch, Ron Hornaday Jr., Ryan Truex, and others took fuel only while some drivers decided to take two tires and fuel. Busch came out first and he would look to hold onto the lead as the race entered the final segment.
The race went back green and Kyle Busch quickly jumped out to the lead. Busch held the lead just as the fourth and final caution of the race waved on lap 86. Travis Kvapil lost an engine on the backstretch. He made it to the apron, but he had put a good bit of debris along the Daytona backstretch. Ryan Sieg received the lucky dog. No pit stops occurred and NASCAR lined up the field on track. Kyle Busch led the field to the final green flag of the race and the smaller field took the final green flag. Busch began to run away with the lead on the inside as the outside looked for a driver to propel them to the front. Ryan Truex and Ron Hornaday Jr. led the outside line, but they were making no ground as the laps clicked through the night. With about seven laps to go, Timothy Peters jumped to the front of the outside line and it began to move quickly. By lap 96, the outside line was battling with the inside line and Peters was just ahead of Kyle Busch for the lead. Busch tried to hold him on the outside, but Peters moved to the inside line as Ryan Truex moved to the lead on the outside. The outside continued to battle hard, but Peters looked to be in control. The field finally made it to the white flag and the outside line was battling to take the win. Peters made it through the first two turns and was into turn 3 still holding the lead. Peters held it out of turn 3 and made it out of 4. Kyle Busch, who was running behind him, made a last ditch effort. He went to Peter's outside heading towards the trioval. Busch made it and Peters went to block, but Busch had already secured the line. The two drag raced to the line and they hit the finish line side by side. Busch barely edged Peters by seventeen one thousandths of a second to take his thirty sixth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. The victory was a very close one for Busch and one that continues to add to his legacy.
Some people don't like Kyle Busch or any other Sprint Cup regulars running in NASCAR's lower series and some make a good point why they shouldn't. Veteran drivers running with rookies take away the opportunities these rookies are looking for. But, like I say all the time, you have to give Kyle Busch credit. He goes down in these lower NASCAR series and wins the races, which is the ultimate goal. Usually, he does it in dominating fashion and it is amazing to watch. Yes, I would much rather have a Timothy Peters or Matt Crafton in victory lane, but at least Busch mostly has respect for his fellow competitors when running in NASCAR. Still, a good many underdogs had great finishes in this race. Jimmy Weller finished ninth in a very underfunded ride, Ryan Sieg finished eleventh in a family owned operation, Justin Jennings finished sixteenth in another underfunded team, and Norm Benning took a twentieth place finish in a very competitive effort for an underfunded truck. All these stories usually come out of Daytona and they are definitely very awesome to talk about. Plus, the regular veterans like Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, and Ron Hornaday Jr. left with good finishes while others like Joey Coulter, John Wes Townley, and Darrell Wallace Jr. left with terrible finishes to start their championship campaign. This bad finish leaves them in a slight hole, but they have a good many more events to move back into the championship picture. The series takes a month off before heading to Martinsville Speedway for a short track battle. Will Kyle Busch come back and win two straight, will Johnny Sauter repeat in the race, will Darrell Wallace Jr. win his second straight at Martinsville, or will another driver take the win at Martinsville? We will have to wait a little over a month to find all this out and more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 21- Competition caution due to rain on the speedway throughout the day.
2nd Caution: Lap 51- Jennifer Jo Cobb's truck began to slow on the backstretch.
3rd Caution: Lap 73- Ross Chastain bumped Parker Kligerman entering turn 3 and Kligerman made contact with Mason Mingus. Mingus piled hard into the outside wall. Darrell Wallace Jr., Brennan Newberry, Joey Coulter, Brian Ickler, John Wes Townley, Tyler Reddick, John King, Sean Corr, Chris Fontaine, Tyler Young, and Chris Cockrum also piled in.
4th Caution: Lap 86- Travis Kvapil lost an engine on the backstretch of the track.
Lucky Dogs:
1st Caution: None
2nd Caution: Chris Cockrum
3rd Caution: Ryan Sieg
4th Caution: Ryan Sieg
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Kyle Busch
2nd: Timothy Peters
3rd: Johnny Sauter
4th: Ryan Truex
5th: Ron Hornaday Jr.
Notables Not in Top 5:
6th: Ryan Blaney
13th: Matt Crafton
15th: Ben Kennedy
26th: Darrell Wallace Jr.
29th: Parker Kligerman
32nd: Joey Coulter
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://racing-reference.info/race/2014_NextEra_Energy_Resources_250/C
-Image:
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/b802467e446793dbcfa37f630f3b01f8b02a9113/c=723-184-3018-1911&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/USATODAY/USATODAY/2014/02/21//1393041426000-2-21-14-truck-kyle-busch.jpg
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