William Byron Dominates Truck Series Race in Pocono
Byron was over a tenth of a second faster than the field throughout the weekend, as he was quickest in practice on Friday. When qualifying was rained out, he was awarded the pole due to his speed in practice.
With 11 restarts, on 10 caution flags, a track-high, Byron has to outlast the competition and not allow them to get big runs on the restarts. More times than not, he would be over one second ahead of second-place after the first green flag lap was complete.
"I don't get too far ahead of what our goals are, but that was definitely a goal, I can't lie about that," Byron said of setting the record for wins by a rookie driver in the Truck Series. " I knew that was something to beat. We just show up with so much focus and we never get off track. It's just a credit to where we are as a race team t the work were doing with the trucks and were putting it all together when we get to the race track. I love this race track and I think it's a pretty neat place and I think you have to be in love with the race track to have success at the track."
Cameron Hayley was the best of the rest, as he recorded a season-best second-place finish. In two career races at Pocono, the No. 13 truck has finished among the top five.
"Last year I got beat by Cup drivers and I felt like I could have won if there were no Cup drivers, now you've got William Byron that is super fast and I got beat again," Hayley said of his second-place finish. "I wish we could have sealed the deal, but I have two top fives in my two starts here. I don't know what it is about this track that I like, maybe it's more suited toward a road course and I love road course racing."
Brett Moffitt, replacing Matt Tifft at Red Horse Racing finished third after spending much of the day inside the top five. With no other races on his 2016 schedule, he hopes this performance sticks out on owners minds so that he can get off the couch for the remainder of the season.
"It feels good for myself," Moffitt said of the finish. "I think this will open some eyes with no other races on my schedule, hopefully it will make me a little bit busier in the second half of the summer. All in all, the guys at Red Horse did a really good job. It feels really good."
Leading four laps, Timothy Peters finished fourth at Pocono. Cole Custer rounded out the top five, after spinning in the Tunnel Turn on Lap 11.
Rico Abreu finished sixth, marking his second-consecutive top-10 finish. Ben Kennedy came home seventh, with Johnny Sauter was eighth, John Hunter Nemechek finished ninth and Christopher Bell rounded out the top 10.
Bell set a record of five free passes, to get back on the lead lap after he was involved in an incident with John Wes Townley during the third caution of the afternoon. In the final five laps, Bell raced from 23rd to 10th.
For Brad Keselowski Racing, Chase implications took a turn on Lap 27 when Daniel Hemric spun in Turn 1, collecting Tyler Reddick. The No. 29 truck fell from the Chase bubble to 10th on the grid, one point off the pace.
The Truck Series will have two weeks off prior to returning to the race track August 17, where Ryan Blaney is the defending winner for Brad Keselowski Racing.
Byron Scores Fourth Win in 2016
William Byron holds off a late race charge from John Hunter Nemechek and Daniel Hemric to win the Buckle Up Your Truck 225 at Kentucky Speedway. This is Byron’s fourth win of 2016, and Kyle Busch Motorsports 51st career win, becoming the winningest team in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
“I can’t say enough about this organization. It’s so awesome to have Kyle (Busch, owner) and Samantha’s support, Toyota’s support with great Toyota Tundras and great JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing Engines) tonight. It’s a dream come true to get a win like this. It just keeps going, I have a great team behind me. I have to thank Liberty University and everyone that puts it together,” said William Byron post-race.
The Buckle Up in Your Truck 225 went the advertised distance of 150 laps. The race saw 9 lead changes among six different drivers. William Byron led the most laps throughout the race with 70 laps followed by, Daniel Suarez (59), Johnny Sauter (14), Timothy Peters (5), and Tyler Reddick and Tommy Joe Martins both led one lap.
The caution flag flew five times for a total of 32 laps. The first caution of the day occurred from lap 27 to 35 from oil laid down on the track by Brett Moffitt. Debris found in turn one brought out the second caution. The third and fourth caution were brought out by accidents on the speedway. The final caution of the night flew due to the expiration of the caution clock.
William Byron leads the points standings by 13 over Matt Crafton, followed by, Daniel Hemric (-17), Timothy Peters (-17), and Johnny Sauter (-30).
Byron tends to the top seeding in the Camping World Truck Series Chase with four wins on the season. Matt Crafton holds the second spot with two wins, Johnny Sauter, John Hunter Nemechek, and Christopher Bell all have one win that clinched their spot in the Chase.
Inspection at the track received the all clear. No trucks are being taken back to the NASCAR R&D Center in North Carolina.
The average speed of tonight’s race was 116.698 MPH. Time of the race was 1 hour, 55 minutes, and 41 seconds. The margin of victory from William Byron over John Hunter Nemechek was .190 seconds.
The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will take 13 days off before returning to Eldora Speedway on July 20, the only race of 2016 on dirt. Coverage will be on Fox Sports 1 and Motor Racing Network.