Weeknight NASCAR racing is a special kind of racing for the fans, teams, and drivers of the Camping World Truck Series. They are the only series to regularly race twice a year on a Wednesday night, at the dirt track of Eldora Speedway, and this week at Bristol Motor Speedway. Then, only two questions would remain – who would win the UNOH 200 at Bristol, and would Mother Nature try to rain on their parade?
In qualifying, it was once again the Kyle Busch show. Busch (#54 JEGS.com Toyota), the Cup Series regular, would easily claim the pole at Bristol, and lead the field to green. Ryan Blaney (#29 Cooper Standard Ford) would start second, and steal the show in the first half of the race.
On the start, Ryan Blaney was king of the road. He would quickly pass Kyle Busch for the race lead and hold it for nearly the first quarter of the race. However, on a restart, Blaney would jump too early and be forced to do a pass through penalty on pit road, sending him one lap down.
Because of Blaney’s penalty, the lead would be handed over to the young Cole Custer (#00 Haas Automation Chevy). Custer would battle briefly with Busch for the lead, before holding him off and charging out front for the better part of half the race.
However, Cole Custer would run into trouble as Mother Nature began the rear her ugly head. With forty laps to go, Custer would collide with Spencer Gallagher (#23 Allegiant Air Chevy) while leading, bringing out the caution, and handing the lead to Matt Crafton (#88 Menard’s Toyota). Suddenly, the rain arrived on the scene, causing NASCAR to stop the race and bring out the red flag.
After a brief delay, the track was dried and the Trucks would go back racing. Crafton would be in control in the final thirty laps, until Ty Dillon (#31 GunBroker.com Chevy) crashed hard. That would set up one final green-white-checkered finish. And Ryan Blaney was coming.
On the final restart, Ryan Blaney got a great restart and easily passed Matt Crafton, never looking back. Blaney would win the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, in a season where he has bounced from ride to ride for Penske Racing.
Kyle Busch would rally to finish second, with John Hunter Nemechek (#8 Chevy) riding to a strong third place finish. The men and women of the Camping World Truck Series will next head to their one road course of the season at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park. The Chevy Silverado 250 can be seen next Sunday on Fox Sports 1.
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