BRISTOL, Tenn. — Recap by Race Chaser Online Managing Editor Jacob Seelman — NASCAR via Getty Images photo —
Never give up.
That was the mantra for Ryan Blaney all night long during the UNOH 200 presented by ZLOOP at Bristol Motor Speedway, and after a restart penalty, a 45-minute rain delay and a green-white-checkered restart, the 21-year-old defied all odds to score his fourth career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory and first of the 2015 season.
Blaney charged past late race leader Matt Crafton on lap 201 after Crafton stumbled coming to the green flag, with the two making contact before Blaney cleared the No. 88 in turn one and drove into the Bristol night — ultimately holding off a last-turn bonzai run by polesitter Kyle Busch to beat Busch to the flag by 0.513 seconds.
Coming back from a pass-through penalty for a restart violation at lap 39 that left him a lap down, the roller-coaster of emotions was one that Blaney said he fought throughout the race, but was ultimately glad he came out on top of.
“I don’t have much to say on (the penalty); obviously we didn’t like it but that’s NASCAR’s jurisdiction so we’ll have to clean that up in the future,” Blaney said. “It says so much for this team to have such a fast truck to get back up there. I don’t know if I cut the 88’s (Crafton’s) left rear tire and if I did, I apologize to those guys. We both were spinning our tires and couldn’t stay off each other.
“This is my last race with this team this year, and it’s a cool way to start off our tripleheader weekend.”
Blaney will also be competing in the NASCAR XFINITY Series race Friday night, of which he is the defending race winner, as well as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on Saturday.
His team owner was as frustrated as Blaney was about the penalty at the time, but was able to joke about it following his driver’s improbable comeback.
“I’m glad I didn’t have phone service,” Brad Keselowski admitted, “because I probably would’ve said something I shouldn’t say on social media.”
At the initial green flag, Blaney blasted past polesitter Kyle Busch on the opening lap, while Busch complained over the radio early that his truck was “on the splitter real bad.” That problem would begin to alleviate by lap seven, but by that point Busch had fallen back to sixth, just ahead of two-time defending champion Matt Crafton.
As Busch began to work his way back forward, Blaney was out front pacing the field until lap 32, when the first caution of the night flew for an accident involving rookies Cameron Hayley and Daniel Suarez. The Brad Keselowski Racing driver would stay out to hold the lead, but jumped the ensuing restart and received the aforementioned penalty from NASCAR as a result, handing the lead to 17-year-old Cole Custer for the first time on the night.
Custer would make a show out of the next 40 laps, leading and holding off a furious charge from Busch until the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series veteran stole the lead right as a lap 79 caution came out for debris — also allowing Blaney to get the lap he lost back by way of the free pass.
Johnny Sauter stayed out to lead seven laps under caution, but as soon as the race resumed at lap 90, Custer came charging back to the point from the inside lane and resumed his march at the front of the field. Custer would run away from the field to a near-three second advantage by the time the caution flew at lap 112 when Ray Black Jr. spun and smacked the outside wall off the exit in turn four.
The yellow saw Busch hit pit road with 85 laps to go for a trackbar adjusment and four tires in hopes for a major improvement out of his No. 54 Toyota, but left him mired in 16th for a restart with 79 laps to go. Busch began charging from the drop of the green flag, but Custer continued to lead ahead of Crafton as rain moved closer and closer to the Bristol area.
The complexion of the race would change, however, with 40 laps to go — due to a spin by Spencer Gallagher where Custer had nowhere to go and slammed into the side of Gallagher’s Chevrolet.
The impact caused heavy damage to the right front of Custer’s machine, ending his bid for the win — just as the skies opened with rain — after leading 107 of the race’s 200 laps.
“I really don’t know what happened,” a dejected Custer admitted. “It looked like he either got loose or just spun out on his own. I was already committed to the top as hard as I could go. I couldn’t do anything at that point, the truck just wouldn’t turn. Whatever, I don’t know. We had a great truck. I think the rain was going to fall in another two minutes so we probably could have won the thing, but it’s just a shame that we just didn’t get the finish [we deserve] again.”
“We knew the rain was coming — honestly, I think we should have stayed out right there. I really don’t know we pitted. It was just a thrash thing I guess. We’d have [likely] been first or second if we’d stayed out. I’m just disappointed in the whole deal.”
Custer’s thought that the rain would end the race ended up being incorrect, though. After a 45 minute rain delay, the race resumed with 25 laps to go and saw Crafton take off out front, leaving the field to scrap behind him. As Crafton knocked down green flag laps, Blaney began mounting his final charge to the front — taking second from John Hunter Nemechek with seven laps to go before one final caution, after contact between Ty Dillon and Ben Kennedy led to a spin for Dillon, set up the race-defining restart.
As Crafton fell back through the field, Busch rallied to claim the runner-up spot ahead of John Hunter Nemechek, Daniel Hemric and Brandon Jones — with both Nemechek and Hemric coming away with career-best marks at the end of the night.
The two-time defending champion, meanwhile, finished seventh, sandwiched between title rivals Erik Jones and Tyler Reddick, and was frustrated with losing a race that appeared to be his for the taking.
“We led laps and they knew we were there,” Crafton said simply after the race. “We’ll go on to Canada and try to get them there.”
Leaving Bristol, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series points standings see Reddick on top of the heap by six points over Crafton, with Jones a single point behind Crafton in third.
The Trucks head next to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario on Sunday, August 30 for the Chevrolet Silverado 250. The event is the only road course race on the series schedule in 2015. Blaney is the defending winner of the event, but is not currently scheduled to compete.
RESULTS: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; UNOH 200; Bristol Motor Speedway; August 19, 2015
- Ryan Blaney
- Kyle Busch
- John Hunter Nemechek
- Daniel Hemric
- Brandon Jones
- Erik Jones
- Matt Crafton
- Tyler Reddick
- Johnny Sauter
- Dalton Sargeant
- John Wes Townley
- Timothy Peters
- David Gilliland
- J.J. Haley
- Ben Kennedy
- Cole Custer
- Tyler Young
- Cameron Hayley
- Travis Kvapil
- Justin Jennings
- Ray Black Jr.
- Spencer Gallagher
- Ty Dillon
- Norm Benning
- Jennifer Jo Cobb
- Wendell Chavous
- Korbin Forrister
- Ryan Ellis
- Mason Mingus
- Daniel Suarez
- Caleb Holman
- Tyler Tanner
About the Writer
Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network. Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s. He is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for both the United Sprint Car Series and the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.
Email Jacob at: speed77radio@gmail.com
Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77
