(Photo: Nigel Kinrade Photography)
By Aaron Bearden

Post-race review and analysis from the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series opener at Daytona International Speedway. 

*Writer not present at the track this week. Observations are from afar.

Who Won? 

Austin Hill. The young prospect struck Daytona gold in his first race with defending champions Hattori Racing.

Who Claimed the Stages?

Sheldon Creed and Johnny Sauter. The current and former GMS Racing drivers survived their stages to claim early playoff points that could prove crucial this fall.

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Chaos

There’s no reason to skirt around this – Friday’s NGOTS opener was a chaotic affair from start to finish.

The Speedweeks experience prior to Friday had been a tame one, at least by Daytona standards. Save for a sizable crash involving seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson in the Advance Auto Parts Clash, the majority of the week had played out in subdued fashion.

But from the drop of the green flag, it was clear that Friday’s feature was going to buck the trend.

Issues began in the opening two laps. DGR-Crosley’s David Gilliland and Natalie Decker both suffered tire failures from the moment they got up to speed, with Decker’s Truck debut ending in flames just two laps into the race. Around the same time, Bryan Dauzat and Robby Lyons made their way into the outside wall on the 2.5-mile oval, forcing a caution and sending Dauzat to pit road.

The trip down the pit lane would prove dire. Dauzat had a brake failure, but FDNY Racing jackman Billy Rock ran out on front of his No. 28 as though he was going to stop in his pit box. That led to a nasty collision that required Rock to be stretchered off. He was later diagnosed with a broken shoulder and released from the hospital, per FOX Sports’ Bob Pockrass.

Things eased down for a short period of time after the manic start, but by the time Stage 3 came the field were ramping up for a big crash. Three trucks suffered a sizable wreck before the end of Stage 2, but that accident paled in comparison to the one that followed early in the final stage.

Contact between Jordan Anderson and Sheldon Creed set off the Big One, eliminating a host of competitors including defending winner Johnny Sauter and potential  contenders like pole-sitter Christian Eckes and Myatt Snider. Anderson appeared hurt in the moments after the wreck, but was later released from the care center and left counting his blessings.

The wreck was vicious, but nothing unusual for a race at Daytona. But the field wasn’t done crashing, either.

Kyle Busch Motorsports teammates Harrison Burton and Todd Gilliland eliminated themselves with contact while charging to the front. Another field-trimming wreck followed late in the stage, as leaders Gus Dean and Ben Rhodes collided and triggered a massive accident at the end of the backstretch.

It was around this point that the race broke off into hysteria. Erik Jones joked about a two-truck shootout in NASCAR Overtime given the amount of damaged machines. Noah Gragson likened the tour to the Netflix horror movie “Bird Box.”

The initial overtime attempt didn’t go to plan. Clay Greenfield was left driving blind through the infield grass after his hood came up over the windshield of his No. 68, and the few remaining trucks suffered yet another crash coming off of Turn 2 to force a second overtime attempt that left even veteran journalists scratching their heads.

To their credit, the remaining drivers put on a dramatic run to the checkered flag in the closing laps. But by race’s end there were just nine vehicles remaining on the racing surface. Most were beaten and battered, lucky to carry on. Grant Enfinger came home second after being involved in one of the two massive crashes earlier in the night.

Stewart Friesen ended the night in 10th after being black-flagged while trying to finish out the race with heavy damage. He later gave the chaotic event a fitting nickname – Daytona Enduro 250.

A night for the underdogs

Friday night proved expensive for all but a select few teams in the Truck Series garage – an unfortunate scenario given the low-budget operations of many teams in the garage.

But that’s part of the risk and reward battle that always comes with a trip to Daytona. The allure of a career-best run inspires the smaller teams to compete at the 2.5-mile oval and try to survive.

Only nine trucks managed to accomplish the feat on Friday night, but mixed among them were a host of teams that rarely reach the spotlight of the top 10. ThorSport Racing teammates Grant Enfinger and Matt Crafton were left with disappointment after letting a Daytona win slip away in second and fifth, but surrounding the veterans were surprise finishers overjoyed to come home with finishes in the top 10.

Ross Chastain secured his first top-five in the Truck Series since 2013 when he crossed the line third for Niece Motorsports. Veteran teammate Timothy Peters followed in seventh to give the team its best combined result to date, with both trucks ending the night with little damage to show for their efforts.

While Hill soaked in his first Truck Series win for Hattori Racing, his former team — Young’s Motorsports — celebrated a fourth-place effort with Spencer Boyd. Not only was the effort Boyd’s first top-five in NASCAR national series competition, it marked just his second Truck finish in the front half of the field.

