SpeedyCash.com 250 Recap

Rockingham Speedway

Dawson Sutton scored a season-best ninth-place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 at Texas Motor Speedway Friday night.

A rainy day forced the cancellation of practice and qualifying, so the field was set using metrics from the race at Rockingham Speedway. Sutton started 20th and dropped to 26th by the time the competition caution flew on lap 20, and he remained deep in the field following that restart.

Most of the field pitted under the yellow that flew with a handful of laps remaining in stage one, but a fuel-only pit stop moved Sutton up nine spots on pit road, giving him solid track position to run the final laps of the stage. After restarting inside the top 10 with four laps remaining, the driver of the No. 26 Rackley Roofing / W.A.R. Shocks Chevrolet ended stage one in 13th.

Because he’d just pitted a few laps earlier, crew chief Chad Kendrick kept his driver on the track during the stage break, and Sutton remained near the back end of the top 10 for much of stage two. During the 10-lap shootout to end stage two, Sutton lost positions to drivers who’d pitted under the previous caution and finished the stage 18th.

Stage three race caution-free for 60 laps before the final 27 laps saw just seven run under green flag conditions. A flurry of cautions, including a four-minute, 55-second red flag for a three-truck incident with 10 laps remaining, forced a double overtime finish. On the first attempt, Sutton was shuffled back to 14th, but on the final restart he jumped to 10th and snagged one extra spot before the checkered flag flew.

The ninth-place run marks Sutton’s second career top-10 finish and his best result this season.

Points Update: On the strength of his ninth-place finish, Sutton moved up two positions in the standings to 17th. He holds a three-point advantage over 18th-place Aundres Perez De Lara and Matt Mills, who are tied for 18th. Sutton is 64 points behind Ben Rhodes, who holds the 10th and final playoff spot.

Rookie Standings: Sutton was the highest finishing rookie at Texas and the only one to finish inside the top 20. Giovanni Ruggiero still leads the rookie standings, while Sutton jumped to second, 36 points behind. Andres Perez De Lara is third, followed by Connor Mosack. Toni Breidinger and Frankie Muniz round up the rookie standings.

Season Stats: 8 starts, best finish 9th (Texas)

Inside the helmet with Dawson Sutton

“It was a quick weekend with no practice and qualifying. Unfortunately, the rain hit, but overall it was a pretty solid day. We had to start pretty far back in the field, 20th, after not-so-good qualifying last week. But to go up there and get a top 10, it means everything to me and my team. They put so much work in every weekend and every day, so I’m super thankful to get this finish and hopefully go on to Kansas next week. This race always turns out pretty hectic at the end; I think it’s known for that. It’s a unique racetrack; it’s a harder one to pass on, so it causes more carnage. Luckily, we stayed out of that; I came close to a couple of them, but luckily we missed them and we move on to the next race.”

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ABOUT RACKLEY W.A.R:
Rackley W.A.R. offers motorsports competition, technology, development, marketing, management, and a suite of other industry-related services for professional race car drivers, race teams and industry sponsors. Rackley W.A.R. competes nationally in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series with driver Dawson Sutton as well as operating a championship driver development program that competes in premier, regional Super and Pro Late Model events. Rackley W.A.R. is headed and co-owned by Curtis Sutton (Rackley Roofing, Inc.) and Willie Allen (Willie Allen Racing and W.A.R. Shocks & Suspension).

ABOUT RACKLEY ROOFING:
For 2024 Rackley Roofing Co. Inc. is proud to celebrate 50 years in business! Established in 1974, Rackley Roofing has become one of the leading industrial and commercial roofing contractors in Tennessee. As a full-service roofing company, Rackley dedicates in-house crews who each focus on one specialty. The company only hires highly skilled, full-time roofing experts, enabling Rackley Roofing to offer unparalleled service that exceeds customer expectations.

Among numerous industry awards throughout the years that accolade Rackley’s commitment to safety, positive growth, diversity and excellence, the company was honored with the distinct recognition of Roofing Contractor of the Year in 2022, an industry benchmark.