TRUCK Series Daytona International Speedway

NASCAR TRUCK Series

Results

NextEra Energy 250

Friday, February 12th, 2021

Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL

  • 6 Ford
  • 14 Toyota
  • 26 Chevrolet

  • Daytona International Speedway
  • 22nd Annual NextEra Energy 250
  • Pole Winner: Johnny Sauter
  • Age: 42
  • Team : No. 13 Vivitar/RealTree Toyota
  • Owner: ThorSport Racing
  • Crew Chief: Joe Shear Jr.
  • Johnny Sauter won the Pole Award for the 22nd Annual NextEra Energy 250 with a lap of 49.733 seconds, 180.966 mph.
  • This is his ninth pole in 290 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.
  • This is his first pole and first top-10 start in 2021.
  • This is his first pole in 13 races at Daytona International Speedway.
  • Sheldon Creed (second) posted his first top-10 start of 2021 and his second in three races at Daytona International Speedway.
  • Grant Enfinger (third) posted his fourth top-10 start at Daytona International Speedway.
  • Chase Purdy (fourth) was the fastest qualifying rookie.

  • Friday, February 12th, 2021
  • NASCAR Wire Service - Reid Spencer
Ben Rhodes charges to dramatic overtime victory at Daytona

With a gaggle of trucks wrecking behind him as the field approached the finish line, Ben Rhodes shot past Cory Roper in the tri-oval at Daytona International Speedway to win Friday night's NextEra Energy 250, the 2021 season-opener for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

With a decisive push from ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton on the final lap of an overtime shootout, Rhodes had more than enough momentum to charge past Roper in the final 400 yards. Likewise, Jordan Anderson blew past Roper into second place, .036 seconds behind the winner, as Roper held third for a career-best result.

"This is so special—the biggest win of my career," Rhodes exulted after climbing from his truck. "I can't even believe this. As a driver, you're always asked about what your biggest accomplishment is...This is it. This is hands-down it. This is the place to be. I can't even believe it."

The win was the first for ThorSport after an offseason switch from Ford to Toyota.

"We came back to Toyota and we won in our first race with them at ThorSport," Rhodes said. "I can't thank (owners) Duke and Rhonda Thorson enough for this opportunity. This is special. I'm going to soak it up for as long as I can. I'm going to enjoy this night. Best night of my life right here."

Without Crafton's help, Rhodes said, he couldn't have claimed his first win at Daytona and the fourth of his career.

"Thanks goodness I had my teammate Matt Crafton behind me, because he's a stud," Rhodes said. "He's been around a long time, and he knows what he's doing."

Anderson was a close runner-up for the second straight year, matching his career-best finish.

"I'm almost speechless," said an elated Anderson, who was anything but tongue-tied. "So much energy, so much emotion…"

A multicar wreck on Lap 95 of 100 ended the winning chances of a handful of contenders. Chandler Smith spun into the infield, and behind him, a vicious crash ended the race for Tyler Ankrum and heavily damaged the trucks of Timothy Peters, Austin Hill, and three-time Daytona winner Johnny Sauter.

The trucks of Sunoco rookie Carson Hocevar and John Hunter Nemechek also were victims of the crash, but they recovered to finish fifth and seventh, respectively. Ryan Truex ran fourth, followed by Hocevar, defending series champion Sheldon Creed, Nemechek, Codie Rohrbaugh, Smith and Drew Dollar.

Crafton, a three-time series champion, was collected in the overtime wreck and finished 15th. Twenty-eight laps earlier, he was part of a wreck that eliminated a pair of strong entries.

With trucks running in a perilous four-wide array on Lap 72, Crafton nosed up the track after a slight tap from Nemechek and bumped the left rear quarter of Todd Gilliland's Ford. Gilliland spun and collected the trucks of Stewart Friesen and Tate Fogleman behind him, and in the process, Brett Moffitt's Chevrolet was pinched into the outside wall.

