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Michael Waltrip Comes Full-Circle on February 18, Wins Camping World Truck Series at Daytona

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Ten years to the day of his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup victory and ten years to the day of the death of his close friend and car owner, Michael Waltrip paid tribute to Dale Earnhardt by winning the Camping World Truck Series NextEra 250 at Daytona.

It is the first career Camping World Truck Series win for the two-time Daytona 500 winner, who usually serves as a SPEED broadcaster for truck events, and his first NASCAR victory since he won a Nationwide Series race at Nashville in 2004.

Elliott Sadler finished second, losing the lead on Waltrip’s last-moment pass, followed by Clay Rogers, Miguel Paludo, and Kyle Busch.

The race was marred by two multi-truck accidents that collectively involved most of the field. Among those collected were defending series champion Todd Bodine, who was involved in both accidents, along with Ron Hornaday, Travis Kvapil (who’s shredded left rear tire triggered the first crash), and pole-sitter Austin Dillon.

In the end, all but five trucks were undamaged in the 100-lap event.

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.