Darnell Finishes Second at Memphis

Courtesy Rory Connellan

CONCORD, N.C. - Erik Darnell came just short of winning his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Memphis on Saturday night, finishing second to series veteran Jack Sprague. Darnell never showed out of the top-five all night, and looked to have the truck to win the race. Late caution periods and a veteran tactic on the final restart allowed Sprague to head home the victor, and Darnell a disappointed second.

Darnell started the O'Reilly 200 in the fourth position, and the race hardly got underway before the first caution flag of the night flew when the No. 08 truck spun on lap five.

"It's a little tight in the center," reported Darnell. "It's loose off, but it isn't too bad, it's not bad."

The race would restart at lap 11, with Darnell continuing to hold down the fourth spot.

Darnell continued in fourth until he got around Sprague's No. 60 at lap 57 for the third position. The second caution of the night would come quickly after the pass for position, bringing the field to pit road for service. Darnell was so confident with his Ford F-150 that his crew made no changes to the chassis, just changing four tires and filling it with fuel. Darnell was exiting his pit stall when the No. 12 of Joey Miller was entering his, resulting in slight contact. The damage sustained was minimal, and would have no effect on the No. 99. A great stop by the No. 99 crew got Darnell off pit road in the fourth position for the restart on lap 68.

Darnell would continue to run in the top-five over the next long green flag run, advancing as high as third on lap 154 when the No. 99 passed the No. 88 of Matt Crafton. A timely caution would come at lap 175 for debris on the backstretch, bringing the field to pit road for service. Darnell's crew put four tires on their Ford, filled it with fuel and made a track bar adjustment, getting him off pit road in the second position for the restart.

Darnell would lead the first laps of his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career when the No. 99 showed as the leader at lap 183. A caution at lap 185 for a spin involving the No. 59 truck would give Darnell experience in restarting as the race leader. When the field went back to green at lap 189, Darnell hoped to get a jump on the field and get his first victory.

The No. 60 of Sprague stayed hot on the bumper of the No. 99, and at lap 193 would overtake him for the lead. A caution at lap 197 would send the race into overtime, and give Darnell one last chance to get around Sprague for the win. When the race restarted at lap 201, Sprague laid back on the restart, a veteran move, catching Darnell off guard. The No. 60 was able to get away from the field to claim this win.

"Our F-150 was good tonight," said Darnell. "It was real good on long runs. I've got to thank John Quinn (crew chief) and all of the guys. They did a good job of giving me a good truck out there tonight. It wasn't as good on the short runs and I knew that when I saw Jack up front earlier and he was real good on the short runs. Besides Dennis Setzer, I think we were about the best on the long runs. It just bit us there at the end. We needed to go after that second-to-last restart and we didn't get it.

"I got a little bit of a lead opened up on Sprague, but just watching him all night on fresh tires, he was bad-fast. I knew he'd be coming hard and I just tried to stay out front, and I think I overdrove it a little bit and that hurt me there and he was able to get up to me and pass me. On the same token, as soon as he got by me, he was overdriving it and I was able to stay right with him. There were a couple of times that I probably could have touched him a little bit in the center of the corner; we were real even there at the end and it would have been close. You want to try to go out there as a rookie and get respect from some of these guys. I think you get a lot more of that running them clean than hitting them. I didn't want to win my first race spinning somebody out and wrecking them. We had a good truck tonight and it showed. I think everybody saw that and we'll be back at it in a few weeks."