Sheldon Creed wins the Sunoco 159 Sunday afternoon at Daytona

Unlike the two previous days, the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series had clear skies Sunday afternoon for the Sunoco 159 on the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway road course. Zane Smith won the pole by a draw, and Christian Eckes drew second to make up the front row. Before the race got underway, the No. 49 Chevrolet truck of Roger Reuse was on pit road with the hood up on the truck.

The #Sunoco159 is underway at @DISupdates!@zanesmith77 gets an A for effort in the Turn 1 send!!#TheTrip pic.twitter.com/Qu4z5KQoqB — NASCAR Gander Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) August 16, 2020

The race started with Zane Smith getting into trouble at turn one, locking the brakes, and allowing Brett Moffitt to take the lead. Smith would fall back to the 21st position. Three laps into the race, Sheldon Creed, who started in 14th place, was now up to third. A lap later, Derek Kraus was running in the ninth position when he missed the bus stop and had to come to a complete stop, dropping him to 18th place. As stage one was nearing an end, several drivers took the opportunity to pit under green, including Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, and five others. The first caution would come out on the tenth lap as Mark Smith spun at the bus stop and could not refire the truck. Brett Moffitt would win stage one under caution.

During the caution, a driver change occurred as Josh Reaume replaced Roger Reuse. Some of the leaders stayed out, including Christian Eckes, Matt Crafton, along with eighth others while everyone else pitted for four tires. Christian Eckes led the field back to green on lap 15 to start stage two. Eckes, who had not yet pitted would lose the lead to Matt Crafton a lap later at the horseshoe in turn three. Matt Crafton missed the entrance to the bus stop on lap 19 and to come to a complete stop, handing the lead the Sheldon Creed with Raphael Lessard taking second place. Christian Eckes would make his first pit stop on lap 21.

As the second stage was nearing an end, several drivers came to pit road before it closed Matt Crafton, Parker Klingerman, Ben Rhodes, Brett Moffitt, and five others pitted. Raphael Lessard would pit on lap 23. On the last lap of stage two, Sheldon Creed thought stage two was over, but his crew chief told him this was the last lap of stage two. Creed was able to get back up to speed as Austin Hill challenged him for the lead. Creed held off Hill to win stage two.

Retweet to congratulate @SheldonCreed on his @NASCAR_Trucks WIN on the Daytona road course! Watch the final lap below. pic.twitter.com/vOrSLXV0xi — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) August 16, 2020

During the caution, Christian Eckes took fuel only while Tim Viens and Raphael Lessard made contact on pit road. Raphael Lessard would lead the field to green on lap 28 to start the final stage. Lessard and Alex Tagliani got together heading into turn one. Lessard kept the lead while Tagliani fell to fourth as both Matt Crafton and Brett Moffitt got by him. Lessard would miss the chicane towards the front stretch and had to come to a stop, handing the lead to Matt Crafton. The third caution would come out on lap 32 for Jordan Anderson as he stopped in the grass at turn eight.

During the caution, Matt Crafton, Sheldon Creed, Johnny Sauter, and four others stayed while everyone else pitted. Crafton would lead the field back to green on lap 35. On the restart, Parker Klingerman got shoved into the grass at the exit off of turn two. He was running 12th and fell to 26th place. Sheldon Creed would pass Crafton at the bus stop to take the lead. He would have a four-second lead as the caution would come out again on lap 39 for the fourth time as Derek Kraus’s truck was stopped at the exit off of turn two.

Sheldon Creed would lead the field to the restart on lap 42. Creed would wheel hop his truck at turn six, allowing Brett Moffitt to catch him. Moffitt could not make the pass as Creed remained in the lead. At the bus stop, Alex Tagliani, Ben Rhodes, and Parker Klingerman got together going off the track. All three drivers kept their trucks going, and the race stayed green. The caution would come out again for the fifth time as the No. 40 truck of Carson Hocevar was stopped at turn five, sending the race into overtime.

In overtime, Brett Moffitt tried to outbreak Creed at turn three but couldn’t get by him. Creed extended his lead on Moffitt and would go on to win the Sunoco 159, his second win of the season by .743 seconds over Brett Moffitt, who finished in second place.

Retweet to congratulate @SheldonCreed on his @NASCAR_Trucks WIN on the Daytona road course! Watch the final lap below. pic.twitter.com/vOrSLXV0xi — FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) August 16, 2020

The rest of the top ten finishers were Raphael Lessard third, Matt Crafton fourth, Austin Hill fifth, Tyler Ankrum sixth, Grant Enfinger seventh, Parker Klingerman eighth, Scott Lagasse Jr. ninth, and Stewart Friesen tenth. There were nine lead changes from six drivers and five cautions for seven laps.

Playoff point standings right now are Austin Hill first, Sheldon Creed second, Zane Smith third, Grant Enfinger fourth, Brett Moffitt fifth, Matt Crafton sixth, Ben Rhodes seventh, Christian Eckes eighth, Tyler Ankrum ninth, and Todd Gilliland tenth. Outside looking in are Derek Kraus eleventh, Tanner Gray twelfth, Raphael Lessard thirteenth, and Johnny Sauter fourteenth.

The next race for the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is a trip to the monster mile at Dover International Speedway on Friday, August 21st, at 5 pm in the KDI Office Technology 200 on FS1.

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