John Wes Townley collects first NASCAR Victory

John Wes Townley first career NASCAR win on Saturday night might be remembered by some as a fuel mileage affair that saw the 25-year-old driver capitalize when the race leader, Matt Crafton, dive onto pit road with five laps remaining.

But Townley’s win in the 146 lap NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event was anything but a fluke.

The Watkinsville, Ga. native qualified second in the No. 05 Zaxby’s Chevrolet, led 23 laps, ran second or third much of the night and was ready to pounce when the checkered flag was within sight.

“The morning after winning my very first NASCAR race, it’s all still so surreal,” said Townley, who is eighth in the Truck Series driver standings. “We had a great truck all night long. When I saw Crafton hit pit road, I thought to myself ‘I can win this thing.’

“My spotter, Terry Cook, did a masterful job during those last few laps coaching me into saving fuel. But it turns out we had plenty of fuel.

“I hadn’t put a dent on the truck all night, but I slightly wrinkled the left-rear when I blew the tire doing a burnout. But it’s all good. There’s nothing like getting that first win.”

With the Truck Series idle for two weeks, Townley will jump into the No. 25 Zaxby’s Chevrolet on Friday night and compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

Townley, however, is primed for the five remaining truck races in 2015.

“We’ve got some really good tracks coming up, like Talladega, Martinsville, Texas and Homestead,” Townley said. “And with the trucks our Athenian Motorsports team is bringing to the track each week, there’s no reason we can’t win another race this year.”

Athenian Motorsports PR