Scott wins first career NASCAR race and takes checkered flag at Dover International Speedway

Scott wins trucks race at Dover

DOVER, Del. — Brian Scott wondered if one of his tires would be next to blow on the concrete at Dover.

They all stayed intact, and Scott got his celebration in Victory Lane. Scott won the Camping World Trucks race at Dover International Speedway on Saturday for his first career victory in any NASCAR series.

“Track position at the end. We played the game perfectly,” Scott said.

He also survived the tire woes that derailed the efforts of series points leader and Ron Hornaday Jr. and Kyle Busch. Busch had his shot at a win in the Nationwide Series race earlier in the day blown because of tire issues. He was running up front in the nightcap when he felt a vibration in the rear of his truck and smacked the wall with 17 laps remaining. Busch led 133 of the 200 laps, yet finished ninth.

Dennis Setzer had a season-best second-place finish in the caution-filled race pushed back to Saturday because of rain Friday. The 10 cautions were one shy of the Dover trucks record.

David Starr was third, followed by Jason White and Johnny Sauter.

“It’s like Bristol on steroids,” Starr said. “It’s an awesome race track.”

Hornaday’s 21st career pole meant little when faulty tires sent him to the pits and eventually out of the race. He finished 26th and holds a 27-point lead over Mike Skinner. Hornaday hadn’t finished worse than seventh in his previous six trucks races.

“This is how a championship goes,” Hornaday said. “Whoever gets out front has problems. That is the way it goes.”

The 21-year-old Scott won in the No. 16 Toyota for the first time in 39 career trucks races. Driving for Xpress Motorsports, the win lifted Scott into fifth in the points standings.

“I watched all those tires blow. It’s kind of scary,” he said. “We just had a balanced truck. We weren’t abusing one tire too much.”

He recorded his fourth top-10 finish of the season and led all of 14 laps.

Busch — who was shooting for his 30th NASCAR win since the start of the 2008 season — felt a vibration early in the race and had his initial concerns about the state of the tires. He was running first and Colin Braun was second when they wrecked and blew tires over the final laps. Braun didn’t finish the race and was 22nd while Busch was able to continue.

Busch, Bruan and Starr all blew front right tires. NASCAR and Goodyear allowed teams an extra set of right-side tires.