Kyle Busch charged inside Aric Almirola at virtually the last moment to win Saturday’s Mountain Dew 250 Camping World Truck Series race in a thrilling three-wide finish at Talladega Superspeedway.
The race ended in a green-white-checkered finish, and Almirola led Busch and Johnny Sauter through the trioval on the last lap. Approaching the checkered, Busch slipped inside Almirola, dancing along the yellow line marking the inside boundary of the racing surface, and beat him to the finish by .002 of a second, the closest finish in series history.
Sauter went to the outside approaching the finish line and took third as the trucks made a three-wide crossing. FOX News
“I don’t even know if I got near it, below it, next to it, on it, I have no idea,” Busch said. “All I know was I was trying to save my truck and keep it straight and hopefully make it past the start/finish line before the rest of the guys.”
Almirola went to NASCAR officials immediately after the race to plead his case, but he said they ruled that Busch was trying to keep his car from spinning out and wasn’t subject to a penalty.
“My perspective is, I feel like I won the race,” Almirola said. “NASCAR’s perspective is, we ran second. I guess [Saturday], we lose. I’m disappointed in that.”
It was the closest finish in series history when using electronic scoring, NASCAR officials said.
It was Busch’s series-high sixth victory in 13 Truck starts this season—and his second consecutive Trucks victory at Talladega. NASCAR.com
Matt Crafton and Ricky Carmichael rounded out the top-five.
Points leader Todd Bodine and four-time series champion Ron Hornaday Jr. were among those involved in the six-truck accident three laps away from the scheduled 94-lap distance. Newcomer Grant Enfinger hit Bodine from behind, putting him into a spin. Bodine then rammed into Mike Skinner, which triggered the wreck.
“It’s a shame that things like that happen,” said Bodine, who finished 18th. “[Enfinger] just gave me the shot from hell. He turned me sideways, and it caused a big wreck.”
Hornaday’s truck flipped upside down and skidded along the track before it rolled over several times and came to a rest on its roof.
Bodine quickly hopped out of his truck and ran over to check on Hornaday. It took Hornaday several minutes to climb out of his truck, as track officials aided him. No drivers were injured.
“That was unbelievable; I don’t know who even clipped me,” Hornaday said. “It’s too bad we ruined a really good truck.” MiamiHerald.com
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NASCAR Truck Series: Mountain Dew 250 at Talladega - Race Results
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