We learned two things Saturday night from the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona International Speedway and I was already well aware of both.

First, you can't bump draft with one of those rough and tough pick-ups.

Second, Timothy Peters is for real. He pulled off a perfect crossover move on Todd Bodine coming down the backstretch for the checkers—one that would have made the Intimidator smile.

The only people smiling by race end other than Peters, were fabricators and body men from the 21 teams involved in wrecks, since they'll be getting a little overtime this week to repair the wrecked trucks.

You knew it would be a wild and Wooley affair under a full moon when they didn't make it through the first lap without the caution waving for a nine truck wreck on the backstretch.

Just like in the Nationwide race, we saw a bonehead move made on lap one of a 100-lap race and it resulted in a premature ending for several really good trucks.

Yup, I'm sure Aric Almirola made no friends, but rather several enemies and might also have been added to a few drivers retribution lists.

The man has to be an idiot to put rookie Austin Dillon in such a bad spot in turn three on lap one.

WTF are you thinking!!!!!!

It eliminated Johnny Sauter and Landon Cassill, who was in a one-race deal. A good finish may have led to more races and he'd be a great edition to the series.

Rookie Jennifer Jo Cobb's night also ended after one lap while the wreck damaged the trucks of Rowdy Busch and rookie Justin Lofton along with a several other drivers.

The best quote came from a very pissed off Johnny Sauter who slammed his helmet on his truck as he threw it onto the driver's seat.

"Unfortunately, we never made it past the third turn of the first lap. It's real shame because we had a truck that could have been a contender, and instead of taking home a trophy we're taking the truck home in pieces."

Ah, the night was still young as that possessed backstretch claimed 12 more trucks before the night was over in three more wrecks.

It didn't discriminate, collecting regular front runners, several former champions, and a few still learning their way.

You had to laugh when interviewed Ricky Carmichael remarking he didn't really know how to bump draft and was very apologetic. Then Ron Hornaday remarked about the full moon and cracked a smile saying the important thing is the fans got a great show.

In the end, only 14 trucks finished the race on the lead lap.  

Don't get me wrong, it was another classic Daytona Truck race. I'm just disappointed that Almirola killed me writing a race recap with all the mayhem on lap one trying to sort out who's knocked out and who's damaged so early in the race.

It'll be a long two weeks off till the Trucks roar into Hotlanta. It will be another great race, as several in the field will be trying to make up for bad days at Daytona.

And oh, if I had to guess what caused that now famous Daytona pot hole, look no further than the NextEra Energy Resources 250. I'm pretty sure I know just who the culprit was.

 

Source for quote: thorsportracing.com

Photo Credit: sports.yahoo.com  

 

Several drivers in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series secured sponsorship for the 2010 season and two drivers lost their sponsors.

Let me start with the bad news first. Kyle Busch Motorsports lost the sponsor Miccosukee Gaming and Resorts for the No. 18 Tundra driven by Rowdy Busch and Brian Ickler.

The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians held their vote on Thursday and decided to leave NASCAR as a sponsor.

This move also effects James Finch Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Nationwide Series.

KBM still plans to run the No. 18 regardless of sponsorship, and may have a sponsor lined up for the season opener at Daytona.

Now the good news. First , Graceway Pharmaceuticals will be back with Billy Ballew Motorsports for the 2010 season and will sponsor Aric Almirola in the No. 51.

Almirola will once again campaign the AKAwareness.com design this season.

"Graceway's sponsorship is part of a national public education campaign to raise awareness of actinic keratosis (AK)-a potential early warning sign of skin cancer-as well as the long-term consequencies of sun damage over a lifetime. It is estimated that about 10 million Americans have AK, a common pre-cancer that often develops on skin frequently exposed to the sun."

With Almirola paired with crew chief Richie Wauters and the No. 51 team. Should he run full-time, pencil his name on your short list of title contenders, and don't be surprised to see him hoisting the title in Homestead.

Graceway will also be an associate sponsor for Almirola in the No. 09 James Finch Racing Cup car and they also will sponsor Nate Monteith in the No. 15 BBM in seven races.

Second, Hunt Brothers Pizza will be the primary sponsor for Elliott Sadler, in eight races in the No. 2 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet, and also will sponsor him in his No. 19 Cup ride.

Sadler is a big fan of the pizza chain, has a long history with them as his family sells the brand in it's two Slip-In Convenience Stores, and I guess loyalty pays off with this deal.

Third, Mike Skinner has picked up sponsorship from Navistar Inc. with its International Truck and Monaco Recreational Vehicle brands.

Navistar Inc. has been a sponsor since 2001 in the Truck Series, and is the longest running team sponsor in the series.

Over the offseason, Skinner's team owners Randy Moss and David Dollar have formed a partnership with HT Motorsports owner Jim Harris and the team is now named Randy Moss Motorsports with HTM.

Skinner will also have David Starr as a teammate in the No. 81 Zachry Toyota.

Fourth, Jennifer Jo Cobb will start the season running full-time, using her two online fashion sites as sponsors.

She'll have her www.driverboutique.com and www.DrivenMale.com on board as primary sponsors, but will continue to still look for more sponsorship.

Jennifer Jo Racing will also have support from Mike Harmon Racing, as they've pooled resources and talent.

It'll be exciting to see her competing for Raybestos Rookie honors and let's hope more sponsorship comes through for her.

In other sponsor news, Ted Musgrave will be back racing in Trucks, but right now it's just the Daytona race, as he'll be driving the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Toyota in the NextEra Energy Resources 250.

He will have the charity Hope for Haiti as primary sponsor and associate sponsorship from Eco Clear Solutions, MagicJack.com, and Bee My Bear.

Then, Todd Bodine and Germain Racing are hard at work looking for sponsorship, but will be at Daytona and Atlanta.

They are talking to and hoping for some of their sponsors from last season will re-sign for the coming season.

Bodine was the 2006 Champion, he's finished no worse than fourth in the points over the last five years, and I'm sure they'll find a sponsor.

For the trucks teams still needing sponsorship, they still have time to work out sponsor funding before the season really kicks off.

Aafter the season opener Daytona race on Feb. 12, the only race over the next five weeks is Atlanta on March 6 and then back-to-back races at Martinsville and Nashville and they'll have another four-week break before Kansas.