MADISON, Ill. (AP) — Darrell Wallace Jr. raced to his second career NASCAR Camping World Truck victory Saturday night, holding off German Quiroga at Gateway Motorsports Park.
Wallace took the lead from Quiroga off a restart with four laps left after Quiroga tangled with Erik Jones, Wallace’s Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate. Jones bobbled while leading with seven laps left, and Quiroga slammed into the back of Jones’ truck, sending it spinning hard into the inside wall.
“It was wild,” Wallace said. “Such a bummer for Erik.”
The 20-year-old Wallace, making his 29th series start, won last year at Martinsville to join Wendell Scott as the only black winners on NASCAR’s national level.
“We got into a little trouble the first pit stop, but a little adversity never hurts anybody,” Wallace said. “We come through. I’m so proud of my guys, they worked their tails off.”
Quiroga, from Mexico, finished a career-high second, while Jones ended up 23rd.
“I got a little free,” Jones said. “(Quiroga got) right into the left rear and just turned us around.”
Quiroga held his line after Jones bobbled and slowed.
“Everyone got really excited at the end,” Quiroga said. “We were defending our position, I saw an opportunity to win my first race and I didn’t want to let it go, so I drove as hard as everyone else. We’re getting there, getting closer to a win.”
Toyota swept the top four places, with Timothy Peters finishing third and Johnny Sauter fourth. Sauter took the lead in the season standings, moving 10 points ahead of ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton.
Crafton, the defending series champion and the winner in March at Martinsville and last week in Texas, finished 26th after blowing a tire and wrecking while leading.
“The tire just popped,” Crafton said.
Haas Racing development driver Cole Custer finished sixth after becoming the youngest pole winner in NASCAR national series history at 16 years, 4 months, 22 days.
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