The trucks of Gilliland and Friesen were wrecked too severely to continue.

Racing for the first time in six years, 2012 series champion James Buescher was out of the event before he reached the start/finish line to begin the race. With his No. 44 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet destroyed in a four-truck wreck right after the initial start, Buescher exited without completing a lap.

Joining him on the sidelines were Tanner Gray, who spun during the early incident, and Gus Dean, whose truck was damaged too badly to continue. Derek Kraus recovered from a spin in that early crash in what was to become an adventuresome night for the driver of the No. 19 Toyota.

Kraus caused two more cautions with spins and collided with the truck of Sunoco rookie Kris Wright on pit road before taking his truck to the garage in 33rd place.

  • Drivers Entered: 46 (10 drivers will not make the race)
  • Laps Scheduled: 100
  • Laps Actual: 101 - NASCAR OVERTIME!
  • Margin of Victory: 0.036 Seconds
  • Time of Race: 2 Hours 20 Minutes 33 Seconds
  • Average Speed: 107.791
  • Cautions: 10 for 43 laps
  • Lead Changes: 31
  • Green Flag Passes: 2,769 (47.7 passes per green flag lap)

  • Daytona International Speedway
  • 22nd Annual NextEra Energy 250
  • Race Winner: Ben Rhodes
  • Age: 23
  • Team : No. 99 - Bombardier LearJet 75 Toyota
  • Owner: ThorSport Racing
  • Crew Chief: Richard Lushes
  • Ben Rhodes won the 22nd Annual NextEra Energy 250, his fourth victory in 120 Camping World Truck Series races.
  • This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in 2021.
  • This is his first victory and third top-10 finish in six races at Daytona International Speedway.
  • Jordan Anderson (second) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Daytona International Speedway. It is his first top-10 finish in 2021.
  • Cory Roper (third) posted his first top-10 finish in three races at Daytona International Speedway.
  • Carson Hocevar (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
Ben Rhodes celebrates at Daytona International Speedway
Daytona Beach, Florida - February 12, 2021 : Ben Rhodes, driver of the #99 Bombardier LearJet 75 Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway.
Jared C TiltonGetty Images
NextEra Energy 250 at Daytona International Speedway results
FIN ST # DRIVER MAKE TOT PTS FIN PTS STG PTS PO PTS LAPS LED X LED S1 S2 STATUS
14 13 17 David Gilliland Ford 26 23 3 0 101 8 4 8 0 Running
27 1 13 Johnny Sauter Toyota 24 10 14 0 94 12 1 5 3 DVP
11 3 98 Grant Enfinger Toyota 36 26 10 0 101 13 5 3 9 Running
20 35 33 Jason A White Chevrolet 17 17 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
15 14 88 Matt Crafton Toyota 22 22 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
4 25 40 Ryan Truex Chevrolet 33 33 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
25 15 45 Brett Moffitt Chevrolet 12 12 0 0 96 1 1 0 0 Running
26 10 25 Timothy Peters Chevrolet 15 11 4 0 95 3 3 10 8 DVP
13 24 20 Spencer Boyd Chevrolet 24 24 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
7 7 4 John Hunter Nemechek Toyota 48 30 17 1 101 14 3 4 1 Running
22 18 16 Austin Hill Toyota 19 15 4 0 99 0 0 0 7 Running
6 2 2 Sheldon Creed Chevrolet 47 31 16 0 101 1 1 2 4 Running
16 8 21 Zane Smith Chevrolet 21 21 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
17 32 30 Danny Bohn Toyota 20 20 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
2 20 3 Jordan Anderson Chevrolet 0 0 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
12 27 02 Kris Wright Chevrolet 25 25 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
32 29 52 Stewart Friesen Toyota 7 5 2 0 71 0 0 9 0 Accident
1 23 99 Ben Rhodes Toyota 56 40 11 5 101 7 5 6 5 Running
36 36 44 James Buescher Chevrolet 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Accident
18 16 10 Jennifer Jo Cobb Chevrolet 19 19 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
21 19 22 Austin Wayne Self Chevrolet 16 16 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 Running
19 28 28 Bryan Dauzat Chevrolet 18 18 0 0 101 2 1 0 0 Running
31 21 38 Todd Gilliland Ford 6 6 0 0 71 0 0 0 0 Accident
28 11 26 Tyler Ankrum Chevrolet 10 9 1 0 94 6 3 0 10 Accident
3 31 04 Cory Roper Ford 34 34 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
30 30 12 Tate Fogleman Chevrolet 7 7 0 0 73 0 0 0 0 DVP
29 4 23 Chase Purdy Chevrolet 8 8 0 0 91 0 0 0 0 Electrical
33 33 19 Derek Kraus Toyota 4 4 0 0 56 0 0 0 0 DVP
8 26 9 Codie Rohrbaugh Chevrolet 29 29 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
34 34 56 Gus Dean Chevrolet 3 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Accident
23 5 24 Raphael Lessard Chevrolet 34 14 19 1 99 12 2 1 2 Running
9 6 18 Chandler Smith Toyota 37 28 9 0 101 22 3 7 6 Running
5 12 42 Carson Hocevar Chevrolet 32 32 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running
35 22 15 Tanner Gray Ford 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Drivetrain
24 9 1 Hailie Deegan Ford 13 13 0 0 98 0 0 0 0 Running
10 17 51 Drew Dollar Toyota 27 27 0 0 101 0 0 0 0 Running

