And no one was sitting.
A late-race caution jumbled the field back together under overcast skies at Rockingham (N.C.) Speedway. A potent rookie driver Kyle Larson in complete command of the North Carolina Education Lottery 200 at The Rock presented by Cheerwine, with a former track winner Joey Logano on fresher tires in his tire tracks.
Game over right? Wrong.
Logano spun his tires on the restart and despite a charge by the former NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie-of-the-year, it still wasn’t enough and Kyle Larson soared to his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win in the No. 30 Autism Speaks Chevrolet Silverado for Turner Scott Motorsports.
“I knew when I was lapping him (Logano) there with about 60 or so to go, I figured he had to be on a different strategy. Then I saw him get the lucky dog and I figured he had to be on new tires. I was definitely worried and I could see him getting closer and closer in the mirror and was hoping we could get to the line, and we got that yellow with just a couple to go. I’m usually not the best on restarts, so I was surprised I got that good of a start. I’ve just got to thank all these guys on the Turner Scott Motorsports team. It’s cool to have Autism Speaks on the truck, especially since Trent (Owens, crew chief) – his son, Gray, has Autism. So, I wish Gray was here with us to hang out and have fun. I’m pretty happy.”
Larson who started his fifth NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from the third position took the lead from teammate James Buescher on lap 18 and dominated the race to lead a whopping 187 of the event’s 205 laps. Larson also celebrated in a big way last November after being crowned the NASCAR K&N Series East champion driving for Rev. Racing.
“This is very special. I just want to thank all the fans for coming out and watching this and I hope all the fans watching at home enjoyed it too. I can’t wait to get back in a truck.”
Logano finished second followed by Brendan Gaughan, Johnny Sauter and Chase Elliott to complete the top-five.
Matt Crafton claimed sixth with pole sitter Jeb Burton, Ryan Blaney, Erik Jones and Miguel Paludo to comprise the remainder of the top-10.
The race took a dramatic turn with several incidents broke out inside the final five laps of the event. The attention was centered on Ron Hornaday and Darrell Wallace Jr. A few laps before the caution, Wallace Jr. laid on Hornaday’s No. 9 Smokey Mountain Herbal Snuff Chevrolet Silverado. When the yellow broke out originally for an incident between Timothy Peters and Ryan Sieg on the frontstretch, Hornaday then butted against the side of Wallace’s No. 54 ToyotaCare Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports, before hooking the right rear of the KBM truck and sending him into the outside wall.
Wallace’s truck was destroyed and Hornaday was penalized by NASCAR for aggressive driving. He rebounded after starting at the tail of the field to claim 15th. The incident was nearly identical to the wreck at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2011 when Kyle Busch slammed Hornaday Jr. into the wall. Busch was suspended the next day by NASCAR for those actions and other run-ins throughout the season.
The two drivers did though talk about the incident in the garage after the race without incident. No word yet from NASCAR on any possible further penalties or even possible suspension.
Other notables in the top-20 included John Wes Townley (11th), Ty Dillon (12), James Buescher (14), Max Gresham (16), Dakoda Armstrong (17) and David Starr (20).
Ryan Sieg’s hopes for three consecutive top-10 runs ended with a 22nd place finish.
Clay Rogers had an uncharacteristic day at Rockingham, a place where’s he normally seen out front. Instead, he struggled with the No. 92 BTS Tire Chevrolet Silverado and finished 25th.
Peters was credited with a 26th place finish. Wallace 27th.
Todd Bodine, a favorite heading into Sunday’s event was spun late in the race following a restart and retired with a 32nd place finish in the No. 13 SealMaster Toyota Tundra for ThorSport Racing.
Mike Harmon brought up the rear of the field, finishing 36th and completing 131 laps after colliding and spinning out the reigning NCWTS truck champion James Buescher.
With his third consecutive top-five finish, Johnny Sauter maintains the championship lead by 16 points over rookie Jeb Burton heading to Kansas Speedway next weekend. Sauter, Burton and Crafton
are the only three drivers who have recorded three top-10 finishes this season.
Logano stated in his post-race interview conference that he will return to the No. 19 Ford F-Series for Brad Keselowski Racing (BKR) next weekend at Kansas Speedway. He says it will be race number two of four to five races driving for his Cup teammate.
Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is the SFP 250 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday, April 20 with live coverage on SPEED, MRN and SiriusXM Satellite Radio.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
