Martin Truex Jr. wins his first Truck Series race at Bristol

After a couple of days of rain, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series finally got underway in the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway Monday afternoon. The heat races were canceled on Friday. Thus, the starting lineup was determined by a metric qualifying system in which John Hunter Nemechek won the pole. Both Jennifer Jo Cobb (unapproved adjustment) and Derek Kraus (pit prior to the green) started the race in the back.

Austin Hill got the early lead after Nemechek missed a shift to start the race. On the second lap, Hill lost the lead to Sheldon Creed. The race was caution-free for the first thirteen laps until Tanner Gray spun out at turn three to bring out the race’s first caution. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 18.

Creed was still leading the race when Carson Hocevar’s truck spun on the front stretch to bring out the second caution on lap 27. Brett Moffitt was the only driver to pit during the caution from the 15th position. The race resumed on lap 32. Martin Truex Jr., who started 15th, passed Stewart Friesen for second place on lap 35. On the same lap, Austin Wayne Self hit Chandler Smith, sending Smith around before Tylor Ankrum hit him to bring out the race’s third caution.

No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 40 with one lap to go in stage one. Martin Truex Jr. passed Creed from the outside to win stage one. John Hunter Nemechek and Stewart Friesen elected to stay out while everyone else pitted. Teams had to pit the old-fashioned way. There were no air guns involved. Teams were given three minutes to add fuel and change tires. Zane Smith was penalized for adding fuel before putting tires on while Johnny Sauter’s crew took longer than three minutes, and he had to restart in the back.

Stewart Friesen was the leader when the race resumed on lap 42 to start stage two. Truex would quickly get by both Nemechek and Friesen to take back the lead. Six laps later, Matt Crafton made contact with Nemechek, sending him spinning. Then both Derek Kraus and Timothy Peters ran into him on the high lane. Nemechek let Crafton know what he felt about the incident. Once again, the red flag was displayed as crews worked on the track due to the fluid left behind.

Once cleanup was done, the yellow flag was back out, and Kyle Larson was the only driver to pit during the caution. The race resumed on lap 58. Five laps into the restart, Jennifer Jo Cobb spun at turn two to bring out the race’s seventh caution. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 69.

One lap into the restart, Norm Benning cut down a left rear tire and spun to bring out the eighth caution. Benning was parked due to NASCAR believing he brought out the caution on purpose. Benning said on the radio, “Why in the world do they do this to me? It is bullsh*t.” No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 76.

Three laps into the restart, Truex was battling Ben Rhodes for the lead. Rhodes briefly led before Truex took it back. One lap later, Myatt Snider’s truck spun at turn four to bring out the race’s eighth caution. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed with six laps to go in stage two. Truex would cruise his way to win stage two.

Grant Enfinger and Chase Purdy stayed out while everyone else pitted during the caution. Enfinger was the leader when the final stage got underway on lap 92. Enfinger led two laps before Truex, who restarted third, took the lead back. Five laps later, Mike Marlar cut a left rear tire and was slow on the track. He waited to go low to get to pit road, but Kyle Larson ran into the back of him, and Danny Bohn hit Larson. Brett Moffitt also spun to avoid the accident.

The red flag was once again displayed for fluid cleanup. Once cleanup was complete, the yellow flag was back out. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 108. With 39 laps to go in the back, Kevin Harvick was squeezed by Sheldon Creed and Chase Purdy battling for a top ten spot. On lap 119, Chandler Smith got loose at the exit of turn two and was hit by Johnny Sauter, who had nowhere to go to bring out the race’s tenth caution.

No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed on lap 126. Truex was cruising when Andrew Gordon spun at the exit of turn four and hit the barrels, lifting the rear wheels. NASCAR threw out another red flag for cleanup. Once cleanup was complete, the yellow flag was back out. No one went to pit road during the caution, and the race resumed with eleven laps to go.

Ben Rhodes missed a shift stacking up the field behind him as Truex quickly pulled away. Rhodes lost the second spot to Raphael Lessard but would get it back a couple of laps later. Meanwhile, Truex was gone and would go on to win the race by 1.149 seconds over Rhodes. It was Truex’s first career Truck Series win and the third for Kyle Busch Motorsports this year.

The rest of the top ten finishers were Raphael Lessard third, Todd Gilliland fourth, Chase Briscoe fifth, Grant Enfinger sixth, Zane Smith seventh, Parker Klingerman eighth, Austin Hill ninth, and Austin Wayne Self tenth. Truex led 105 laps, the most in the race, and there were twelve cautions for 56 laps and eleven lead changes. This race had numerous bangs and bruises along the way. The dirt clung to the windshields and grills, making it impossible to see at times and cause car temperatures to rise along with their own.

The Truck Series will return on Saturday, April 17th, from Richmond Raceway at 1:30 pm on FS1.

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