Rookie Dillon races to dominating win at Smith’s 350k truck race at LVMS
Austin Dillon started Saturday by setting an NASCAR Camping World Truck Series rookie record by earning his fifth pole of the year and ended the night by winning the Smith's 350k at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before an estimated crowd of 40,000.
Dillon, the 20-year-old grandson of Richard Childress, had the dominant truck and was nearly 5.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Johnny Sauter at the end of the 146-lap race that covered 219 miles.
James Buescher was third, points leader Todd Bodine fourth and Matt Crafton fifth. Brian Ickler, driving for Kyle Busch Motorsports, placed seventh.
EARLIER POST
Austin Dillon won the pole late Saturday afternoon for tonight's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race that begins at 6:30 p.m. at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Dillon, the 20-year-old grandson of Richard Childress, posted a best lap at an average speed of 174.509 mph in his No. 3 Chevrolet.
Rounding out the top five are James Buescher, Matt Crafton, 2009 Las Vegas winner Johnny Sauter and Ken Schrader.
RACE STATISTICS
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (1) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 146 laps, 195 points, $44,425.
2. (4) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 146, 170, $26,390.
3. (2) James Buescher, Chevrolet, 146, 170, $18,865.
4. (5) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 146, 160, $17,875.
5. (3) Matt Crafton, Chevrolet, 146, 155, $14,125.
6. (13) Aric Almirola, Toyota, 146, 155, $12,825.
7. (9) Brian Ickler, Toyota, 146, 146, $12,025.
8. (17) Justin Lofton, Toyota, 146, 142, $11,500.
9. (8) Ricky Carmichael, Chevrolet, 146, 143, $13,450.
10. (6) Ken Schrader, Chevrolet, 146, 134, $12,350.
11. (7) Ron Hornaday Jr., Chevrolet, 146, 135, $12,350.
12. (29) David Starr, Toyota, 146, 132, $12,225.
13. (12) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 146, 124, $11,175.
14. (15) Jason White, Dodge, 146, 121, $11,125.
15. (23) David Mayhew, Chevrolet, 146, 123, $9,600.
16. (20) Jason Bowles, Toyota, 146, 115, $7,975.
17. (25) Tony Jackson Jr., Chevrolet, 146, 112, $10,775.
18. (19) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Chevrolet, 145, 109, $10,650.
19. (26) Mario Gosselin, Chevrolet, 145, 106, $10,550.
20. (24) Nelson Piquet, Toyota, 144, 103, $11,000.
21. (32) Jennifer Jo Cobb, Ford, 144, 100, $9,100.
22. (34) Carl Long, Chevrolet, 143, 97, $9,000.
23. (30) Clay Greenfield, Dodge, 142, 94, $7,900.
24. (11) Mike Skinner, Toyota, 141, 91, $7,800.
25. (10) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 136, 93, $7,775.
26. (18) Timothy Peters, Toyota, 135, 90, $7,750.
27. (28) Narain Karthikeyan, Chevrolet, accident, 108, 82, $8,050.
28. (21) Donny Lia, Toyota, engine, 84, 79, $7,675.
29. (31) Brent Raymer, Ford, overheating, 80, 76, $7,650.
30. (35) Norm Benning, Chevrolet, wheel bearing, 67, 73, $7,625.
31. (33) Lance Fenton, Chevrolet, suspension, 61, 70, $7,600.
32. (22) Rick Crawford, Chevrolet, overheating, 60, 67, $8,075.
33. (14) Greg Pursley, Chevrolet, radiator, 10, 64, $7,550.
34. (27) Mike Garvey, Chevrolet, overheating, 8, 61, $7,530.
35. (36) Justin Hobgood, Toyota, ignition, 3, 58, $7,500.
36. (16) Johanna Long, Toyota, transmission, 0, 55, $7,467.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 118.378 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 51 minutes, 0 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 5.588 seconds.
Caution Flags: 7 for 30 laps.
Lead Changes: 14 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: A.Dillon 1-23; T.Peters 24-26; R.Carmichael 27; R.Hornaday Jr. 28-50; J.Buescher 51-61; D.Mayhew 62-64; R.Sieg 65; A.Almirola 66-69; A.Dillon 70-97; D.Starr 98; A.Dillon 99-100; J.Buescher 101-105; A.Dillon 106-110; J.Buescher 111; A.Dillon 112-146.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): A.Dillon, 5 times for 93 laps; R.Hornaday Jr., 1 time for 23 laps; J.Buescher, 3 times for 17 laps; A.Almirola, 1 time for 4 laps; D.Mayhew, 1 time for 3 laps; T.Peters, 1 time for 3 laps; R.Carmichael, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Starr, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Sieg, 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 10 in Points: 1. T.Bodine, 3,196; 2. A.Almirola, 2,934; 3. J.Sauter, 2,896; 4. A.Dillon, 2,808; 5. T.Peters, 2,773; 6. M.Crafton, 2,773; 7. R.Hornaday Jr., 2,687; 8. M.Skinner, 2,549; 9. D.Starr, 2,504; 10. J.Lofton, 2,379.
