NASCAR Dream Season: Camping World Truck Series opener at Daytona

Over the last few years, the Camping World Truck Series has emerged as a mix between veteran drivers wanting a second chance at glory and young up-and-comers making names for themselves.  And that's definitely true here.

I placed Kasey Kahne, who has only a handful of starts in this series, in version 1.0 and he won the title!  He's back to defend, joined by current Cup stars Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, David Ragan, and Erik Jones; truck veterans Matt Crafton, Ron Hornaday, Brendan Gaughan, Darrell Wallace Jr., and Timothy Peters; and past series champions Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague, and the late Bobby Hamilton.

Their first test was the season-opening NextEra Energy Resources 250, which Daytona first put on in 2000.  Thrilling moments include the scary crash that literally cut a truck (driven by Geoffrey Bodine) in half in that first race, Carl Edwards' first national-level win in 2003, and Kaz Grala's triumph in 2017 which made him the youngest winner in the track's history.

February 16

Daytona International Speedway

250 miles, 100 laps (stages: 20, 20, 60)

But the race I put on would be nothing like any ever seen before.

For one thing, two drivers who started at the back of the field would take just 20 laps - the length of the first stage - to roar into the top 10!  Those would be Joe Ruttman (4th based on his win in the 2001 race) and Ted Musgrave (a past race runner-up who finished seventh).  Sweeping stages 1 and 2 would be Todd Bodine (2-time race winner, tied with Johnny Sauter who I left out of the starting field; and an average finish of 6.11 in nine starts).

Top 10 after stage 1: Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters, Bobby Hamilton, Joe Ruttman, Jack Sprague, Travis Kvapil, Ted Musgrave, Erik Jones, Ron Hornaday, Mike Wallace
Top 10 after stage 2: Bodine, Peters, Kvapil, Matt Crafton, Hamilton, Sprague, James Buescher, Hornaday, Musgrave, Wallace

The biggest accident came on lap 36 and involved six trucks, including Ruttman and past champs Jones and James Buescher.  Larson slid off the track and onto the backstretch on lap 93; collected were former three-time
Cup champion Tony Stewart and former Formula One driver Nelson Piquet, Jr.

The last lap was wild.  Bodine and Timothy Peters (second in both stages) battled for the lead, but both ran out of gas just seconds after each other in that order.  Just off turn 3, Logano took over the lead and won the race!  As he could not earn stage points due to him not having any previous starts in the truck series at Daytona, Logano needed all the race points he could get - and got them!

Full-field rundown with point totals

1. #29 Joey Logano - Cooper Standard Ford - 40
2. #33 Ron Hornaday - Smoky Mountain Snuff Chevrolet - 40
3. #75 Austin Dillon - Food Country USA Chevrolet - 0*
4. #5 Mike Skinner - Wauters Motorsports Ford - 33
5. #18 David Reutimann - Nintendo Switch Toyota - 32
6. #98 Bobby Hamilton - Square D Toyota - 45
7. #63 David Ragan - Bommarito Chevrolet - 30
8. #19 Justin Allgaier - Draw-Tite Toyota - 29
9. #52 Scott Riggs - VisitOrlando.com Ford - 28
10. #21 Kasey Kahne - Allegiant Air Chevrolet - 27
11. #2 Mike Bliss - SKF Ford - 26
12. #88 Matt Crafton - Menards/Goof-Off Toyota - 32
13. #4 Darrell Wallace, Jr. - JBL Toyota - 24
14. #7 Jack Sprague - Red Horse Toyota - 34
15. #66 Ryan Blaney - Herbalife Toyota - 22
16. #50 Mike Wallace - BB&T Chevrolet - 0*
17. #17 Timothy Peters - SiriusXM Toyota - 38
18. #13 Todd Bodine - Maroone Auto Group Toyota - 39
19. #12 Kyle Larson - UNOH Chevrolet - 18
20. #51 Tony Stewart - Rush Truck Centers Toyota - 0*
21. #22 Nelson Piquet, Jr. - Petrobras Chevrolet - 16
22. #02 Reed Sorenson - Young Motorsports Chevrolet - 15
23. #74 Ted Musgrave - Mike Harmon Racing Dodge - 20
24. #83 Jason Leffler - Fanatics Toyota - 13
25. #23 Scott Lagasse, Jr. - Allegiant Air Chevrolet - 0*
26. #16 Erik Jones - AISIN Toyota - 14
27. #49 Joe Ruttman - LoanMart.com Chevrolet - 17
28. #77 Travis Kvapil - SafeLite Auto Toyota - 22
29. #92 James Buescher - Black's Tire Service Chevrolet - 12
30. #62 Brendan Gaughan - South Point Chevrolet - 7
31. #8 Regan Smith - Death Wish Coffee Chevrolet -  6
32. #28 Steve Park - FDNY Foundation Chevrolet - 5

*Not eligible for points

Top 8 in points after this race

1. Bobby Hamilton - 45
2. Joey Logano - 40
3. Ron Hornaday - 40
4. Todd Bodine - 39
5. Timothy Peters - 38
6. Jack Sprague - 34
7. Mike Skinner - 33
8. David Reutimann - 32

Additional statistics
Pole winner and speed: Kasey Kahne, 179.623 mph
Race speed: 132.182 mph
Margin of victory: 0.425 seconds
Time of race: 1 hr., 53 min., 28 sec.
Cautions: 8 for 32 laps
Lead changes: 11 among 6 drivers