The race turned extremely interesting with just under 30 laps to go, as green flag stops forced the leaders to come down pit road. At that time, Kevin Harvick was the race leader, as he had the fastest car for much of the night. As most would expect, with Harvick, you also had Kyle Busch who was also a force to be reckoned with.
As most drivers made their last stop to pick up two fresh tires and fuel, Harvick was forced to take four because of a ‘vibration’ felt towards the end of the race. This decision virtually ruined Harvick’s chances to win Friday night, but he put up a fight, finishing second. Nelson Piquet Jr., Parker Kligerman, and Kyle Busch rounded out the top-five.
Even though this was Dillon’s second win of the 2011 season, this one was just a ‘little’ more special. “Great, this is the best one,” said Dillon.
A very enthusiastic Dillon later went on to say, “We had the Cup guys in there and that’s who you want to beat. First thing I want to thank though, I was sittin’ in church today, me and (Danny) Stockman (crew chief). This truck season is a hard season, we’ve been fighting up and down this whole year. Had good trucks just not been able to finish. Preacher said something really cool, we gotta stick together through this and when it comes down to it, whatever God’s will is, that’s what’s going to happen. It happened for us today.”
Friday night’s win put Dillon only 3 points back from the points lead, where James Buescher (finished P11) still holds on to that treasured first spot. “Main thing is just go win races. That’s the only thing you can do. The lead and the points deal, people just keep giving it away when they are out front,” said Dillon after the race.
Only seven truck races are left (Loudon, Kentucky, Las Vegas, Talladega, Martinsville, Texas, and Homestead) before we put this crazy 2011 NCWTS season to a rest. Who will win the Championship, will the Cup drivers continue to dominate and will the Truck Series Drivers push them out? All will have an answer soon!