Team Information:
Started: 5th
Finished: 2nd
Laps: 130/130
Status: Running
2016 Driver Points: 11th
2016 Owner Points: 11th
Quotes:
Did you have anything for the winner at the end?
“I think I did, and I’m beating myself up a little bit. It was a great run for our Cabinets by Hayley Tundra team – best career finish. I can’t complain about that, but I just know in the back of my head if Matt Crafton was in my truck, he could have won that. I just – I needed to run a little bit harder, but great run to start up this year. This was my hardest track all year. I needed to get this one over with and to come out of here second, I’m pretty happy with the team and proud of everything Toyota, everybody has done for me. It’s just an amazing start to the year.”
What could you have done differently?
“I was just afraid to go to the high side there in one and two. I think I could have gone high, got a run on John Hunter (Nemechek) getting down the back straight and maybe passed him into three and four. I was just – my truck was not that great on the outside all day, and I was just afraid that if I went up there, I’d lose more positions than I was going to gain, but that’s just part of learning and something I need to learn.”
What did you see from inside your Tundra when the wreck occurred?
“There was a lot of wrecking in front of me and we almost got in the wreck. We definitely had an up-and-down day, had the right front almost blow there at the beginning of the race, but overall great run for our guys. They work so hard – Toyota, TRD (Toyota Racing Development), Triad, Cabinets by Hayley – all these people who help get me here. It’s just a good run for our team at the start of the season.”
News & Notes:
- The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) had three practice sessions on Friday afternoon in preparation for Saturday’s Great Clips 200. Cameron Hayley, driver of the No 13 Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra was ninth, seventh, and ninth, respectively.
- The ThorSport Racing driver started fifth in the 130-lap event at Atlanta (Ga.) Motor Speedway (AMS) – the top-five starting position was Hayley’s second in just two starts at the 1.54-mile track.
- Hayley finished second in the Great Clips 200 at AMS, a career-best for the sophomore driver, and his best finish of 2016.
- In two starts at the Hampton, Ga., track Hayley has one top-five finish (2016)
- Battling a Cabinets by Hayley Toyota Tundra that was “loose through the center and off,” Hayley ran inside the top-three for the first 20 laps, but experienced a vibration just past lap 30, and had to pit under green for four tires. When the first caution was displayed for the expired caution clock, Hayley would take the wave around to get back on the lead lap.
- Restarting 20th at lap 42, Hayley maintained a position inside the top-15 before coming to pit road at lap 61, under caution, for four tires, fuel, and a chassis adjustment to tighten-up his No. 13 Toyota Tundra. The ThorSport Racing driver would restart 12th at the lap 68.
- Following the races half-way mark, Hayley reported that his Toyota Tundra was, “tight in the center of both corners,” but Hayley was able to work his way inside the top-10, running seventh, when the caution clock expired at lap 107. Crew chief Eddie Troconis brought the Cabinets by Hayley machine to pit road for the final time, for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment and would line-up seventh for the lap 111 restart.
- Hayley took the lead on lap 112 after nearly missing a four-truck pile-up that brought out the red flag for more than six minutes – leading four laps – before losing ground to the No. 4 machine with 14 laps remaining.
- In the final 14 laps, Hayley survived the final caution of the night for the 4 truck, who was leading at the time, to finish second behind race winner, John Hunter Nemechek.
- In 28 career NCWTS starts, Hayley has five top-five and 16 top-10 finishes.
- Hayley was the highest-finishing Tundra driver in the Great Clips 200 at AMS.
- Hayley’s ThorSport Racing teammates finished sixth (Rhodes), 11th (Abreu), and 30th (Crafton)
- Up next: The Alpha Energy Solutions 250 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Saturday, April 2, 2016