To say Kyle Larson had a good day would be the biggest understatement so far this year. Larson had a phenomenal day where he led over half of the laps in the race and was able to hold off various drivers for the lead throughout the afternoon. He had never raced a lap in a truck at the Rockingham Speedway until this weekend; and by the end of a race, he looked like he had raced at the Rock all of his life. Besides this win being Larson’s first Truck win, this was his first victory in any of the top levels of NASCAR. Kyle Larson put on a pure dominant performance at the Rock.
Turner-Scott Motorsports paraded the field all day since their trucks led just about every lap of the event. James Buescher was able to get to the lead on lap one and led until lap 19 when Larson was out front for the first time of the day. The first half of the race seemed to fly by and Kyle Larson was still leading once the crossed-flags waved.
Last year’s champion, James Buescher, had some troubles on lap 143 when he brought out the fourth caution of the race. He spun out in turn one after some contact from the lapped truck of Mike Harmon. Buescher went a lap down under caution and was never able to make it back to the front of the field.
The action started to pick up in the last thirty laps when the drivers started to get more aggressive. The first of three cautions to fly in the last thirty laps came out with 29 laps to go when Chris Jones spun off turn two. The next yellow-flag followed soon after when Todd Bodine spun off turn two and hit the inside wall on the backstretch on the restart following Jones’ caution.
Larson looked to have the race won even though Joey Logano was quickly closing on him in the last five laps, but Logano got a real chance to go after the win when a caution came out with three laps remaining. The yellow-flag was for Ryan Sieg and Timothy Peters who wrecked on the frontstretch, after Peters tried to clear Sieg too early and turned into the frontstretch wall.
A separate incident occurred under caution when Ron Hornaday Jr. wrecked Darrell Wallace Jr. in turn three. Hornaday Jr. felt like Wallace Jr. was racing him a little too rough and Hornaday Jr. showed his displeasure by intentionally turning Wallace Jr. into the turn three wall, while still under caution. NASCAR penalized Hornaday Jr. by having him go to the end of the longest line, but don’t be surprised if more actions by NASCAR in the coming days.
Once the field went back to green with two laps remaining, Larson set sail. Logano spun his tires on the restart and allowing Larson to pull away. Logano closed in on the last lap, but it was too late. Larson grabbed the checkered flag and celebrated his first Truck Series win. With the most dominant car of the day, Kyle Larson’s reward was getting to celebrate in victory lane. Larson isn’t a Truck Series regular, so this race was all about bragging rights and he definitely earned the right to brag after his performance at the Rock.
The Truck Series heads to Kansas next weekend for their first race on the new surface. The action will be fierce at Kansas Speedway and you don’t want to miss the race.
Results via ESPN.com
POS | DRIVER | CAR | MANUFACTURER |
LAPS |
MONEY |
START |
LED |
PTS |
BONUS |
PENALTY |
1 | Kyle Larson | 30 | Chevrolet |
205 |
3 |
187 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
2 | Joey Logano | 19 | Ford |
205 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3 | Brendan Gaughan | 62 | Chevrolet |
205 |
9 |
0 |
41 |
0 |
0 |
|
4 | Johnny Sauter | 98 | Toyota |
205 |
11 |
1 |
41 |
1 |
0 |
|
5 | Chase Elliott | 94 | Chevrolet |
205 |
4 |
0 |
39 |
0 |
0 |
|
6 | Matt Crafton | 88 | Toyota |
205 |
5 |
0 |
38 |
0 |
0 |
|
7 | Jeb Burton | 4 | Chevrolet |
205 |
1 |
0 |
37 |
0 |
0 |
|
8 | Ryan Blaney | 29 | Ford |
205 |
6 |
0 |
36 |
0 |
0 |
|
9 | Erik Jones | 51 | Toyota |
205 |
36 |
0 |
35 |
0 |
0 |
|
10 | Miguel Paludo | 32 | Chevrolet |
205 |
18 |
0 |
34 |
0 |
0 |
|
11 | John Wes Townley | 7 | Toyota |
205 |
26 |
0 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
|
12 | Ty Dillon | 3 | Chevrolet |
205 |
14 |
0 |
32 |
0 |
0 |
|
13 | Joey Coulter | 18 | Toyota |
205 |
17 |
0 |
31 |
0 |
0 |
|
14 | James Buescher | 31 | Chevrolet |
205 |
2 |
17 |
31 |
1 |
0 |
|
15 | Ron Hornaday Jr. | 9 | Chevrolet |
205 |
16 |
0 |
29 |
0 |
0 |
|
16 | Max Gresham | 8 | Chevrolet |
205 |
15 |
0 |
28 |
0 |
0 |
|
17 | Dakoda Armstrong | 60 | Chevrolet |
204 |
8 |
0 |
27 |
0 |
0 |
|
18 | Tim George Jr. | 5 | Ford |
203 |
30 |
0 |
26 |
0 |
0 |
|
19 | German Quiroga Jr. | 77 | Toyota |
203 |
23 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
0 |
|
20 | David Starr | 81 | Toyota |
203 |
25 |
0 |
24 |
0 |
0 |
|
21 | Brennan Newberry | 14 | Chevrolet |
203 |
24 |
0 |
23 |
0 |
0 |
|
22 | Ryan Sieg | 39 | Chevrolet |
203 |
12 |
0 |
22 |
0 |
0 |
|
23 | Bryan Silas | 99 | Ford |
202 |
31 |
0 |
21 |
0 |
0 |
|
24 | Tyler Young | 6 | Chevrolet |
201 |
22 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
0 |
|
25 | Clay Rogers | 92 | Chevrolet |
199 |
28 |
0 |
19 |
0 |
0 |
|
26 | Timothy Peters | 17 | Toyota |
198 |
20 |
0 |
18 |
0 |
0 |
|
27 | Darrell Wallace Jr. | 54 | Toyota |
197 |
10 |
0 |
17 |
0 |
0 |
|
28 | Johnny Chapman | 07 | Chevrolet |
196 |
32 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
0 |
|
29 | Caleb Holman | 75 | Chevrolet |
195 |
21 |
0 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
|
30 | Tyler Reddick | 52 | Toyota |
195 |
13 |
0 |
14 |
0 |
0 |
|
31 | Jennifer Jo Cobb | 10 | Dodge |
187 |
34 |
0 |
13 |
0 |
0 |
|
32 | Todd Bodine | 13 | Toyota |
180 |
19 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
|
33 | Norm Benning | 57 | Chevrolet |
175 |
35 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
0 |
|
34 | Chris Jones | 93 | Chevrolet |
167 |
29 |
0 |
10 |
0 |
0 |
|
35 | Jeff Agnew | 27 | Chevrolet |
141 |
27 |
0 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
|
36 | Mike Harmon | 84 | Ford |
131 |
33 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |