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Disregarding conventional wisdom, it wasn’t some experienced dirt racer who won the twice-delayed Pinty’s truck race on Monday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Nor was a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular who took the checkered flag.
When the dust settled, Martin Truex Jr. was the unlikely occupant of Victory Lane – and dominant too. Entering the Camping World Truck Series for the first time since 2006, Truex led 105 of 150 laps in an action-packed race that featured 12 warnings for 54 laps and saw pre-race favorite Kyle Larson and the leader from the John Hunter Nemechek series in the garage with damaged trucks on arrival.
RELATED: Unofficial Results
It was the first career victory for Truex in his third career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start, but it was the third consecutive victory this season for a Toyota Kyle Busch Motorsports – and 83rd overall. Truex is the 35th driver to win in NASCAR’s top three touring series.
“It’s amazing, really,” said Truex, who was using Truck Series racing to prepare for the NASCAR Cup Series event later Monday afternoon. “I guess they must have put dirt on Bristol to get me back to Victory Lane here. It has been a long time. Dude, that was awesome.
“I wanted to run this race so that I could get more experience with the Cup car, and we got into practice and felt really good. And I was having a lot of fun, so I kept trying to work with the guys and tell them what I needed. It was really amazing how much the trail has changed but I have to say the (# 51 Tundra) stayed really really good the whole time.
Truex took control of the race after reigning Series Champion Sheldon Creed led laps 2 to 39. Ben Rhodes lined up next to Truex on the front row for the final restart on lap 139 but took missed a shift, moved briefly to third and made his way to second.
Rhodes finished 1.149 seconds behind Truex, Todd Gilliland being third and Chase Briscoe and Grant Enfinger completing the top five.
“We kicked them back there over the last few laps, but, yeah, just the worst restart of my life,” Rhodes said. “At the start of the race I struggled to shift into fourth gear and missed an early shift but really didn’t think about it and had some clear gear changes through the sequel, then I missed it. Too bad for my guys, but what I came closest to winning here in Bristol was on gravel. “
Nemechek got out after a crash on Lap 49, turning after Matt Crafton’s Ford touched and sustaining heavy damage when Derek Kraus’ No.19 slipped into his No.4 Toyota while sitting by the wall outside half mile steep incline expressway. .
RELATED: Words Exchanged Between Crafton’s Crews, Nemechek In The Garage
Larson was unable to avoid Mike Marlar’s slow truck on Lap 99 and sustained significant damage to his No. 44 Chevrolet Niece Motorsports after heavy contact with Danny Bohn’s No. 30 Toyota in the same incident.
“My spotter said they were slowing the back length, and I saw trucks slow down at the bottom, so I was running up,” said Larson, who was due to start the next NASCAR Cup Series race from the rear of the field. because of an engine change in his No.5 Chevrolet. “I was thinking ‘I’m going to have a lot of places here in (Tour) 3.’ So I ended up upstairs and there was someone parked there.
“We were fighting. Our truck wasn’t very good, but we were making adjustments to it… I still learned something for the Cup race, which was good… I learned to pass people, so start with the back, it is a help.
Truex, Briscoe and Larson were among the six Cup Series drivers in the Truck Series realm. Bubba Wallace was the second best-placed Cup regular in 11th. Kevin Harvick finished 15th, Daniel Suarez 17th and Larson 35th.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will return April 17 at Richmond Raceway for the ToyotaCare 250 (1:30 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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