CP MOTORSPORTS - BELL CONTINUES KBM LEGACY IN THE MUD AT ELDORA
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Christopher Bell is no stranger to the dirt.
Bell has been racing for and winning championships on dirt surfaces around America. So it's no surprise to race fans the 20-year-old Norman, Oklahoma native won the Third Annual 1-800-CarCash Mud Summer Classic at Eldora Speedway; grabbing his first win in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series in just his third start of his career in the series.
Bell, who just dreamed of the opportunity to run in this race two years ago, was able to hold off 18-year-old dirt track ringer Bobby Pierce by almost a full second on Wednesday night.
"It's just really special," Bell said. "I've been coming here (Eldora Speedway), I think my first race was in 2013 in a midget and I ran second here twice, I could never seal the deal. Two years ago, I remember watching this race on TV and I just started in the midget ranks and just a kid from Oklahoma so I thought, 'How cool would it be if I were able to come up here and race a truck at Eldora?' It's just nice to be here.
"I never would've dreamed I ever would've been a NASCAR Truck winner here at Eldora."
Pierce, who made his debut Wednesday night by capturing the pole, was unable to overcome Bell, driver of the No. 54 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota, despite getting the chance on several late race restarts. All in all, Bell dominated the event leading 106 of the race’s 154 laps.
The win is the second consecutive in the event for Kyle Busch Motorsports as Darrell Wallace, Jr, rode to victory lane for KBM in last year's event.
Bell admitted the pressure was starting to get to him before the event because of the success the No. 54 team and KBM have achieved in the Truck series.
"I knew coming in here that I had a really good truck," Bell said. "They (the No. 54 team) was probably a little more confident than I was. I was pretty shaky there in the hauler, and I kept asking for moral support, 'Do you think we're really good? Do you think we're good?' And they keep telling me, 'Yeah, you're fine, you're fine.' But you always have pressure when you're running for KBM. It's nice because you're in the best equipment so you're able to run a lot better than you would if you were in some lesser truck.
"But you better run good because you're running for KBM."
Another Camping World Truck Series regular with dirt track roots, Tyler Reddick, brought home a third place finish with last year's pole sitter Erik Jones finishing in fourth place. Daniel Hemric, who made his first ever start at any level on a dirt surface, finished in fifth place.
Austin Dillon, who won the inaugural running of the Mud Summer Classic, finished in sixth followed by John Hunter Nemechek, Cameron Hayley, points leader Matt Crafton rounded out the top-ten.
With the third place finish, Tyler Reddick was able to move to within 14 points of two-time defending Truck series champion Crafton.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Number 11
Unofficial Race Results for the 3Rd Annual 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic
- Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH - .5 Mile Dirt
Total Race Length - 154 Laps - 77 Miles - Purse: $532,521
Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 4 54 Christopher Bell Toyota Certified Used Vehicles Toyota 154 48 5 147.5 $37,273 Running 2 106
2 1 63 Bobby Pierce RPM Services Inc./Roofix Inc. Chevrolet 154 43 1 131.6 $27,697 Running 4 39
3 5 19 Tyler Reddick Draw Tite Ford 154 41 104.3 $23,646 Running
4 19 4 Erik Jones # Special Olympics World Games Toyota 154 40 92.7 $18,870 Running
5 17 14 Daniel Hemric # California Clean Power Chevrolet 154 39 98.2 $16,430 Running
6 10 31 Austin Dillon(i) DOW Chevrolet 154 0 112.0 $13,086 Running 2 8
7 2 8 John H. Nemechek # Chevrolet 154 38 1 85.2 $14,794 Running 1 1