Josh Reaume brought home an emotional sixth-place run and shared hugs with his team afterward. Angela Ruch secured the second-best finish of any female in a Truck Series race, slotting in eighth to the happiness of her team and family. Austin Wayne Self ended the night ninth two years after a second-place run in the Daytona opener.

Next weekend’s step away from the true pack racing of Daytona in favor of the 1.5-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway will likely see a shift back to the Truck Series power teams at the front of the field. But for one chaotic night in February, the underdogs of the tour were able to shine and celebrate hard-earned results.

Validation

Austin Hill heard the criticism levied his way when he was announced as the replacement for defending Truck Series champion Brett Moffitt at Hattori Racing. We discussed that in-depth in a feature earlier this week.

So for the Georgian to go out and win Daytona in his debut with the team served as validation of his move – a result that all-but clinches Hill a spot in the playoffs and adds his name to the list of winners at NASCAR’s most important track.

“I never would have thought in a million years I’d win at Daytona,” Hill said afterward. “We’ve had some success at Daytona before, but just didn’t have the finishes we were looking for there at the end. We’d have something happen and to be able to come on board with Hattori Racing and start off the season like this, I think there’s going to be a lot of good things to come for us.”

Hill was assisted in his drive to victory by the carnage occurring around him, but in the end the 24-year-old was put to the test by two veterans of the sport in Crafton and Enfinger. Both drivers took a shot at the lead in the final NASCAR Overtime, forcing Hill to make tremendous blocks and hold onto his machine through contact to survive and take the checkered flag.

The run to the line proved tense, with Hill unsure if he had enough fuel to go the distance amid a lengthy NASCAR Overtime. But in the end he survived the two-lap sprint to bring home his first Truck Series win.

“We got a little separation from us and my spotter, Mike Harmon, he did an awesome job just telling me when the run was coming – what lines to choose,” Hill said. “The (No.) 98 (Grant Enfinger) got to me down in the center of (turns) three and four and kind of jacked me up pretty good. I didn’t think I was going to be able to hold onto that. We were saving fuel at the end. Coming off of four, I was pretty scared. I didn’t think we were going to make it to the finish.”

Winning the race gained the young prospect a spot in the playoffs, a $10,000 bonus and a camper from series sponsor Gander Outdoors. The way Hill defended himself in the last leg also earned him the respect and attention of last year’s top two finishers in the Daytona 500.

A win at Daytona or Talladega Superspeedway can often be disregarded as a fluke, but by claiming Friday’s victory Hill set himself up for a playoff berth and made a statement about his intention to hold his own and compete with the frontrunners this season.

If the Georgian can back it up with successful performances throughout the year, as Moffitt managed after an early win in 2018, his Daytona triumph will be remembered as more than a one-off result. It’ll serve as the catalyst for the 24-year old’s rise to the top level of the series.

An opportunity to make an early championship statement has presented itself. We’ll soon see if Hill and the No. 16 team are up to the task.

Other Notes

  • Friday marked the fourth time in the past eight years that the driver to claim the Daytona Truck Series opener was a first-time winner. John King’s infamous 2012 victory was the first for a newcomer during the tenure, while championship hopeful Tyler Reddick and playoff contender Kaz Grala secured their initial triumphs in 2015 and ’17, respectively. Kyle Busch and Johnny Sauter combined to claim the other four events during the stretch.
  • A host of drivers earned or tied their best-career finish at Daytona. They include Spencer Boyd (fourth), Josh Reaume (sixth), Angela Ruch (eighth) and Bobby Gerhart (11th), along with the various competitors that made their series debuts.
  • The NextEra Energy 250 had the dubious honor of setting new records for the longest distance traveled (111 laps, 277.5 miles), most cautions (11) and caution laps (55) of any Truck Series race at Daytona.
  • Grant Enfinger’s rebound to second gave him three consecutive top-five finishes dating back to 2018. The Alabamian finished fourth and second in the final two races last season, falling just short of a Championship 4 appearance.
  • Austin Hill and Sheldon Creed each set new career marks for laps led in a Truck Series race. Hill paced 39 laps in the battle for the win, while Creed led 21 laps in the early segment en-route to a Stage 1 victory.
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Aaron Bearden Angela Ruch Austin Hill Bearden Breakdown Daytona International Speedway Featured Gander Outdoors Truck Series Josh Reaume Ross Chastain