It was a wild and crazy night to kick off the 2016 Camping World Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway. With close racing, wrecks, and a battle to the finish, everyone had someone to cheer for tonight in the NextEra 250 at Daytona.
In qualifying, it was rookie Grant Enfinger (#33 Champion Power Equipment Chevy) who shined, outpacing the field for the pole position. Drivers from fellow title contending teams Brad Keselowski Racing and Kyle Busch Motorsports would join him up front.
Early in the race, Tommy Joe Martins (#44 Toyota) would find trouble in the wall, hitting twice to bring out the first two cautions. Meanwhile, the battle for the lead was on all race long, with Austin Theriault (#2 GoGo Wireless Ford) leading the most laps on the night.
With NASCAR’s new rule in the Truck Series mandating a caution every twenty minutes if one is not generated on track, drivers hoped to take advantage of the strategy changes. Unfortunately for them, the caution clock never created a caution, other than a crash when drivers attempted to pit before the time ran out, collecting two of the KBM trucks.
As the race moved toward it’s thrilling conclusion, the racing throughout the pack became more frantic and aggressive. This would lead to a large crash in Turn 3 with just eight laps to go, collecting over half the field in the madness. Many contenders were taken out, including Theriault, Enfinger, and last year’s winner Tyler Reddick (#29 Cooper Standard Ford). This large crash would lead to a red flag, setting up a two-lap dash to the checkered flag.
In the end, two laps would be one too many before the field would wreck once more, sending rookie Christopher Bell (#4 JBL Audio Toyota) flipping and rolling over a dozen times, before getting out of the truck under his own power. With the race ending under caution, Johnny Sauter (#21 Smokey Mountain Chevy) would take the win in the NextEra 250 at Daytona.
While Sauter came home with the victory, a number of drivers would come home with strong finishes too. Ryan Truex (#81 Goodyear Toyota) would come home second, after leading before the last caution. Parker Kligerman (#92 BTS Tire Ford), who now focuses on broadcasting with NBC Sports, came home in third.
The Camping World Truck Series moves on next weekend to the north to Atlanta Motor Speedway, hosting a doubleheader with the Xfinity Series on Saturday afternoon. Tune in to FS1 next weekend to see the race live.
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