8 9 13 Cameron Hayley # Cabinets by Hayley/Carolina Nut Co. Toyota 154 36 91.4 $14,745 Running
9 12 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Toyota 154 35 104.5 $15,695 Running
10 15 33 Ty Dillon(i) Rheem Chevrolet 154 0 99.1 $13,346 Running
11 3 52 Ken Schrader Federated Auto Parts Toyota 154 33 73.5 $12,347 Running
12 27 11 Ben Kennedy Local Motors Toyota 154 32 73.3 $14,548 Running
13 6 02 Tyler Young Randco Industries/Young's Building Supplies Chevrolet 154 31 71.7 $14,498 Running
14 20 05 John Wes Townley Zaxby's Chevrolet 154 30 65.4 $14,450 Running
15 23 07 Ray Black Jr. # ScubaLife.com Chevrolet 154 29 61.7 $15,000 Running
16 21 45 Chris Fontaine Field & Stream Chevrolet 154 28 57.8 $12,100 Running
17 18 23 Spencer Gallagher # Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 154 27 54.2 $14,302 Running
18 30 50 Jody Knowles Clayton Signs/Korban Partners Ford 154 26 51.2 $14,252 Running
19 13 6 Norm Benning Legend of Stan Bowman/Churchill Trucking Chevrolet 154 25 46.7 $14,050 Running
20 25 82 Sean Corr Nesco/Trans Tech Ford 154 24 43.3 $12,251 Running
21 22 51 Matt Tifft ToyotaCare Toyota 154 23 64.3 $13,952 Running
22 7 98 Johnny Sauter Nextant/Curb Records Toyota 153 22 58.1 $13,902 Running
23 8 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 153 21 71.3 $13,853 Running
24 16 08 Korbin Forrister # Tilted Kilt Chevrolet 153 20 45.5 $12,554 Running
25 26 35 Cody Erickson Empire Driver Development Chevrolet 153 19 38.8 $11,654 Running
26 32 94 Wendell Chavous Premium Motorsports Chevrolet 152 18 32.9 $12,456 Running
27 29 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Driven2Honor.org Chevrolet 151 17 29.7 $11,406 Running
28 11 29 Brad Keselowski(i) Cooper Standard Ford 144 0 55.9 $11,063 Running
29 38 00 Cole Custer Haas Automation Chevrolet 136 15 27.3 $10,964 Running
30 28 1 Travis Kvapil Burnie Grill/Bubba Burgers/Altec Chevrolet 119 14 40.5 $10,464 Accident
31 14 15 Chad Boat Corvette Parts/Pristine Auctions Chevrolet 110 13 54.5 $8,964 Accident
32 31 74 Stewart Hayward Hot Shot Express RAM 79 12 26.3 $7,964 Engine
Race Comments: Christopher Bell has won the 1-800-Car-Cash Mud Summer Classic, his first victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Prior to the start of the race the following trucks dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: No. 11 (unapproved adjustments), No. 82 (missed driver introductions).
Failed to Qualify: (2) 03, 80.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 43 Mins, 35 Secs. Average Speed: 44.602 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.761 Seconds
Caution Flags: 13 for 61 laps: Laps: 8-11 (#08 Spin Frontstretch [None]); 16-23 (#35, 05, 50, 00, 82, 15 Accident Backstretch [None]); 27-31 (#08 Spin Frontstretch [35]); 38-41 (#94 Spin Turn 2 [35]); 48-52 (#10 Spin Turn 4 [35]); 55-60 (#23, 15 Accident Turn 1 [94]); 73-77 (Debris Frontstretch [10]); 95-99 (#45 Spin Turn 4 [35]); 102-105 (#05 Spin Turn 2 [45]); 112-112 (#6, 1, 10, 15 Accident Turn 1 [94]); 117-120 (#10, 23 Spin Turn 2 [98]); 140-145 (#17 Spin Turn 2 [82]); 149-152 (#08 Spin Frontstretch [51]).
Lead Changes: 9 among 4 drivers: B. Pierce 0; J. Nemechek # 1; B. Pierce 2-5; A. Dillon(i) 6-12; B. Pierce 13-22; A. Dillon(i) 23; B. Pierce 24-41; C. Bell 42-98; B. Pierce 99-105; C. Bell 106-154.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) M. Crafton 452;(2) T. Reddick 438;(3) E. Jones # 428;(4) J. Sauter 381;(5) J. Townley 360;(6) C. Hayley # 351;(7) D. Hemric # 347;(8) T. Peters 343;(9) S. Gallagher # 335;(10) B. Kennedy 329.
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Joe Gibbs Engines (JGE), #54 Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Christopher Bell, #54
Sunoco Rookie of the Race : Erik Jones, #4
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Aug. 1, 2015 - Pocono Raceway
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