Christopher Bell chose the inside lane on the race’s last re-start with two laps to go. This decision proved to be the right one and he sped off to the checkered flag in the Drivin’ for Linemen 200 at Gateway Motorsports Park in Illinois. The victory gave Kyle Busch Motorsports a record-setting 50th victory and Christopher Bell’s first win of his career.
The rookie driver survived a race that featured nine cautions and an on-track brawl between John Wes Townley and Spencer Gallagher during the event’s last stoppage with two laps to go. Bell was ecstatic after the wild and crazy night of the Camping World Truck Series’s version of metal mayhem.
“This one’s for my guys,” said Christopher Bell in Victory Lane. “My guys, they deserve this one. We’ve been so fast all year long and I just kept making a lot of mistakes. I just can’t say thank you enough to all the guys at Toyota, TRD, JBL, everyone at KBM, all my pit crew guys they did an awesome job. Track position was everything. We got awesome motors underneath the hood and all the guys at JGR, they never give up and keep digging.”
Ben Rhodes was lined up right next to the eventual race winner Christopher Bell for the final two circuits. The Camping World Truck Series’s greenhorn just couldn’t find enough speed to stay up with his fellow rookie competitor. It appeared that his #41 Alpha Energy Soultions Toyota was just to tight to get the job done. Rhodes fell short of his first win but captured a career best second place finish.
“He (Bell) had a really loose truck and that’s what you needed at the end of the race,” Rhodes said. “It just got tighter and tighter as the runs went on. I was way too tight but I was making some good ground on the outside and he came up on us a little bit, which is fine. It’s racing for the win at the end. He did an awesome job all night. He raced everybody clean and with respect. I think we could use a little more of that in our series after this crazy Drivin’ For Linemen 200.”
The Camping World Truck Series event was red-flagged on three different occasions because of wrecks. The first was caused by an incident that involved three trucks and lasted over six minutes. The second took place with only 11 circuits to go in the race. It involved another seven machines that chewed up over ten minutes of down time. The last wave of the red flag came out when the leaders for an incident between Spencer Gallagher and John Wes Townley ended up in their second collision of the evening.
That’s when the 3rd Annual Drivin’ For Linemen 200 took a turn for the surreal in the closing moments of the contest. John Wes Townley appeared to intentionally wreck Spencer Gallagher in the closing moments. It was payback for when Gallagher tapped his rear quarter panel and sent him into the wall earlier on in thee race. The two trucks came to rest side by side as medical crews and track officials arrived on the scene.
John Wes Townley climbed out of his #5 Zaxby’s/Jive Communications Chevrolet and had words with Spencer Gallagher as he exited his hot-rod. The two met face to face next to Gallagher’s truck and a wrestling match ensued. The drivers grappled, hit the pavement, and rolled down the embankment in a satire of a WWE wrestling match.
When Townley and Gallagher got to their feet, Townley had Gallagher in a head lock. He took advantage of his firm hold and landed three or four punches to his competitors face. The two split up out of exhaustion and went to the on-site ambulance for assistance. The drivers were last seen entering the NASCAR officials trailer after the race. we will have to wait and see what fines or punishments will be doled out before next weeks event.
Daniel Hemric and Johnny Sauter rounded out the top five. Hemric had a strong truck and kept up front and out of trouble taking fourth. Sauter’s #21 Alamo Chevrolet was strong from the out-set. Furthermore, he led 29 of the 160 laps turned and his fifth place finish placed him up to fifth in the points standings. Christopher Bell now sits on top of the 2016 Camping World Truck Series points standings with his victory.
The 3rd Annual Drivin’ For Linemen 200 took just under two hours and 15 minutes to complete. The average speed of the field was 89.021 miles per hour due to the nine cautions for 44 laps. There were a total of ten lead changes between six different drivers and the margin of victory was .275 seconds. The Keystone Light Pole Award went unclaimed due to the qualifying session being rained out earlier that day.
