The William Byron Express rolls on.
Byron earned his second straight NASCAR Camping World Truck Series victory and third triumph of the season to capture Saturday night’s Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.
In just his ninth career Truck start, the 18-year-old Byron led the field to green on the final restart with two laps left and was not to be denied, holding off challenges from Cole Custer, Cameron Hayley, Ben Rhodes and Tyler Reddick, who finished second through fifth, respectively.
MORE: Results from Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway
MORE: Camping World Truck Series standings after Iowa
Byron’s Toyota Tundra dominated Saturday night’s event, leading 107 of 200 laps, including the halfway point of the race (100 laps) on the .875-mile oval.
Byron also won last week at Texas and three races earlier at Kansas, giving him three wins in the last five Truck Series races.
“It’s awesome just to be part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and have the group of guys I do,” Byron said on Fox Sports 1. “It’s amazing. I’m so fortunate to be in this position.
“We had a couple setbacks, I stalled it on pit road and had a few setbacks on restarts. But we kept after it until that last restart. It’s awesome.”
HOW BYRON WON: Byron took the lead for good on Lap 191, outlasting a battle with Ben Rhodes and Cole Custer. With seven laps left, Caleb Holman was involved in a single-truck wreck, bringing out the final caution. The race restarted with two laps left and Byron pulled away to take the checkered flag.
WHO ELSE HAD A GOOD DAY: Cole Custer and Ben Rhodes gave Byron a run for his money prior to Holman’s wreck, but Byron’s Kyle Busch Motorsports truck was just too strong in the end. Others having a good race: Daniel Suarez (6th), Ben Kennedy (7th) and Christopher Bell (8th). … This was the 150th win for Toyota in the Truck Series since it first began competing in 2004.
WHO HAD A BAD DAY: NBC analyst Parker Kligerman hit the Turn 3 wall hard on Lap 43 after the right front of rookie Austin Wayne Self’s truck made contact with the left rear tire on Kligerman’s truck, causing it to eventually shred, sending him spinning into the wall and sustaining heavy damage. Kligerman finished 31st in the 32-truck field. … Kaz Grala and Rico Abreu wrecked on Lap 147, collecting Timothy Peters in the process. Grala finished 29th, while Peters (11th) and Abreu (18th) were able to continue on. … Tommy Joe Martins and Derek Scott Jr. wrecked with 22 laps left. Martins finished 30th, while Scott wound up 25th.
NOTABLE: While none of his four drivers won, Duke Thorson, owner of ThorSport Racing, still enjoyed a happy birthday Saturday, given that less than a week ago the team’s race shop was heavily damaged by a fire. Two of ThorSport’s drivers earned top-five finishes, and a third earned a top-10: Hayley (3rd), Rhodes (4th), Matt Crafton (8th) and Abreu (18th). “Yeah, you know, obviously as everyone knows it’s been a tough week at ThorSport Racing to say the least,” Hayley said. “We probably spent upwards of 36 hours – both me and the team – cleaning the trucks, getting things ready, working out of a parking lot trying to get to this race and to come out here with a third place finish is not just amazing for me but the organization as a whole. We really came together as a team.”
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I just keep pushing and I just don’t want to relax. I want to make sure that we keep going and bring fast Tundras to the race track. That’s what these guys are doing for me and I’m glad it’s paying off.” – William Byron.
WHAT’S NEXT: Saturday, June 25, Drivin’ for Lineman 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis.
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