John Wes Townley collected his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Saturday night, saving just enough fuel during his last run to win the Rhino Linings 350.
Townley, who qualified his No. 05 Chevrolet second, battled among the top-five for much of the race taking the lead from two-time series champion Matt Crafton with five laps to go when Crafton had to pit road for a splash of fuel.
Townley’s victory came in the Georgia veteran’s 89th career start. He scored a previous-best finish of third at Texas Motor Speedway in June. His best performance at Las Vegas had been a seventh place.
Both Townley and crew chief Michael Shelton credited the team’s spotter, Terry Cook, for coaching Townley through the deciding laps.
“I would have run out of gas if it hadn’t been for Terry,” said Townley of the former series competitor. “I took care of this thing (truck) tonight and it took care of me. This is amazing; awesome.”
Said Shelton, a former series championship crew chief, “It’s been a lot of time coming. He’s (Townley) had a tough career at times.”
Crafton, who led the most laps and qualified his No. 88 Toyota on the pole, finished eighth. He closed the gap on championship leader Erik Jones to four points as Jones finished ninth.
Red Horse Racing teammates Timothy Peters and Ben Kennedy drove their Toyotas to second and third-place finishes. John Hunter Nemechek, who won at Chicagoland Speedway last month in a race also dictated by fuel mileage, took fourth despite being involved in an early caution. Brandon Jones was fifth.
Nine different drivers swapped the lead 15 times with Crafton—whose ThorSport Racing truck had been the fastest in both practice and qualifying—leading seemingly at will. His greatest challenge came from a teammate, Cameron Hayley, who passed Crafton on the 69th lap and built a lead of five seconds before a slow pit stop dropped him back in the field.
Hayley’s Toyota, running third behind Crafton and Townley, also ran short of fuel and finished tenth.
Contact in turn four on lap 14 between Brad Keselowski Racing teammates Austin Theriault and Tyler Reddick sent Theriault’s No. 29 Ford head-on into the outside wall, triggering the race’s first caution. Theriault was given help from his truck by safety workers, then transported to a local hospital for evaluation, where he reportedly was awake and alert.
Reddick continued to finish seventh and stays in championship contention, 16 points behind Jones.
Johnny Sauter, the race’s 2009 winner, and Nemechek triggered another caution on lap 49, spinning in turn two while battling for the runner-up position behind leader Peters. Both continued after pit stops for repairs.
Defending Rhino Linings 350 winner Jones, who entered the season’s 18th event leading Crafton by seven points, qualified his No. 4 Toyota 15th but fell to the rear of the field at the start after his Kyle Busch Motorsports crew made an engine change.
Action sports star Travis Pastrana made his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start, finishing 16th. Pastrana was 15th in his first appearance, also at Las Vegas in 2012.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Rhino Linings 350
Las Vegas Motor Speedway
1. (2) John Wes Townley, Chevrolet, 146, $45845.
2. (4) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 146, $31057.
3. (9) Ben Kennedy, Toyota, 146, $25167.
4. (16) John H. Nemechek #, Chevrolet, 146, $21906.
5. (3) Brandon Jones #, Chevrolet, 146, $19051.
6. (12) Daniel Hemric #, Chevrolet, 146, $17267.
7. (11) Tyler Reddick, Ford, 146, $16712.
8. (1) Matt Crafton, Toyota, 146, $19762.
9. (15) Erik Jones #, Toyota, 146, $16406.
10. (6) Cameron Hayley #, Toyota, 145, $17301.
11. (14) Brennan Poole(i), Chevrolet, 145, $14045.
12. (13) Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 145, $16156.
13. (22) Ray Black Jr. #, Chevrolet, 145, $16099.
14. (5) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 145, $16044.
15. (10) Spencer Gallagher #, Chevrolet, 144, $16306.
16. (17) Travis Pastrana, Chevrolet, 144, $15966.
17. (20) Tyler Young, Chevrolet, 144, $15656.
18. (21) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 144, $15516.
19. (18) Matt Tifft, Toyota, 143, $15406.
20. (8) Mason Mingus, Chevrolet, 142, $14600.
21. (24) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Chevrolet, 140, $13933.
22. (27) Jordan Anderson, Chevrolet, 138, $12822.
23. (30) Akinori Ogata, Chevrolet, 135, $12712.
24. (29) Wayne Edwards, Chevrolet, 135, $12600.
25. (19) Chad Boat, Chevrolet, Handling, 114, $12695.
26. (32) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, Suspension, 46, $12517.
27. (26) Korbin Forrister #, Chevrolet, Oil Leak, 34, $12462.
28. (25) BJ McLeod, Chevrolet, Overheating, 33, $12213.
29. (23) Justin Jennings, Chevrolet, Electrical, 29, $12185.
30. (28) Caleb Roark, Chevrolet, Electrical, 16, $11685.
31. (7) Austin Theriault #, Ford, Accident, 14, $10185.
32. (31) Tyler Tanner, Chevrolet, Ignition, 5, $9185.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 132.772 mph.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 38 Mins, 58 Secs. Margin of Victory: 3.827 Seconds.
Caution Flags: Three for 19 laps.
Lead Changes: 15 among nine drivers.
Lap Leaders: M. Crafton 1-12; J. Townley 13-21; T. Kvapil 22; J. Jennings 23; J. Townley 24-30; J. Sauter 31-37; J. Townley 38; R. Black Jr. # 39; T. Peters 40-52; M. Crafton 53-68; C. Hayley # 69-91; J. Townley 92; J. Sauter 93-98; T. Reddick 99-100; M. Crafton 101-141; J. Townley 142-146.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): M. Crafton three times for 69 laps; J. Townley five times for 23 laps; C. Hayley # one time for 23 laps; T. Peters one time for 13 laps; J. Sauter two times for 13 laps; T. Reddick one time for two laps; J. Jennings one time for one lap; R. Black Jr. # one time for one lap; T. Kvapil one time for one lap.
Top-ten in Points: E. Jones # – 701; M. Crafton – 697; T. Reddick – 685; J. Sauter – 650; D. Hemric # – 596; T. Peters – 595; C. Hayley # – 584; J. Townley – 565; B. Kennedy – 545; S. Gallagher # – 533.