Stats:
Started: 12th
Finished: 9th
Laps: 145/145
Status: Running
Driver Points: 7th (-102)
Owner Points: 10th
Sparta, Ky. (July 10, 2015) – Rain showers halted all on-track activity throughout the day at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, as 18-year-old Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate Cameron Hayley got set to make his debut at the 1.5-mile facility for the UNOH 225. With a lack of practice, the drop of the green flag marked Hayley’s first laps on the track in his young NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) career. Due to showers throughout the afternoon, the field was set by the rulebook, putting the No. 13 ADVICS Toyota Tundra in the 12th position on the starting grid.
As the race began, Hayley quickly settled into the 12th position, looking to gain valuable on-track experience. The competition caution on lap 22 allowed Hayley to bring the No. 13 Toyota Tundra down pit road for adjustments. Hayley notified crew chief Jeff Hensley that the truck was “chattering through the corners.” Hensley called for big adjustments to help aid his rookie driver, including a track bar adjustment, rubbers out of the right rear, four tires and fuel.
Following the first pit stop on lap 22, Hayley restarted in the 18th position and quickly went to work on the competitors in front of him. By lap 40, Hayley was back up to the 12th position and looking for more. A caution on lap 45 allowed the crew to tend to the 18-year-old’s Toyota Tundra with four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment. When the race resumed, Hayley was scored18th and looking to make up ground.
A long green-flag run allowed Hayley to work his way up to the top-15 before having to hit pit road himself on lap 98 for four tires and fuel, and just five laps later the fourth caution flag was displayed for debris. Crew chief Jeff Hensley elected to gain his young driver track position by leaving him on the track to save fuel. When the race resumed on lap 107, Hayley quickly jumped up into the top 10, moving as high as the seventh position on the racetrack.
Surviving a rash of late-race cautions, the Canadian driver was able to make a strong charge in the closing laps. However, due to a late race caution on lap 145, the UNOH 225 was cut short, relinquishing Hayley to a ninth-place finishing position in his NCWTS Kentucky Speedway debut.
Quote:
“Our ADVICS Tundra was really good today. I’m really happy to have ADVICS on board and give them a good solid top-10 run. We just really needed some track position. We weren’t where we needed to be at the start of the race, because we didn’t have practice today, but the guys worked so hard throughout the race to get that truck freed up and get it better for me. My spotter Eddie D’Hondt helped me a ton out there in the spotters stand with my lane and my line, and I think it will help me a ton with the rest of the mile-and-a-half racetracks coming up.”
Notes:
- Cameron Hayley finished ninth in his Kentucky Speedway debut Thursday night
- The ThorSport Racing driver was the highest finishing Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender
- In 2015, Hayley has two top-five and four top-10 finishes
- The ThorSport Racing driver is currently seventh in the 2015 NCWTS driver point standings following the 10th race of the season
- Running as high as seventh and as low as 24th, Hayley maintained an Average Running Position of 12.97
- ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton won the UNOH 225 followed by Erik Jones (second), Ryan Blaney (third), Daniel Suarez (fourth) and Timothy Peters (fifth). ThorSport Racing teammate Johnny Sauter finished 12th
- Up next: The 1-800-CarCash MudSummer Classic at Eldora Speedway on Wednesday, July 22.