Waltrip wins NASCAR truck race prior to Daytona

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.

Michael Waltrip won at Daytona on the 10-year anniversary of his first victory, the one marred by the death of Dale Earnhardt.

Waltrip passed Elliott Sadler in the final hundred yards of the season-opening Trucks Series race Friday night, then celebrated an emotional victory a decade after his car owner died on the last lap of the Daytona 500.

Waltrip had tears in his eyes as he talked about what the win meant. He also became the 22nd driver to win races in each of NASCAR’s top three series.

This one was special.

“This day was hard,” Waltrip said. “I’ve been emotional all day long.”

Sadler, Waltrip, Timothy Peters, Miquel Paludo and Clay Rogers were the only ones who avoided major damage in two wild, multi-truck wrecks late. Sadler and Waltrip pulled away from the field after the green flag dropped on a two-lap sprint to the checkered flag.

Waltrip pushed Sadler most of the way, then veered outside coming out of the final turn and edged Sadler by a few feet at the line.

“If anybody deserves a win in today’s race, it’s probably Michael Waltrip,” Sadler said.

The final pileup seemingly started when Aric Almirola ran into the back of Brad Sweet with four laps remaining, setting off a chain reaction that collected many of the night’s fastest trucks. Officials stopped the race for 10 minutes to clean up debris from the 10-truck crash near the start-finish line.

Most of the trucks remaining had significant damage.