Camping World Truck Series – NextEra Energy Resources 250 Recap

Timothy Peters won the rain delayed Camping Truck Series season opener at Daytona International Speedway!

photo credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

Peters passed Todd Bodine for the lead on the final lap going into Turn 3. Peters crossed the finish by a margin of 0.069 seconds.

“You know, this is only my fourth plate race,” Peters said. “I’m still learning. It doesn’t matter if we were at Daytona, Atlanta, Martinsville. To race with these guys is just an awesome feeling. You know, call a spade a spade, Todd Bodine is the best Speedway racer. His results prove it. I wasn’t gonna leave him until it was time to. My spotter, Kevin Ray, did an awesome job, keeping me calm, keeping me in line, telling me, Let’s try to make the move down the pack straightaway. The 23 had an awesome run. When Todd went high, I went high, and we prevailed to the inside. It’s very cool. I’m not giving him all the credit, but it is cool to beat those guys, too. But Todd and I are pretty good buddies, too. It’s pretty cool to beat him at the same time.”

It’s the second win for Peters in the series, but the first at Daytona. A win at Daytona is the biggest goal for most drivers. Peters’ first series win came last fall at Martinsville Speedway. “I guess it’s everybody’s dream to win at Daytona,” Peters said. “It just feels different. But I’m glad ’cause, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than winning. I could get used to this.”

Bodine had won the previous 2 season-openers at Daytona. He looked like the truck to beat throughout the night leading a race-high 32 laps. After crossing the finish line, he lost control and took a spin through the infield grass.

“We’re gonna be leaving the track in the motor coach in a couple hours. I say by Jacksonville, I’ll be over it,” Bodine said. “It’s disappointing. No doubt about it. To go for three in a row at Daytona, that would have been a dream come true. But it’s racing. It’s hard racing. A kid like Timothy, he’s got such a future in our sport. He’s one of those kids that, with the right break, would be sitting over in a Cup garage right now. He’s that good, that good a kid. That’s how much I respect him. To get beat by him, that takes a little of the edge off. But it’s tough. It’s hard ’cause, you know, all these guys started this race, all these guys on pit road worked hard to get their trucks ready to get out there and do their jobs. My team’s no different. We have a great truck. It’s always run fast. Came up one spot short.”

A nine-truck pile-up occurred on the backstretch on the first lap. Rookie Austin Dillon went three-wide and got loose. The accident also involved Kyle Busch, Ted Musgrave, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Landon Cassill, Justin Lofton, Dennis Setzer, David Starr and Johnny Sauter.

“It’s very dejecting,” Dillon said. “We wanted to go out there and run well -- not a good start to the season for the Bass Pro Shops Chevy.”

Another “Big One” involving at least 10 trucks happened on lap 33 as rookie and motorcross star, Ricky Carmichael made slight contact with series champion, Ron Hornaday Jr. Hornaday slammed into the wall and collected Elliott Sadler, Aric Almirola, Johnny Benson, Ted Musgrave and David Starr.

There were 7 cautions for 33 laps and 23 lead changes among 12 drivers: J. White 0; E. Sadler 1-21; J. Yeley 22; E. Sadler 23-24; J. White 25-27; E. Sadler 28-29; M. Skinner 30-37; M. Papis 38-39; S. Compton 40; M. Papis 41-42; T. Peters 43-46; T. Bodine 47-51; J. White 52-55; M. Skinner 56-58; J. Benson 59-63; B. Butler # 64; J. Benson 65-67; T. Bodine 68-75; J. White 76; C. Contreras 77-78; T. Bodine 79-80; D. Setzer 81-82; T. Bodine 83-99; T. Peters 100

For the (unofficial) race results, click here.

Timothy Peters leads the point standings by 10 points over 2nd place driver, Todd Bodine.