NextEra Energy Resources 250

NextEra Energy Resources 250

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Venue	Daytona International Speedway
Location	Daytona Beach, Florida, United States
Corporate sponsor	NextEra Energy Resources
First race	2000
Distance	250 miles (400 km)
Laps	100
Previous names	Daytona 250 (2000) Florida Dodge Dealers 250 (2001–2005) GM Flex Fuel 250 (2006) Chevy Silverado HD 250 (2007–2008)
Most wins (driver)	Todd Bodine and Johnny Sauter (2)
Most wins (team)	Bobby Hamilton Racing (3)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Toyota (8)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt
Length	2.5 mi (4.0 km)
Turns	4

The NextEra Energy Resources 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Camping World Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the name used to describe the series of races leading up to the Daytona 500. Winners include Mike Wallace, Joe Ruttman, Robert Pressley, Rick Crawford, Carl Edwards, Bobby Hamilton, Mark Martin, Jack Sprague, Todd Bodine, Timothy Peters, Michael Waltrip, John King, Johnny Sauter, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Reddick.

The Camping World Truck Series does not run restrictor plates, devices used by the Xfinity and Sprint Cup stock cars to reduce horsepower and slow the cars down at Daytona and Talladega. However, a restrictor in the space, a "spacer plate", and aerodynamic disadvantages in the trucks compensate for the lack of a restrictor plate.

History

The inaugural running of the race in 2000 featured one of the most horrific wrecks in NASCAR history. Just past the halfway point of the race, Kurt Busch's truck made contact with Rob Morgan, turning him into Geoff Bodine's truck, sending Bodine careening airborne into the wall and catch fence just past the start-finish line. Bodine's truck burst into flames and flipped at least 10 times before coming to a stop toward Turn 1, causing a major wreck involving 13 trucks. Despite serious injuries, Bodine survived and raced again later that year in May at Richmond. Although this race is largely overshadowed by this wreck, it was truly exciting as Mike Wallace made the last lap pass on Joe Ruttman for the inaugural victory.^[1]

In 2001, Joe Ruttman was the first driver to win starting from pole position. He also won the pole the year before. Rookie Ricky Hendrick finished in second.^[2]

The 2003 race featured an exciting 3 wide finish on the final lap between Rick Crawford, defending Daytona winner Robert Pressley, and that year's eventual champion Travis Kvapil where the margin of victory was 0.027 seconds.^[3]

In early 2004, they announced that the race would move from Friday afternoon to Friday night and be run under the lights. Carl Edwards would go on to win the race and Travis Kvapil (in a Toyota) finished second. The race was Toyota's first truck race.^[4]

Kerry Earnhardt started from the pole in the 2005 race, but finished in 35th due to an accident. Bobby Hamilton won from the 36th starting position, the farthest starting position for a driver to win.^[5]

In 2007, another 3 wide finish between Travis Kvapil, Johnny Benson, and Jack Sprague who won the race; the margin of victory was 0.031 seconds (second closest finish). Sprague was the third driver to win from the pole.^[6]

The 2009 race was the first under the new sponsorship of Camping World. Todd Bodine won becoming the first driver to win back-to-back season opening truck races at the Daytona International Speedway;^[7] Kyle Busch finished second in both races. Also, Todd Bodine won the 2009 race without a sponsor.^[7] Six days after the race, fifth-place finisher Ron Hornaday was docked 25 points and owner DeLana Harvick was docked 25 owner points as a penalty for illegal shocks used in the race. Crew chief Rick Ren was placed on probation and fined $5,000 because of the violations.^[8]

The 2011 running was held on the tenth anniversary of Dale Earnhardt's death in the 2001 Daytona 500. Michael Waltrip, who won that infamous 500, pulled off a slingshot last lap pass on Elliott Sadler to win his first ever Camping World Truck race in a No. 15 truck, just like his Sprint Cup car number, with his brother Darrell in the broadcast booth once again. It would be one of the most emotional truck events in series history. Michael also became the 22nd driver to win in all of NASCAR's top 3 divisions (he also has 11 Nationwide wins and 4 Sprint Cup wins). However his truck failed post-race inspection because the right side of spoiler snapped, likewise the team was penalized, but kept the win since Waltrip was not running for points, under NASCAR's new rule of choosing one series to go for a championship.^[9][10]