Race Infractions

Penalties imposed prior to or during the race.

Driver Infraction Penalty Lap Lap Assessed Flag
Derek Kraus Pre-Race to the Rear Unapproved adjustment Tail End 0 0 White
Derek Kraus Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 1 5 Yellow
Gus Dean Pitting before pit road is open Garage Tail End 1 0 Yellow
Danny Bohn Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 2 5 Yellow
Sheldon Creed Speeding on pit road Tail End 23 26 Yellow
Codie Rohrbaugh Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 23 26 Yellow
Jason A White Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 23 26 Yellow
Matt Crafton Car/Truck pitting out of the assigned pit box 1 Lap 23 26 Yellow
Derek Kraus Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 35 38 Yellow
Codie Rohrbaugh Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 36 38 Yellow
Chase Purdy Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 42 46 Yellow
Tate Fogleman Unspecified Equipment over early Tail End 43 46 Yellow
Ryan Truex Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 53 58 Yellow
Ryan Truex Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 53 58 Yellow
Derek Kraus Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 53 58 Yellow
Matt Crafton Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 57 58 Yellow
Jordan Anderson Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 61 64 Yellow
Austin Wayne Self Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 61 64 Yellow
Zane Smith Driving through more than 3 pit boxes Tail End 62 64 Yellow
Ryan Truex Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 65 69 Yellow
Jason A White Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 65 69 Yellow
Tyler Ankrum Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 65 69 Yellow
Bryan Dauzat Speeding on pit road Tail End 66 69 Yellow
Tate Fogleman Pitting before pit road is open Garage Tail End 72 0 Yellow
Brett Moffitt Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 73 78 Yellow
Jason A White Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 77 78 Yellow
Hailie Deegan Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 81 85 Yellow
Hailie Deegan Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 81 85 Yellow
Jason A White Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 82 85 Yellow
Brett Moffitt Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area Tail End 82 85 Yellow
Brett Moffitt Too many crewmember(s) in contact with pit service area Tail End 89 99 Green/Yellow
Austin Hill Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Chase Purdy Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Tyler Ankrum Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
John Hunter Nemechek Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Carson Hocevar Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Brett Moffitt Pitting before pit road is open Pass Thru 95 99 Yellow
Raphael Lessard Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Chandler Smith Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Johnny Sauter Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Timothy Peters Pitting before pit road is open Tail End 95 99 Yellow
Jason A White Crewmember(s) over the wall too soon Tail End 97 99 Yellow