Kevin Harvick outran Timothy Peters in a green-white-checkered-flag finish at Michigan International Speedway, and with Nelson Piquet Jr. slamming the inside backstretch wall behind him, claimed his second straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory in Saturday’s VFW 200.
The victory was owner/driver Harvick’s second in four starts this season and the 11th of his career.
Peters ran second, followed by Miguel Paludo, James Buescher and David Starr.
A caution for debris on Lap 78 of a scheduled 100 bunched the field for a restart on Lap 83, with Mark Martin in the lead. Martin battled briefly with Johnny Sauter but soon began to pull away.
On Lap 86, Sauter spun in close quarters with Paludo and slapped the inside retaining wall on the backstretch. Martin led the field to a restart on Lap 89, but the race stayed green only for a moment.
Parker Kligerman’s Dodge broke loose in close racing with Martin, clipped the rear of Martin’s Chevrolet and sent the race leader spinning. The Chevrolet of series points leader Austin Dillon T-boned Kligerman’s truck in the melee, and polesitter Matt Crafton’s Chevy crashed into Martin’s, sending the defenseless veteran spinning for a second time.
The trucks of Dillon and Kligerman were destroyed. Sauter, who trailed Dillon by one point in the standings entering the race, worked his way through the wreck unscathed. Harvick inherited the lead for a restart on Lap 96, but debris from Joey Coulter’s blown tire brought out the sixth caution almost immediately, with Harvick still in the top spot.
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