Darrell Wallace Jr. triumphs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' return to Gateway

Credit: Todd Warshaw/NASCAR via Getty Images
Darrell Wallace Jr. captured his second career victory Saturday night as the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series returned to Gateway Motorsports Park, formerly known as Gateway International Raceway.

Wallace Jr held off the hard-charging German Quiroga and Timothy Peters to take home the trophy in the Inaugural Drivin' for Linemen 200 in the Trucks first appearance at the 1.25 mile track since 2010.

The action was intense from the drop of the green flag when Wallace Jr. powered past polesitter Cole Custer to lead the first 62 laps. Custer became the youngest driver to earn the pole in series history, but wasn't able to keep pace with the potent Kyle Busch Motorsports duo of Wallace Jr. and Erik Jones. Still, Custer managed to come home sixth in just his third Truck start.

As exciting as Bubba Wallace's second win was, the story of the night was John Hunter Nemechek, who led briefly, got passed by last week's winner Matt Crafton, then went back to the point  after Crafton blew a tire and slammed into the Turn Four wall.

Nemechek found himself under fire from all sides, yet handled his race truck with poise until a brush with Quiroga caused him to have a tire go down and spin. Nemechek recovered to finish 15th while Quiroga went on to make contact with Jones, sending the No. 51 truck into the inside wall hard.

During the closing laps, Quiroga and Timothy Peters attempted to wrest the lead from Wallace Jr. but to no avail. Quiroga finished second, Peters third, and Wallace Jr. celebrated in Victory Lane with his father.

What would likely have otherwise been a frustrating ride home for the son of Front Row Joe Nemechek must have been softened by the discovery that such NASCAR stars such as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, and Tony Stewart were tweeting their support for him and his impressive run.
 The Truck series heads out to Road America with Johnny Sauter leading the points standings by 10 over Matt Crafton.

Unofficial results:
Fin Driver Sponsor 
1    Darrell Wallace, Jr. Toyota   
2    German Quiroga Net 10 Wireless    
3    Timothy Peters Red Horse Racing   
4    Johnny Sauter Smokey Mountain / Curb Records    
5    Ron Hornaday, Jr. Rheem    
6    Cole Custer Haas Automation    
7    Ryan Blaney Cooper Standard Performance Products   
8    John Wes Townley Zaxby's  
9    Chase Pistone NTS Motorsports   
10    Tayler Malsam Outerwall    
11    Joey Coulter Allegiant   
12    Mason Mingus Call 811    
13    Tyler Reddick DrawTite    
14    Ben Kennedy Turner Scott Motorsports  
15    John Hunter Nemechek M.D. Anderson Cancer Ctr. / smokeandsear.com  
16    Bryan Silas Bell Trucks America, Inc. 
17    Tyler Young Randco / Young's Building Systems  
18    Jeb Burton Estes / Carolina Nut   
19    T.J. Bell Drivin' For Linemen   
20    Gray Gaulding Krispy Kreme / Gemini Southern   
21    Korbin Forrister McNair, McLemore, Middlebrooks & Co.   
22    Norm Benning Boedecker Construction   
23    Erik Jones ToyotaCare    
24    Ray Black, Jr. ScubaLife / NASE Worldwide  
25    Ted Minor Blastis.com    
26    Matt Crafton Ideal Door / Menards  
27    Jennifer Jo Cobb TheParkwayHotel.com   
28    Scott Stenzel Mittler Bros. Machine & Tool    
29    Adam Edwards Charlie Henderson
30    Charles Lewandoski Randco / Young's Building Systems  
31    Caleb Roark The Parkway Hotel   
32    Justin Jennings LGSds / Mittler Bros. Machine / Ski Soda   











Darrell Wallace Jr. triumphs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' return to Gateway Darrell Wallace Jr. triumphs in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series' return to Gateway Reviewed by Janine Cloud on Sunday, June 15, 2014 Rating: 5