NASCAR Daytona Truck Race: Timothy Peters Wins on Last Lap

Timothy Peters didn't lead until the last quarter of a lap at the NASCAR Daytona 250 but he led when it counted, as he held off a late charge by Bodine. Peters hooked Bodine's bumper as the entered the tri-oval and Bodine shot up to the wall. Bodine gathered it up and made a run at Peters one last time but fell a little short. The win was Peters second NASCAR truck win.

Peters in his interview with Ray Dunlop of Speed TV said, " I want to apologize to Mike Skinner for wrecking him while bump drafting, I made a rookie mistake and I feel bad about it." Peters smiled then said, " I'm going to Disney World!"

KBM has a night to forget.
Kyle Busch's first day as an owner in the NASCAR Truck Series was a rough one to say the least, as all three of his trucks were involved in the first two wrecks of the Daytona 250. Kyle Busch was involved in the first wreck on the first lap and took the car to the garage for 18 laps, while he worked on his #18 Helluva Good Toyota.

On lap one, NASCAR truck rookie, Austin Dillon, grandson of NASCAR car owner Richard Childress, got loose and veered hard right taking out 7 cars including Kyle Busch. The accident occurred as the NASCAR trucks were getting up to speed. The accident sent Johnny Sauter hard into the outside wall and eliminated young Hendrick driver Landon Cassill.

Carmichael starts the second crash trying to bump draft Hornaday.
The second crash of the night occurred on lap 30, when AMA Motocross legend, now NASCAR Truck driver, Ricky Carmichael bump drafted last years NASCAR truck champ Ron Hornaday. As Carmichael pushed Hornaday, his car veered to the outside wall setting off another major pile-up. The crash also involved Kyle Busch's other two cars. Tayler Malsam in the #56 truck and Aric Almirola in the #51 truck.

Kyle Busch fixed his truck up well enough to run and compete at the front of the field, while his other two trucks were not as competitive. The leaders were careful not to let defending NASCAR Nationwide champ, Kyle Busch out ahead of them, so he couldn't start getting laps back.

Skinner miffed at Kyle Busch racing while 20 laps down.
The #5 Mike Skinner, former NASCAR truck champ, crashed on the back stretch when #17 Timothy Peters bump drafted Skinner lifting him up off his wheels and sending him weaving out of control. Skinner weaved twice and then slammed hard into the outside wall. missing any other cars.

Skinner in his interview wasn't as mad at Peters as he was with Kyle Busch. When Krista Voda of Speed TV interviewed him he said, "The real problem is that we have a Toyota teammate out there that is 20 laps down (Kyle Busch) pushing a Ford." Skinner clearly miffed paused then said, "That's the real problem."

Bodine takes fuel only to move closer to the front.
With 37 laps to go, during the caution for the Skinner crash, everyone came down pit road. Going for his third consecutive NASCAR Daytona 250 win, Todd Bodine, took only fuel on the stop. Bodine's crew chief told Speed TV announcer Ray Dunlop they would come to pit road one more time for tires and a slash of fuel. Bodine had been forced to come to pit road under green when his tire went down earlier in the run and that allowed him to only take on gas later in the race.

Mario Gosselin smashes into inside pit wall.
Mario Gosselin hooked the back bumper of former Formula One star Nelson Piquet Jr sending Gosselin screaming towards the inside wall. Gosselin almost missed the inside barrier but he clobbered it right at pit exit, doing extensive damage to Gosselin's #12 Tire Monkey.com Silverado. The accident would bring the leaders to pit road to pick up a few seconds of fuel presumably to make it to the end of the race.

Nelson Piquet Jr finds trouble again as he tries to become a NASCAR regular.
Former Formula One driver, turned NASCAR truck driver, Nelson Piquet Jr was involved in another accident with Italian born Max Papis. Piquet Jr bumped drafted Max Papis sending him sideways into the NASCAR safer barrier with just 16 laps remaining. With 15 laps remaining no one came to pit road as they all prepared to race to the end.

The field was given the green light on lap 14 and Matt Crafton who had sat at the back all race began to make his move to the front of the field. Crafton hooked up in the draft with the #60 Stacy Compton and then Jason White got out in front of Crafton with 10 laps to go. Crafton appeared to stall out with 7 laps to go.

Bodine misses block and just misses his third consecutive NASCAR Daytona 250.
With 5 laps to go Ryan Sieg smashed the outside wall and limped into the pits. NASCAR left the green flag out and Todd Bodine maintained the lead on the low side since the restart with Timothy Peters pushing him. Todd Bodine led until entering the tri-oval on the final lap when he was bumped up into the NASCAR safer barrier, then saved it. Peters hooked Bodine, sending him towards the wall but Bodine fought back and almost came back to win.

Sources:
Speed TV
speedtv.com