The Final Lap – NASCAR News, Radio, Podcast

PHOTO CREDIT: NASCARMEDIA (USED WITH PERMISSION)

Buescher powers to first Truck series victory

By Reid Spencer

NASCAR Wire Service

April 21. 2012

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Simply put, it was James Buescher’s day.

Buescher pulled away in the closing laps for a convincing 5.320-second victory over Timothy Peters, who passed Brad Keselowski for the runner-up spot with three laps left in Saturday’s SFP 250 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway.

Buescher earned his first win in the series, to go with his maiden Nationwide Series victory at Daytona in February. It was the second straight victory for Turner Motorsports, which sent Kasey Kahne to Victory Lane last Saturday at Rockingham, with Buescher running second.

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Rockingham, N.C. (April 14, 2012) – Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jr. edged rookie Paulie Harraka by one one-thousandth of a second Saturday to earn his first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series pole during qualifying for Sunday’s inaugural Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 at Rockingham Speedway.

Piquet, driving a Chevrolet, posted a144.387-mph lap, while Harraka’s Ford clocked in at 144.381 mph — 24.933 to 24.934 seconds on the 1-mile track.

“Honestly, when I finished my lap I told the guys on the radio it wasn’t my best lap; we could have gone a little bit better,” said Piquet, whose Keystone Light Pole Award came in his 33rd race. “I was expecting maybe a top 5, but I wasn’t expecting a pole at all. I think the track probably got much warmer and got a bit slower for everybody else.”

Rounding out the top 10, respectively, were: Timothy Peters, Toyota, 143.937 mph; Jason Leffler, Toyota, 143.730; Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 143.392; Parker Kligerman, Dodge, 143.147; Todd Bodine, Toyota, 143.033; Matt Crafton, Toyota, 142.976; Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, 142.885; and Johnny Sauter, Toyota, 142.693.

LINEUP
1 30 Nelson Piquet Jr. Qualcomm / AutoTrac Chevrolet 24.933 144.387
2 5 Paulie Harraka # Send Soldier to Rock / Wauters Mtrspts Ford 24.934 144.381
3 17 Timothy Peters Strutmasters.com Toyota 25.011 143.937
4 18 Jason Leffler Dollar General Toyota 25.047 143.730
5 4 Brad Sweet Rockwell Tools Chevrolet 25.106 143.392
6 29 Parker Kligerman Draw-Tite / MOPAR RAM 25.149 143.147
7 11 Todd Bodine Toyota Care Toyota 25.169 143.033
8 88 Matt Crafton Menards / Ideal Door Toyota 25.179 142.976
9 60 Grant Enfinger Turn One Racing Chevrolet 25.195 142.885
10 13 Johnny Sauter Hot Honeys / Curb Records Toyota 25.229 142.693
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Race Winner: John King
Age: 23
Team : No. 7 – Red Horse Racing Toyota Owner: Tom DeLoach
Crew Chief: Chad Kendrick
John King won the 13th Annual NextEra Energy Resources 250, his first victory in eight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
King is the third driver to earn his first series win at Daytona International Speedway. Robert Pressley (2002) and Michael Waltrip (2011) are the others.
This is his first race at Daytona International Speedway.
Timothy Peters (second) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Daytona International Speedway.
Justin Lofton (third) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Daytona International Speedway. It matched his career-best finish.

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PHOTO CREDIT: NASCARMEDIA

Leffler Eyes Return to Victory Lane with Opportunity to Drive the No. 18 Dollar General Tundra
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (January 9, 2012) - Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) announced today that Jason Leffler will be the primary driver of the team’s No. 18 Tundra in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for the 2012 season. The veteran driver will be behind the wheel for at least 14 races this season, beginning with the season-opening race at Daytona International Speedway. Dollar General, the nation’s largest small-box retailer, will serve as the primary sponsor for Leffler’s 14-race schedule.

Leffler has been a fixture in the NASCAR Nationwide Series throughout the last decade, finishing in the top 10 of the final point standings each of the last five seasons. In 292 career Nationwide Series starts, the 36-year-old driver has recorded two wins, eight poles, 42 top-five and 106 top-10 finishes.

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Brendan Gaughan to Compete in Limited NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Schedules for RCR

WELCOME, N.C. (December 8, 2011) – Veteran NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan will compete in 10 races on the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, driving Richard Childress Racing’s No. 33 Chevrolet Impala, and in eight races on the 2012 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule, driving RCR’s No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado.

Gaughan, 36, is the 2002 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rookie of the Year and competed fulltime in the Nationwide Series in 2009 and 2010, earning one pole and 17 top-10 finishes in 71 career starts. He finished ninth in the 2009 driver championship point standings and 11th in 2010. The two-time NASCAR Camping World Series West champion (2000-2001) has also earned eight victories and 63 top-10 finishes in 187 Truck Series starts, finishing 12th in the 2011 driver championship point standings. Gaughan was also part of the five-driver lineup that won the GT3 division of the 2011 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race at Daytona International Speedway.

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By Reid Spencer
Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service

(October 22, 2011)

TALLADEGA, Ala.—In his first Camping World Truck Series start since 2009, Mike Wallace won Saturday’s Coca-Cola 250 at Talladega Superspeedway, as Kevin Harvick Inc. teammate Ron Hornaday Jr. pushed him across the finish line.

Hornaday ran second, followed by James Buescher, who made a dent in the series points lead of Austin Dillon. Dillon scrambled to a seventh-place finish after he was demoted to 18th for not maintaining pace under the final caution of the race. The recovery enabled Dillon to stay ahead of Buescher in the standings.

The victory was the fifth overall for Wallace, who was substituting for Elliott Sadler, whose wife, Amanda, is expecting the couple’s second child. Wallace won in the truck series for the first time since 2000. The victory was his first in any of NASCAR’s top three touring series since he won a Nationwide race at Daytona in July 2004.

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