CP MOTORSPORTS - NASCAR ROYALTY WINS FIRST TRUCK SERIES RACE IN BRISTOL
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Ben Kennedy made his 63rd career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start in Wednesday night's rain-delayed UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Kennedy's win is significant in the NASCAR community because the driver of the No. 33 Jacob Industries Chevrolet is the great-grandson of NASCAR's founding father, Bill France, Sr.
The triumph left the graduate of the University of Florida speechless in victory lane.
"I can't put it into words," said Kennedy. "Someone asked me earlier today what it's like going to Bristol for your first time, and to win here is just so cool. I'm speechless. The guys gave me an awesome truck. Everyone at GMS Racing, Jacob Companies, the fans in the stands, everybody watching on TV, gosh this is just the coolest day of my life."
Kennedy's win secures his spot within the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' Chase for the Championship, which is new for the 2016 season. The driver of the No. 33 Jacob Companies Chevrolet entered Wednesday night's race securely on the bubble for a chase spot at ninth in the series' points standings.
Kennedy held off 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Brett Moffitt on the race's final six laps following the final caution of the night. Moffitt, who grabbed his second top-ten finish of the 2016 campaign, appeared unable to get close enough to disrupt Kennedy's line around the track admits he would've used contact to win despite the fact they are next-door neighbors.
"I'm going to race people the way I want to be raced," Moffitt said. "It is Bristol, so if you need to move someone, you've got to move him. I just wasn't quite good enough through the center to get to him. He slipped up a few times, and I was able to get to his bumper once, but I didn't get to him hard enough.
"I was really waiting for him to make a mistake so I could shove my nose in there, but he executed when he needed to."
Brad Keselowski Racing's Daniel Hemric was able to leave "The Last Great Coliseum" with a third place finish. For Hemric, who was forced to race in a backup car, it marked his 10th top-ten finish of the season.
Rookie points leader William Byron finished in fourth place with Johnny Sauter, Cole Custer, Christopher Bell, John Hunter Nemechek, Brandon Jones and John Wes Townley rounding out the top ten. Pole-winner Tyler Reddick struggled throughout the race and finished in 14th place.
Byron will look to extend his 37 point advantage over Hemric in the points standings when the series is back in action next weekend at Michigan International Speedway.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Race Number 13
Unofficial Race Results for the 19Th Annual Unoh 200 - Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - .533 Mile Concrete
Total Race Length - 200 Laps - 106.6 Miles
Leader
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Status Tms Laps
1 13 33 Ben Kennedy Jacob Chevrolet 200 36 4 107.3 Running 1 20
2 8 11 Brett Moffitt BrainGear/Surface Sunscreen Toyota 200 31 110.4 Running
3 12 19 Daniel Hemric Blue Gate Bank Ford 200 30 84.6 Running
4 6 9 William Byron # Liberty University Toyota 200 30 1 94.5 Running 1 1
5 7 21 Johnny Sauter FireAde/Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 200 28 94.4 Running
6 9 00 Cole Custer # Haas Automation Chevrolet 200 27 79.1 Running
7 5 4 Christopher Bell # JBL/SiriusXM Toyota 200 28 2 129.2 Running 2 101
8 16 8 John H Nemechek Chevrolet 200 25 84.0 Running
9 15 71 Brandon Jones(i) M&D Building Supply/Menards Chevrolet 200 0 74.1 Running
10 19 05 John Wes Townley Jive Communications/Zaxby's Chevrolet 200 23 80.1 Running
11 10 24 Kaz Grala Sweet Baby Ray's Chevrolet 200 22 68.4 Running
12 14 23 Spencer Gallagher Alamo Chevrolet 200 21 62.5 Running
13 25 17 Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing Toyota 200 20 69.5 Running
14 1 29 Tyler Reddick Cooper Standard Ford 200 20 1 93.4 Running 1 1
15 21 75 Caleb Holman Food Country USA/Lopez Wealth Mgmt Toyota 200 18 85.6 Running
16 22 66 Jordan Anderson DoodyCalls.com Chevrolet 200 17 53.0 Running
17 11 81 Jesse Little Carolina Nut/Sumitomo Toyota 200 16 58.5 Running
18 27 2 Austin Cindric PIRTEK Ford 199 15 39.5 Running
19 18 02 Austin Hill Ford 199 14 56.9 Running
20 24 92 Parker Kligerman BTS Tire/Goodyear Commercial Tire & Service Ford 199 13 46.8 Running
21 26 22 Austin Wayne Self # AM Technical Solutions Toyota 198 12 41.5 Running
22 23 16 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Chevrolet 198 11 40.0 Running
23 28 86 Brandon Brown Coastal Carolina University Chevrolet 197 10 47.1 Running
24 3 13 Cameron Hayley Ride TV/CBH Toyota 197 9 87.6 Running
25 30 50 Travis Kvapil High Country Grizzlies/CorvetteParts.net Chevrolet 197 8 34.4 Running
26 20 98 Rico Abreu # Safelite Auto Glass / Curb Records Toyota 194 7 44.4 Running
27 31 07 Matt Mills Thompson Electric Inc Chevrolet 191 6 28.6 Running
28 32 49 Bryce Napier SupportMilitary.org/Lilly Trucking Chevrolet 191 5 27.8 Running
29 2 51 Daniel Suarez(i) ARRIS Toyota 186 0 113.8 Accident 3 77
30 4 41 Ben Rhodes # Regal Cinemas Toyota 128 3 88.4 Engine
31 29 44 Tommy Joe Martins Cross Concrete Construction Chevrolet 71 2 29.0 Power
32 17 88 Matt Crafton Ideal Door/Menards Toyota 70 1 56.3 Engine
Race Comments: Ben Kennedy won the UNOH 200 at Bristol Motor Speedway, his first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #2 and 92 (unapproved adjusments) and #98 (backup car).
Failed to Qualify: (3) 63 Jake Griffin, 1 Clay Greenfield, 10 Cody McMahan.
Time of Race: 01 Hrs, 25 Mins, 59 Secs. Average Speed: 74.387 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.274 Seconds
Caution Flags: 9 for 55 laps: Laps: 29-35 (Fluid on the track [98]); 42-46 (Competition caution [16]); 54-58 (#00 and 33 Accident in Turn 2 [44]); 64-71 (#44 Spin in Turn 3 [22]); 135-142 (#13 Accident in Turn 3 [19]); 144-148 (#4 and 51 Spin on the backstretch [21]); 164-168 (#4, 24 and 49 Accident in Turn 4 [00]); 173-177 (#66 Accident on the backstretch [24]); 188-194 (#51 Accident in Turn 2 [81]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 5 drivers: T. Reddick 1; D. Suarez(i) 2-39; C. Bell # 40-135; D. Suarez(i) 136; C. Bell # 137-141; D. Suarez(i) 142-179; W. Byron # 180; B. Kennedy 181-200.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) W. Byron # 349;(2) D. Hemric 312;(3) J. Sauter 306;(4) T. Peters 302;(5) C. Bell # 296;(6) M. Crafton 295;(7) B. Kennedy 287;(8) J. Nemechek 281;(9) C. Custer # 273;(10) T. Reddick 270.
21 Means 21 Pole Award : Tyler Reddick, #29 128.917 mph Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines, #33
Mobil 1 Driver of the Race : Ben Kennedy, #33 Sunoco Rookie of the Race : William Byron, #9
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: Aug. 27, 2016 - Michigan International Speedway