In his return to Turner Scott Motorsports (TSM), Ryan Truex put on a show during Friday night’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) race at Daytona International Speedway. The No. 32 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet was fast from the start, ranking among the top three in the second NCWTS practice session; but due to inclement weather, NCWTS qualifying was cancelled, placing Truex and the No. 32 truck in the 14th starting spot for the NextEra Energy Resources 250. Truex and his TSM team worked flawlessly together throughout the 100-lap race and managed to get a fourth-place finish from the outside lane.
Truex and crew chief Mike Hillman Jr. were happy with the No. 32 Bass Pro Shops truck from the very start of the first practice session on Wednesday. By the second practice session, Truex had posted the third-fastest lap time and the TSM team decided to forego the final practice session. Confident with their truck, Truex and his team were ready to qualify, but due to inclement weather, the NCWTS qualifying session was cancelled and the trucks were lined up based on their practice times.
As the green flap dropped on the 2.5-mile superspeedway, Truex remained just outside of the top 15 until the competition caution came out on lap 25. After a fuel-only pit stop, the No. 32 Bass Pro Shops Chevy jumped to sixth on the leaderboard. Hillman and spotter Eddie D’Hondt encouraged Truex to remain consistent and continue to ride in the inside lane until it was time to make a move. When the second yellow flag waved at the halfway mark, the No. 32 truck made its way to pit road for another fuel-only stop and returned to the track in the fourth position. Just after racing resumed, a multi-truck crash occurred and collected nearly half the field; but fortunately, Truex and his TSM teammates managed to escape the wreck and remained among the top 10. Under caution, the No. 32 truck visited pit road for Sunoco fuel and returned to the track in the fifth position for the restart.
With 20 laps remaining, Truex and his TSM teammates were all among the top five until another caution arose, forcing Truex to the outside lane. Still in the second position and leading the outside lane, Truex and teammate Hornaday began closing in on the leader. In the final few laps, Timothy Peters jumped ahead of Truex in the outside lane, giving he and the No. 32 Bass Pro Shop Chevy the boost it needed to contend for the win. When Peters dropped ahead of the leader on the final lap, Truex put the pedal to the metal and crossed the finish line in fourth position.
“That was so awesome,” said Truex. “It felt so good to be just as competitive as we were in this race last year. This Turner Scott Motorsports team was flawless all weekend, especially in the pits tonight. I would’ve liked to get a win for TSM and Bass Pro Shops, but man, this finish felt about as good as a win. I’m just really thankful that Mr. Turner, Harry Scott and the entire Bass Pro Shops family believed in me and gave me a shot tonight. I’d love to be back in this truck again this season. This is definitely a winning team.”
TSM PR
