If you didn't happen to make it to Las Vegas this weekend for the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge final race of the season, let me tell you that you missed one fantastic show! This race was one of the best I've ever seen! But not to worry you can always watch the broadcast on FOX Sports West, Saturday November 24th, at 8:00 a.m. and Sunday November 25th at 9:30 a.m. also on FOX Sports Arizona, Saturday November 24th at 8:30 a.m. and Sunday November 25th at 10:30 a.m. Be sure to check out the fantastic aerial shots. Yes, I said aerial shots, we had helicopter coverage for this race! The first ever sky cam coverage of the Mechanix Wear Speed Truck Challenge on FOX Sports Network!
The Speed Truck Challenge 100-Lap Finale Race to determine the 2001 Champion was one of the most exciting action packed nights of racing ever. Fastest qualifier for the night was Darren Young in the #11 truck but as a result of the dice roll that decides the field inversion for the Speed Truck Challenge, Darren ended up on the outside pole and 14 yr old Spencer Clark in the #23 truck took the pole.
At the drop of the green flag, the #01 truck driven by TJ Clark seemed to get a little loose, most likely due to some sort of mechanical failure because he had to be towed off the track and did not return. This necessitated a full restart.
The #23 truck driven by 14 yr old Spencer Clark led the first 33 laps of the race with Darren Young in the #11 truck right on his bumper. On lap 34 Darren Young managed to get by Spencer and took the lead and along with him came the #91 truck driven by Lee Hatch to take over second place dropping Spencer Clark into third. Working his way up the pack was the #2 truck driven by Ron Peterson who on lap 46 took over third place and on lap 63 got passed the #91 truck and took second.
On lap 79 the #23 truck of Spencer Clark bumped the #99 truck driven by Randy Brown causing him to spin which sent Spencer Clark and Randy Brown to the back of the pack. Prior to the restart the #23 truck spun again on turn 4 which resulted in his rear end locking up due to a missed shift and he had to be towed from the track.
Upon the restart the battle was on between the #11 truck of Darren Young and the #2 truck of Ron Peterson and what a battle it was. These two guys raced each other clean and hard running side by side for several laps. They really put on an exciting, up on your feet show with the #91 truck of Lee Hatch remaining in third place. Unfortunately on lap 83 in turn 4 the #1 truck of Jeff Davis tapped the #91 truck of Lee Hatch and the #91 truck spun. Jeff Davis and Lee Hatch both were sent to the back of the pack. This allowed the #31 truck driven by Dan Digiacomo to move into third. Dan started 11th in the field and slowly moved up the pack strategically knocking off one truck after another and before anyone knew it he was in third.
On the restart lap 84 we had Darren Young #11, Ron Peterson #2 and Dan Digiacomo #31 but that order only lasted a few laps as the #2 truck of Ron Peterson took over the lead again while Dan Digiacomo continued to move up into second. On lap 96 the battle between #2 and #31 really got going and Dan Digiacomo in the #31 truck was able to snake the snake and take over the lead on lap 97.
Dan led the race for 2 laps but due to another caution the restart allowed Ron Peterson in the #2 truck to get a jump on the #31 to take over the lead once again and take the checkered flag! The finishing order was #2 Ron Peterson, #31 Dan Digiacomo, and third was #11 Darren Young. Darren Young led the most laps for this event with a total of 39 laps led. There were 5 total cautions for the evening none of which were serious just a few spins and some debris!
The season finale ended with Troy Decuir in the #10 truck finishing 5th and taking the 2001 Championship. Last but not least, lets not forget after qualifying tonight Dan Digiacomo in the #31 truck cinched the "Rookie of the Year" title! Congratulations to everyone on running a hard, clean, and most of all exciting race for the first ever one hour broadcast on FOX Sports Networks.
Start/Finish order was as follows:
START FINISH NAME TRUCK NUMBER
8 1 Ron Peterson 2
11 2 Dan Digiacomo 31
1 3 Darren Young 11
4 4 Scott Rueschenberg 55
12 5 Troy Decuir 10
16 6 Richard Franz 7
10 7 Danny Williams 28
17 8 Dave Hartsook 30
9 9 Randy Brown 99
5 10 Lee Hatch 91
15 11 Jim Van Gordon 51
20 12 Kerry Steen 37
22 13 Kenny Smith 43
6 14 Scott Saunders 4
18 15 Jimmy Perry 26
19 16 Bobby Sayers 16
26 17 Jerry Bullis 6
23 18 Gary Bryant 94
24 19 Jeff Rocheleau 13
13 20 Jeff Davis 1
2 21 Spencer Clark 23
3 22 Nathan Mirth 76
21 23 Casey Kingsland 88
10 24 Chris Francis 34
14 25 Donny Goodwin 33
7 26 TJ Clark 01
