Aric Almirola celebrates his first NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series win in Victory Lane at Dover.
(Geoff Burke / Getty Images for NASCAR)
By Lee Montgomery
Special to Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service
DOVER, Del. - This time, Aric Almirola was able to celebrate.
Almirola took advantage of Kyle Busch's empty fuel tank to win the Dover 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday and get his second official victory in one of NASCAR's national series.
The other victory was in name only, as Almirola started Joe Gibbs Racing's Busch Series car at Milwaukee in 2007 but was pulled for Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin during the race. Though Almirola was credited with the victory, he had left the track long before Hamlin took the checkered flag.
At Dover International Speedway on Friday, though, Almirola had some fun with a smoky burnout, a reverse victory lap and a wild victory lane celebration.
"Put it this way, that trophy's not at my house on a mantle," Almirola said of the Milwaukee race. "This one will be—tonight. … It's a dream come true. Track position is so tough here, you have to have a phenomenal truck to do what we did today. I'm not going to take any credit for that. It's a lot of fun when you have a really good truck here. … We fought hard today, and it was a good day."
Almirola had fallen two laps down because of a flat tire but rallied to get back in contention. He was one of several drivers to pit for fuel and tires under caution with 54 laps to go.
Almirola took advantage of Kyle Busch's empty fuel tank to win the Dover 200 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Friday and get his second official victory in one of NASCAR's national series.
The other victory was in name only, as Almirola started Joe Gibbs Racing's Busch Series car at Milwaukee in 2007 but was pulled for Sprint Cup driver Denny Hamlin during the race. Though Almirola was credited with the victory, he had left the track long before Hamlin took the checkered flag.
At Dover International Speedway on Friday, though, Almirola had some fun with a smoky burnout, a reverse victory lap and a wild victory lane celebration.
"Put it this way, that trophy's not at my house on a mantle," Almirola said of the Milwaukee race. "This one will be—tonight. … It's a dream come true. Track position is so tough here, you have to have a phenomenal truck to do what we did today. I'm not going to take any credit for that. It's a lot of fun when you have a really good truck here. … We fought hard today, and it was a good day."
Almirola had fallen two laps down because of a flat tire but rallied to get back in contention. He was one of several drivers to pit for fuel and tires under caution with 54 laps to go.
Kyle Busch won the pole for the Dover 200. (Jason Smith / Getty Images for NASCAR)
Busch wasn't one of them, though, as his Kyle Busch Motorsports truck had stopped 30 laps earlier. On the penultimate restart, Busch didn't come up to speed with apparent vapor-lock trouble and slipped back to third. The yellow waved for Austin Dillon's blown engine, giving Busch a chance to reclaim the lead he had held for 172 laps.
But as the field was getting the green, Busch's Toyota headed to pit lane.
"Ran out of gas," a frustrated Busch said as he sped out of the track. He finished 16th, with fuel pump issues listed as his reason out.
James Buescher came back from a spin to finish second, passing Justin Lofton on the last lap. Both posted their best career finishes in the truck series. Ricky Carmichael also had his best career finish in fourth, giving Turner Motorsports second and fourth. Todd Bodine sputtered on the final restart but finished fifth.
The win also gives Almirola the series points lead. He has a 27-point cushion ahead of Bodine.
1. Aric Almirola
2. James Buescher
3. Justin Lofton *
4. Ricky Carmichael
5. Todd Bodine
6. David Starr
7. Matt Crafton
8. Mike Skinner
9. Ryan Sieg
10. Johnny Benson
11. Carl Long
12. Ron Hornaday
13. Stacy Compton
14. Jason White
15. Johnny Sauter
16. Kyle Busch
17. Chris Fontaine
18. Mario Gosselin
19. Donny Lia
20. Tayler Malsam
21. Austin Dillon *
22. Jennifer Jo Cobb *
23. Norm Benning
24. Elliott Sadler
25. Timothy Peters
26. Chris Jones
27. Terry Jones
28. Brett Butler *
29. Max Papis
30. Johnny Chapman
31. Brent Raymer
32. Tim Andrews
33. Shane Sieg
34. Mike Harmon
35. Donnie Neuenberger
36. Chris Lafferty
*Rookie
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