A green-white-checker finish couldn’t keep Clint Bowyer from Victory Lane Friday at the Silverado 350k at Texas Motor Speedway Friday night.
Bowyer started from the pole in only his third career Craftsman Truck Series start and led 103 of 148 laps. Mike Sinner led the remaining 45.
The two raced for the lead throughout the race, and the battle came to a head on lap 115 when Bowyer dropped to the bottom of the track on the front stretch to block Skinner, who dove into the grass to avoid making contact with Bowyer.
“He was pushing me pretty hard for a couple of laps, but I wasn’t going to give him the bottom,” Bowyer said. “I left him plenty of real estate on the outside…I guess the grass was a better option.”
Skinner wasn’t pleased with the move, and said it was too early in the race for that kind of action.
“It’s something that you do with five laps to go, 10 laps to go,” said Skinner. “He was driving like a guy who knew he didn’t have the best truck.”
“I’m sure he was frustrated,” said Bowyer. “But there was six inches on the bottom and 60 feet on the top.”
Skinner would end up with a third-place finish, clinching Toyota’s first manufacturer’s championship in only their third year of NASCAR racing.
“To clinch the manufacturer’s championship for Toyota is an honor,” said Skinner, who added he just signed a three year contract extension to continue racing in the truck series for Bill Davis Racing.
“They have made a home for me over here at Bill Davis driving the Toyota Tundra…and I feel we can be competitive in the Craftsman Truck Series,” Skinner said.
“I’d much rather make a fourth of the money here and have fun doing what I love to do for a living than go make the big money over there [Cup Series] and run 35th every week,” he said.
Kyle Busch came in second place after battling with a tight truck early in the race.
“We just started freeing up the back and that’s what made the difference tonight,” Busch said. “After the last pit stop we called for massive changes to turn it around. We got going after that.”
A late race caution came out on lap 140 when Kerry Earnhardt spun out and wrecked, bringing out the green-white-checker finish, NASCAR’s version of overtime.
The win marks the second week in a row a Chevrolet has gone to victory lane in the truck series. Mike Bliss took his Silverado to Victory Lane in Atlanta last week.
Bowyer, Busch and 41 other drivers will compete in the Busch Series O’Reilly Challenge Saturday, the second race in Texas Motor Speedway’s November NASCAR weekend.
