Aric Almirola is developing into the new Kyle Busch at Billy Ballew Motorsports (BBM) if you will as the Tampa, Florida native literally came out of nowhere inside the final 10 laps of Saturday’s VFW 200 at Michigan International Speedway to record his second win of the season in the same chassis that he won with at Dover (Del.) International Speedway last month.
A blown motor by the No. 88 of Matt Crafton would jumble up the field closing in on the finish of the ninth race of the 2010 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) season. On the restart, a spin by former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet would again bunch up the field for what would turn out to be the final restart of the day.
On the restart, Busch battled leader Todd Bodine on the restart before Aric Almirola in the No. 51 Zyclara / Graceway Pharmaceuticals Toyota Tundra snickered into the mix and found himself in the middle of a three-wide battle with Busch and Bodine for several laps before finally clearing the former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion with seven laps remaining which ultimately allowed Almirola to capture the checkered flag for the second time in a month. Bodine had to settle for second, a truck best at the two-mile speed plant.
“We struggled at the beginning of the race just being really tight. Dirty air was so bad today. Clean air was so important and we got to the front and we got in clean air and it just was a different truck. It drove great. It was a little bit free where I had fought tight all day, but Richie Wauters (crew chief) and all the guys at Billy Ballew Motorsports – they work their tails off all week long and it shows man,” sounded Almirola
He went on to say, “we had an awesome truck. I want to thank Graceway Pharmaceuticals. They stuck behind us and they’ve been a great supporter of ours. I want to thank the fans – what a crowd today. I was doing my burnout there and I seen them all cheering and waving and stuff so that’s cool. That makes you feel good when you come and see a packed house like that.”
Kyle Busch in his No. 18 unsponsored Toyota Tundra finished third. A frustrated Busch said “the driver didn’t get it done” as to why he did not take his Kyle Busch Motorsports team to victory lane for the second time this season.
Ron Hornaday Jr., in his final race with Longhorn Moist Snuff as the primary sponsor of his Kevin Harvick Inc. owned No. 33 Chevrolet Silverado before new rules enforced by the Food and Drug Administration will prevent cigarette and smokeless tobacco sponsorships in sporting events as of June 22 finished fourth after starting on the outside pole.
Pole-sitter Austin Dillon was able to recover from a piece of speedy dry in his eye (which was attended to during the red flag for rain in the infield care center) and a late-race penalty to net his second consecutive top-five finish after notching his second straight NCWTS pole.
Red Horse Racing’s Timothy Peters took sixth. Jason White in a Ford F-150 for the second time this year recovered from a poor qualifying run to finish seventh in his No. 23 GunBroker.com machine. Randy Moss Motorsports’ David Starr recovered from being a beneficiary of the Aaron’s lucky dog to finish eighth. He was followed in toe by Elliott Sadler who recovered from a flat tire and two-lap deficit to steal ninth with Almirola’s teammate Nelson Piquet also making a nice comeback from the final yellow flag of the second of three races of the weekend at MIS to close out the top-10.
After starting ninth, Stacy Compton finished 11th. Donny Lia in the No. 07 Outdoor Channel Outfitters notched a solid top-15 finish by placing 13th for SS Green Light Racing while Ricky Carmichael in the No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet Silverado edged out fellow Turner Motorsports teammate James Buescher for 15th and 16th respectively.
Florida native Chris Fontaine in the No. 84 Gleden Enterprises Chevrolet Silverado bounced back from the first caution flag of the day to post a top-20 finish with Justin Lofton, the 2009 ARCA Racing Series champion maintaining his starting position to claim 18th.
Brad Sweet in his Michigan debut for Stringer Motorsports steered his No. 90 Great Clips Toyota Tundra to 19th while the other Sadler, Hermie comprised the remainder of the top-20 drivers.
Birthday girl Jennifer Jo Cobb muscled another solid effort by posting a 21st place run while former ARCA Racing Series standout Mario Gosselin wheeled his No. 12 TireMonkey.com Chevrolet to 23rd.
Brett Butler, the son of Aaron’s President Ken Butler was the highest running driver from the Rick Ware Racing clan as he claimed 24th with teammate Donnie Neuenberger right behind to round out the top-25.
Michael Guerity, making his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut in front of his hometown crowd at MIS soldiered on from his 35th place starting position in the No. 01 Koma Unwind Chevrolet Silverado to place 26th in the Daisy Ramirez Motorsports entry.
Brent Raymer in the Ford Drive one Ford F-150 exited the field early on lap 30 with a vibration while several start and park vehicles brought up the rear of the field that included Chad McCumbee (30th), Mike Garvey (31st), Chris Jones (33rd), Mike Harmon (34th) and J.C. Stout (36th). Chase Austin, making a return to the series for the first time since early 2009 fell out of competition 10 laps into the contest when the motor in his No. 46 Walgreens / Team Gill Racing Dodge Ram expired.
Bodine, who led the most laps at Michigan International Speedway on Saturday with 33 maintains first in the championship chase with a 55-point edge over race winner Almirola. The Germain Racing driver is the only driver to record eight top-five finishes in nine of the races run this season, compared to Almirola’s three top-fives and seven top-10’s.
Crafton was the biggest loser of the weekend slipping three spots in the standings to 10th following his disappointing 27th place run. Jason White was the first of the drivers inside the top-10 to swap a spot as he jumped from eighth to seventh following his third top-10 run of 2010. There were no drastic changes in the truck owner standings.
Before exiting the Media Center during post-race interviews, Bodine left the media with a statement that virtually brought the room to a complete standstill. “A lot of guys in this sport have lost site of that fact of why we’re here and why we do this. It’s a damn shame that some people can’t go back out there and enjoy it,” he said. “I just want you to all know that the Truck Series is a lot of fun and this is what we do every week. A lot of you guys don’t see us every week, but this is what we do and we have fun doing it and it’s a crying shame that the rest of these guys can’t.”
Saturday’s race was halted for nearly 40 minutes after a light shower dampened the two-mile oval nestled in the lush Irish Hills of Southeastern Michigan just 13 laps from halfway.
Round 10 for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes the series out west to Newton, Iowa for the running of the Lucas Oil 200 set for Sunday, July 11 live on SPEED, MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio NASCAR channel 128 beginning at 2:00 p.m. local.
