On a night of wrecks, angry drivers, more wrecks and a DDT, Christopher Bell endured it all to score the victory at Gateway.
The driver of the No. 4 Kyle Busch Motorsports Toyota led 38 laps and took advantage of the misfortunes of other drivers in the closing stages to win the Drivin’ 4 Lineman 200. It’s his second career victory in 16 Camping World Truck Series starts, the first of 2016 and his first on asphalt. The win ties KBM with Roush Fenway Racing for most wins by any organization in the Truck Series.
Ben Rhodes led four laps on his way to scoring a career-best finish of second in his No. 41 ThorSport Racing Toyota. It’s his fourth top-10 finish of 2016. Daniel Hemric rounded out the podium in his No. 29 Brad Keselowski Racing Ford. Johnny Sauter led 29 laps on his way to a fourth-place finish in his No. 21 GMS Racing Chevrolet. Reigning series champion Erik Jones rounded out the top-five in his No. 51 KBM Toyota.
John Hunter Nemechek finished sixth in his No. 8 NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet. Germán Quiroga finished seventh in his No. 11 Red Horse Racing Toyota. Kaz Grala finished eighth in his No. 24 GMSR Chevrolet. Ben Kennedy finished ninth in his No. 33 GMSR Chevrolet. Timothy Peters rounded out the top-10 in his No. 17 RHR Toyota.
William Byron, who led a race-high of 47 laps, came home 17th.
Twenty cars finished on the lead lap and 23 finished the race.
The race lasted two hours, 14 minutes and 48 seconds at an average speed of 89.021 mph. There were eight lead changes among six different drivers, nine cautions for 44 laps and three red flag periods. The first red flag was for a three-car wreck in Turn 3 that resulted in Austin Wayne Self being t-boned by Jennifer Jo Cobb. The second was for a multi-car wreck in Turn 4. The last was for a two-car wreck in the closing laps in Turn 1 involving Spencer Gallagher and John Wes Townley that resulted in a fight. During this scuffle, Townley delivered a DDT to Gallagher onto the racing surface.
Byron leaves with a one-point lead over Matt Crafton in the points standings.
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