...and dirt short tracks, motocross circuits, stadium
truck racing facilities, go-kart and Legends cars layouts
as well as a Junior Drag racing strip.
Shane Hmiel chased down race leader Todd Bodine in the
closing laps of the Las Vegas 350 to earn his first
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory in just 19 starts.
The Pleasant Garden, N.C., driver also is the series’
youngest winner and the 10th driver to score a Truck
win in the 2004 season.
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Las
Vegas 350
Tickets |
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“To come here and run well on a big track like
this – when I normally run better on short tracks
– and win…that shows how good my team is,”
said Hmiel. “We had great pit stops tonight and
we qualified 21st and won the race. To do that is really
big, I think. Everybody raced us clean and I barely
got into Todd. I just glad to get into victory lane.”
Hmiel was asked if he knew he could pass race leader
Bodine if he caught him in the closing laps.“No.
I could see him. He was well into (turn) three and I
was going into (turn) two. I thought, ‘second
I can get.’ Then I was thinking, ‘well,
I can get first place’ and I just ran right up
there. And I got there and I said, ‘there’s
no way I gonna not win this race.’ I’ve
come too close too many times. We did a little bump
‘n’ run and won the race.”
The win also is the first win for Whitaker Farm Chevrolet
team owner Billy Ballew and crew chief Richie Wauters.
Todd Bodine finished second. Third was Steve Park in
the Las Vegas-based Orleans Racing Dodge. Park’s
Orleans Racing teammate for the Las Vegas race, Scott
Lynch, finished 19th.
Current series points leader Bobby Hamilton finished
ninth. Carl Edwards, favored to win the race, finished
33rd after his engine expired in lap 101. Brandon Whitt
won the Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award. Sixteen
Trucks finished on the lead lap.
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