As NASCAR headed to Las Vegas, a very windy weekend was in store for teams. To start, a cool evening saw Rajah Caruth on the pole for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Earlier in the week, Caruth announced a partnership with HendrickCars.com to ensure he would race the full truck schedule. A pole win was not a bad way to kick off the new funding.

Notable Starts

Christian Eckes, five-time Truck Series winner, started second while Stewart Friesen started the race in the third spot. Kyle Busch, the Truck Series leading all-time winner, qualified fourth. Two-time Truck Series Champion Ben Rhodes lined up thirteenth. Finally, Christopher Bell, a NASCAR Cup Series winner, sat fourteenth.

Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200

The start of the race was battle heavy with the first caution coming out on lap three for Bayley Currey. After the restart, the battle for the lead was thick with aggression as Busch, Caruth, and Ty Majeski took shots at each other. Meanwhile, pole sitter Caruth was set to learn some things from Vegas native and Spire Motorsports teammate, Busch.

As the battle continued, Majeski pulled away and Busch fell back complaining, “Right front is gone.” Ultimately, Majeski won Stage One by half a second over Caruth. Bell finished the stage in the sixth spot and Busch finished eighth.

Bell was slapped with an equipment interference penalty, which forced him to start Stage Two at the rear of the field while Caruth started the stage in the lead.

Through 50 laps, the two fastest trucks were Caruth and Majeski. Meanwhile, Bell worked his way to sixteenth after his penalty. Majeski assumed the lead over Caruth but was angry, complaining about the tape on his grill. However, once he was informed that it was not tape but debris, he calmed down and pulled his lead out to over a second, winning Stage Two. The battle behind Majeski heated up as Corey Heim finished second and Caruth in third.

While Busch had slipped to fifth, his pit crew dominated the round of stops and got him out before everyone else to start the final stage in the first spot. Dean Thompson got loose and smacked the wall, bringing out the caution early in the third stage. On the restart, Majeski quickly got out in front.

With 55 to go, Nick Sanchez strong-armed his way to the lead as the battle heated up. You could throw a blanket over the top five as they are separated by less than half a second and getting aggressive.

Trouble in the Final Laps

Friesen dove onto pit road with a flat right front, seemingly from damage from hitting the wall. Fortunately, the race stayed green. Then, Bell made a late-race charge and slid into the seventh spot, passing Busch who had no long-run speed.

The final round of pit stops began with about 32 laps left in the race. By this point, the lap times had fallen off a full second from the fastest laps in the race. These pit stops would be a refresh as the end of the race was in sight.

The trouble continued as Majeski received a speeding penalty and fell a lap down after clearly being the fastest truck. Busch was hit with a black flag after a pit road interference penalty. Sanchez also received a penalty.

After the penalties shook out, Caruth resumed the lead with 21 laps remaining. Bell made a late race push but with ten to go, he was six seconds behind the leader. Then, a very rare occurrence: Busch was lapped at his home track.

With five to go, Caruth had nothing but scattered traffic in front of him. He seemed to be playing it safe. Tyler Ankrum made a charge, but Caruth took the white flag and finally, the checkered flag, claiming his first win in the Truck Series!

Final Thoughts

In all, it was great racing with only two yellow flags for wrecks. Rajah Caruth ran a great race from start to finish. However, penalties seemed to be the downfall for many fast trucks. The battle in the top five was fantastic all race. Truck races can be a crapshoot of bad race etiquette and inexperience. However, this race at Las Vegas was fantastic as the aggression was high but did not seem to put drivers in bad spots.

The Truck Series is off for a week and will return to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16.