Coca-Cola 200 Race Recap

Credit to Google

How come it always seems that when there are no Cup drivers in the Camping World Truck Series race, that the races are always more exciting?  This week since the Cup race is in New Hampshire and the Truck race was in Iowa; the Cup drivers elected to focus only on their race on Sunday.  Kyle Busch was replaced by Brian Ickler and Kevin Harvick/Elliott Sadler was replaced by David Mayhew. 

Mayhew snatched the pole for Kevin Harvick Inc., but it was Austin Dillon that most fans kept their eyes on since this was the track that he dominated to get his first career win at last year.  The first caution of the night came on lap ten when Ickler spun, but was quickly able to recover.  The Green Flag didn’t last long because on lap seventeen, Ricky Carmichael spun; joined by Jack Smith, who was hit from behind by Ickler. 

Johnny Sauter led the pack back to the Green Flag, but it wasn’t long before Dillon took the lead…and ran away with it; at one point, he had a 3.36 second lead over second place.   On lap sixty-five, Jason White had a tire go down, causing him to hit the wall.  Shortly after that, Ron Hornaday’s bad luck continued when he spun out on lap seventy-seven. 

Credit to Google

On lap 104, the “Big One” came, but surprisingly, it only involved one driver – Justin Marks.  After contact with Max Papis, Marks spun, hitting the inside wall – which had no SAFER barrier – all concrete.  The wall dented in, having to be replaced, which caused a fourteen-minute Red Flag.  When Marks got out of the truck, he was visibly out of breath and was taken to the Infield Care Center.  There they decided it would be best if he went to a nearby hospital out of precaution.  Today, he is home and doing well – just a little sore.   The last caution of the night came on lap 153 when Ricky Carmichael (again) spun; this time hitting the wall harder and destroying the front end of the truck.  Dillon was leading until a bad stop on Pit Road led him to have to restart eighth.  He charged to the front, but was only able to catch Crafton to lead one more lap. 

After leading 127 laps, Dillon finished second behind Matt Crafton, who only led 37 laps.  Crafton scored his second career victory last night. 

To see the list of race results, click here

To see the official point standings after the Coca-Cola 200, click here