Schrader wins truck qualifying, heat race at Eldora
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ken Schrader won the pole for Wednesday night's inaugural MudSummer Classic Camping World Truck Series race after posting the fastest lap in qualifying at Eldora Speedway, a half-mile dirt track.
At age 58, Schrader became the oldest pole winner in any one of NASCAR's three national touring series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck). Dick Trickle held the previous record when he won the pole for a Nationwide event in June 1999 at Dover.
Schrader's victory in qualifying did not guarantee him the top starting position for the 150-lap, 75-mile race at Eldora. He did secure the first spot when he won the first of five heat races. He led all eight laps in his heat.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It's the second time Schrader has won a pole in 100 career truck starts. His maiden pole in the series came in August 2004 at Bristol. His lone truck victory occurred in April 1995 at Saugus (Calif.) Speedway.
Jared Landers, a Late Model Dirt Series driver making his first career truck start, earned the second starting position after winning heat race 2. Timothy Peters took the checkered flag for heat race 3 to grab the third spot.
Kenny Wallace and Jeb Burton won heat races 4 and 5, respectively, to capture the fourth and fifth starting positions.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Brennan Newberry, Jeff Babcock, Jason Bowles, Justin Jennings and Norm Benning grabbed the last five starting spots in the 30-truck field after they were the top-five finishers in the 15-lap "Last Chance Race." Benning, who is 61 years old, had a heated battle with Clay Greenfield, 29, for the fifth spot in the closing laps. Benning scraped the wall numerous times but hung on to edge Greenfield at the finish line.
Greenfield, Jimmy Weller, Bryan Silas, Joe Cobb and J.R. Heffner failed to qualify for the MudSummer Classic.
This race at Eldora is the first time in nearly 43 years a NASCAR national series event is being contested on a dirt track. The last time a major NASCAR race ran on dirt was on Sept. 30, 1970. Richard Petty won the Home State 200 at the one-mile State Fairgrounds Speedway in Raleigh, N.C.