The win was Larson’s second career NCWTS win in his 12th series start, as well as his first at Eldora in three attempts.

After a gutting runner-up in the inaugural Eldora Truck race and a DNF in the second race after shattering the right-front brake rotor trying to run down eventual winner Darrell Wallace Jr., Wednesday night was a moment of pure bliss for the driver of the No. 24 DC Solar Chevrolet for GMS Racing.

“(Winning at Eldora) means a lot, especially losing the way I did in the two years I ran before,” said Larson. “I knew running a blue No. 24, I had to run hard at Eldora because Rico (Abreu) does such a good job running a sprint car here.”

“I got the flat tire early but I knew we could get a lucky dog. I just didn’t know if I could get back to the top three as quickly as I did. It worked out though, where I got by Bell when he got in the wall … and then Bobby had a gear issue after he got in the wall and the tire went down. He was definitely better than we were, though. I hated we couldn’t race with him but I was happy when he went out.”

Larson admitted, though, that his run to victory had one near-flaw that almost cost him the win again.

“Almost gave it away on the last restart … I went to the middle in three and four and missed a shift, and it let Bell get into my back bumper. I’m thankful he wasn’t inside of me or he probably would have gotten by me and be standing where I am. Luckily though, we held him off and finally got us this shovel.”

For Pierce, who looked to be on his way to a first-career Camping World Truck Series win, the end result of 25th didn’t reflect the effort that went into his second-consecutive mammoth run behind the wheel of a Mittler Brothers truck.

“I thought I went in a little too hot, but the truck just kept sliding and sliding and sliding and I knew it wasn’t going to be good,” he lamented. “It pulled the tire off the rim. It is what it is. I didn’t understand having to go to the infield care center, but I guess it’s mandatory. It’s a tough end … I don’t know if I’ll be doing any more asphalt (Truck) racing … but we’ll be back on the dirt soon and try to keep on keepin’ on.”

Meanwhile, Bell found his way to a runner-up finish, backing up his win from a year prior.

“We got going pretty good for a while, but the more it curbed up off of (turn) two the worse we got,” Bell said. “We’re happy with second. I would have liked to have won another one, but Larson has been coming here a long time and he’s hard to beat, so congrats to those guys.”

After racing his way in through the Last Chance Qualifier, Abreu drove from 27th to round out the podium in third, completing a top three sweep for the trio of former Keith Kunz Motorsports midget drivers.

Seventeen-year-old dirt late model racer Jake Griffin was fourth in his Truck debut for Red Horse Racing and former dirt late model standout Tyler Reddick capped the top five.

Wednesday night’s event marked the first time in four Eldora Truck races that the entirety of the top five was comprised of drivers who began their racing careers primarily on the dirt.

Cole Custer, Cameron Hayley, Daniel Hemric, Austin Wayne Self and Matt Crafton were the balance of the top 10.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returns to action on July 30 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.