Past winners

Year	Date	Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Race distance		Race time	Average speed (mph)
					Laps	Miles (km)
2000	February 18	Mike Wallace	Ultra Motorsports	Ford	100	250 (402.336)	1:55:00	130.152
2001	February 16	Joe Ruttman	Bobby Hamilton Racing	Dodge	104*	260 (418.429)	2:00:33	129.407
2002	February 15	Robert Pressley	Bobby Hamilton Racing	Dodge	100	250 (402.336)	1:47:03	140.121
2003	February 14	Rick Crawford	Circle Bar Racing	Ford	106*	265 (426.476)	2:04:34	127.642
2004	February 13	Carl Edwards	Roush Racing	Ford	100	250 (402.336)	2:13:15	112.570
2005	February 18	Bobby Hamilton	Bobby Hamilton Racing	Dodge	100	250 (402.336)	2:00:04	124.931
2006	February 17	Mark Martin	Roush Racing	Ford	102*	255 (410.382)	1:44:21	146.622
2007	February 16	Jack Sprague	Wyler Racing	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	2:07:24	117.739
2008	February 15	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	1:57:36	127.551
2009	February 13	Todd Bodine	Germain Racing	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	2:02:11	122.766
2010	February 13*	Timothy Peters	Red Horse Racing	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	2:10:06	115.295
2011	February 18	Michael Waltrip	Billy Ballew Motorsports	Toyota	103*	257.5 (414.406)	1:58:33	130.025
2012	February 24	John King	Red Horse Racing	Toyota	109*	272.5 (438.546)	2:17:13	119.169
2013	February 22	Johnny Sauter	ThorSport Racing	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	1:45:56	141.598
2014	February 21	Kyle Busch	Kyle Busch Motorsports	Toyota	100	250 (402.336)	1:45:10	142.631
2015	February 20	Tyler Reddick	Brad Keselowski Racing	Ford	100	250 (402.336)	1:56:45	128.480
2016	February 19	Johnny Sauter	GMS Racing	Chevrolet	100	250 (402.336)	1:56:15	129.032

• 2001, 2003, 2006, 2011, and 2012 Race extended due to a green–white–checker finish. 2012 race took 3 attempts.
• 2010: Race postponed from Friday to Saturday due to rain.

Multiple winners (drivers)

# of wins	Driver	Years won
2	Todd Bodine	2008, 2009
	Johnny Sauter	2013, 2016

Multiple winners (teams)

# of wins	Team	Years won
3	Bobby Hamilton Racing	2001, 2002, 2005
2	Roush Racing	2004, 2006
	Germain Racing	2008, 2009
	Red Horse Racing	2010, 2012

Manufacturer wins

# of wins	Make	Years won
8	Toyota	2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
5	Ford	2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2015
3	Dodge	2001, 2002, 2005
1	Chevrolet	2016

References

1. "Wallace wins Daytona's first truck race". ESPN. February 18, 2000. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
2. "2001 Official Race Results : Florida Dodge Dealers 250". NASCAR. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
3. "Crawford uses last-lap pass to snap 120-race winless skid". Sports Illustrated. February 14, 2003. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
4. Long, Mark (February 13, 2004). "Edwards flips over Daytona truck win". USA Today. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
5. Graves, Gary (February 18, 2005). "Hamilton wins wild truck race at Daytona". USA Today (Daytona Beach, Florida). Retrieved February 25, 2012.
6. "Sprague Wins at Daytona, Has Sights Set on Fourth Championship". Kansas Speedway. February 18, 2007. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
7. Adelson, Andrea (February 14, 2009). "Bodine wins truck race at Daytona". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
8. "Hornaday docked 25 points for illegal shocks at DIS". NASCAR. February 19, 2009. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
9. "Michael Waltrip wins Trucks race". ESPN. February 19, 2012. Retrieved February 25, 2012.
10. Pockrass, Bob (February 23, 2011). "Michael Waltrip crew chief fined $25,000 for spoiler violation in Daytona truck race". SceneDaily. Retrieved February 25, 2012.