Cameron Hayley at 9 pm ET on Thursday, July 23, 2015. Photo – Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Cameron Hayley is our guest on Fan4Racing Fan2Fan NASCAR & Race Talk on Monday, July 27, 2015 at 9 pm ET.  Call 714-202-9918 or tweet, @Fan4RacingSite @Sal_Sigala or @ZRoethlisberger with any questions or comments during the LIVE broadcast.

In a season with many ‘firsts,’ Cameron Hayley’s rookie season this week features his début on dirt at Eldora Speedway for the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic. Hayley started ninth and finished eighth in his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start at the famed clay oval owned by Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart. 

Posting his first laps at Eldora during both practice sessions on Wednesday, Hayley posted the 17th and 12th fastest times. He then qualified fourth after finishing second to the race winner, Christopher Bell in the fourth qualifying race, allowing him to line up his No. 13 truck in the ninth position for the three-segment – 60-50-40 laps – feature event.

With a record number of cautions – 13 for 61 laps – Hayley stayed focused for an action packed race. Running as high as sixth and as low as 14th, Hayley kept his average running position at 10.0.

Crew chief Jeff Hensley brought Hayley to pit road under the first competition caution on lap 55, for four tires and fuel. On the lap 60 restart, Hayley lined up in the 11th spot.

Throughout the last 90 laps, Hayley battled a bunched field, changing track conditions and a truck that was loosing grip.  He fell back but rallied in the closing laps, which included a green-white-checkered flag, but stayed the course finishing in eighth position.

With a top-ten finish for Hayley’s No. 13 team, they gained on spot on the point standings and now sit sixth, 101 points behind their teammate and points leader, Matt Crafton.

“We accomplished our goal (of a top-ten finish),” said Hayley after his début on dirt. “I felt like we were in a really good position, sitting eighth, the caution before the last one. I think we would have been in position to make a better run at the end. I found a little more grip about three-quarters of the way up the track, but it was just so up and down (on the leaderboard). We were up to eighth, and then back to 13th, just up, and down, up, and down.  I was just so happy to get everyone at ThorSport Racing a good solid top-ten run tonight.”

With 11 Camping World Truck Series races posted this season and as the highest-finishing ThorSport Racing driver at Eldora, Hayley has two top-five and five top-ten finishes for the season.

Christopher Bell won the Mud Summer Classic followed by Bobby Pierce, Tyler Reddick, Erik Jones and Daniel Hemric. ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton finished ninth and Johnny Sauter 22nd

Up next for the Camping World Truck Series is the Pocono Mountains 150 at Pocono Raceway on Saturday, August 1st, with the FOX Sports 1 broadcast at 1 pm ET.