TRUCKS: Derrick Edison goes from pole sitter to last-place finisher at Martinsville

Derrick Edison picked up the 2nd last place finish of his SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the May 16th NAPA 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when his #26 Mittler Brothers / American Trucking Ford fell out with camshaft problems after completing 5 of the 34 laps.

The finish, which came in his 75th career series start, was his first on the circuit since the Season 2 Western Auto 200 at the I-70 Speedway when his #26 Mittler Brothers Machine & Tool Ford fell out with camshaft issues after completing 14 of the 50 laps; 70 races ago. In the Truck Series's last-place rankings, it was the 12th for camshaft and 2nd for the #26. Across SCRL's top three series, it was the 17th for camshaft issues and the 2nd for #26.

Edison is one of the longest tenured drivers in the SCRL, not just in the Truck Series but the entire league. With appearances in all three of the SCRL's Top Three Series as well numerous series, Edison has been able to find victory lane three times but has yet to win a championship. Ever since making his debut in Season 2 at Homestead, where he would finish 19th, Edison has only driven for Mike Mittler's MB Motorsports for the past three seasons, and that relationship would continue at the start of Season 5, where Edison would start his season off with a 8th at Homestead. A 28th at Phoenix would be followed by a 34th at Evergreen before bouncing back to finish 10th in the last round at Mesa Marin.

The entry list for only the second time this season would be bumped up to 37 as Jamie Timber would attempt to make his second start of the season, after finishing 23rd in his previous start at Phoenix. No drivers would have to worry about not making the race as all thirty-seven drivers would be able to fit around the legendary 0.526 mile short track.

In qualifying, Edison would use his past experience from Martinsville in other series to score his first career series pole, posting a time of 20.629 seconds. The #2 Team ASE Racing of Dilan Ebrahimian would be the last to get in on speed, posting a time of 20.935 seconds, who was 0.306 seconds behind Edison's lap time.

On race day, Ebrahimian would trail for the first three turns before knocking the #7 Conely Rent-a-Car Sales Chevrolet of Tyler Kepman into the final spot. Kepman would keep hold of the final spot through the first caution before the #51 Garage Doors of Naples Ford was knocked back to the final spot for an unscheduled pit stop for a flat left rear tire. The very next lap the battle for last would come to an end as Edison, who had fallen back to second at the start of the race, began to smoke from the rear of his truck. Pulling to the inside of the track and trying to coast back to pit road, Edison would stall on the backstetch, forcing another two laps of caution to be added so he could be towed to the garage. It would take the took several laps before they diagnose the problem; a broken Camshaft, and their truck would listed as "out" on Lap 12.

It would take another twenty laps before the next three spots would be filled, as a multi-truck wreck would break out on the Frontstretch that would knock the #87 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet of Josh Harmon, the #15 Ortho Ford of Sebastian Palme and the #21 HS Die & Engineering Ford of Zachary DiLello out of the race, placing them 36th, 35th and 34th respectively.

Rounding out the Bottom Five in 33rd was the #98 Porter-Cable Power Tools Ford of Al Lagasee, who finished 2 laps down behind the race leaders.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #26 has finished last in a Truck Series race at Martinsville.
*This is the first time a driver has trailed due to "Camshaft" problems in the Truck Series since the Season 4 Memphis 200 at the Memphis Motorsports Park when Cameron Hathaway's #50 Grainger Ford fell out with camshaft issues after completing 12 of the 20 laps; 11 races ago11 races ago.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #26-Derrick Edison / 5 laps / camshaft
36) #87-Josh Harmon / 26 laps / crash
35) #15-Sebastian Palme / 29 laps / crash
34) #21-Zachary DiLello / 30 laps / crash
33) #98-Al Lagasee / 32 laps / running

S5 SCRLASTCAR Rainbow Dash Truck Series Driver's Championship

TRUCKS: Flat tire at Mesa Marin gives Duskwatcher 3rd career last-place finish in Top 3 Series

Chakat Duskwatcher picked up the 1st last place finish of hir SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the March 18th Dodge California Truck Stop 300 at the Mesa Marin Raceway when hir #09 AT&T Chevrolet completed 20 of the 25 laps under power.

The occurred in hir 5th career series start. In the Truck Series, it's the 1st for the #09 and the 27th for running at the finish. Across all the series in the SCRL, it's the 2nd for the #09 and 117th for running at the finish.

Since shi first joined the SCRL back in 2020, Duskwatcher is still trying to find hir paws in the SCRL. Despite having found victory lane four times in hir career, all of them coming in the most recent series, the SCRL Grand National Series, shi has yet to dominate like hir fellow chakat member Whitelion, who has won 7 championships and 40 career wins. For the first time in hir career, Duskwatcher chose to sign up and compete in the truck series, and was looking to get hir first championship. Duskwatcher's season started off with a decent 15th in hir debut at Homestead, and 8th at Phoenix before improving on hir best finish by finishing 4th in the last round at Evergreen.

The entry list for the second race in a row would be the full 36 truck field with none of the teams choosing to run new paint schemes. In qualifying, Sebastian Torres would score his first career series pole, posting a time of 18.594 seconds. Duskwatcher would struggle around the half mile short track, posting a time of 19.002 seconds, 0.408 seconds behind Torres's pole winning time, placing hir in 18th position. The #1 Mopar Performance Dodge of Angel Gutiérrez would be the last to get in on speed, posting a time of 20.338 seconds, who was 1.744 seconds behind Torres's lap time. Two drivers would fail to qualify, two-time last-place finisher the #38 Menards Chevrolet of Ashton Tifft and the #31 Auto Trim Design Ford of Kristian Bracken.

On race day, Gutiérrez would remain in the final spot for the first lap before knocking the #16 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet of Samet Ozkan into last. Ozkan would trail for two circuits before knocking the #24 GMAC Financial Services Chevrolet of Alexander Rowe into the final spot, as Rowe was trailing in last on Lap 5 when the battle for last came to an end. At this point, Duskwatcher had gained no track position and was still running in 18th when entering Turn 1, shi reported a flat tire, pulling to the inside of the track and would actually stall in Turn 2, however no caution would fly. Duskwatcher would be towed back to the pits, losing four laps in the process before being sent back out onto the track, losing another right after, and with no cautions flying during the event, Duskwatcher would remain in the final position as the race leaders took the checkered flag.

The remaining Bottom Five were; 33rd was the #98 Porter-Cable Power Tools Ford of Al Lagasee, 32nd was the aforementioned #24 of Alexander Rowe, 31st was the #43 Dodge Motorsports Dodge of Chris Kyle and 30th was the #16 of Samet Ozkan.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #09 has finished last in a Truck Series race as well at Mesa Marin.
*This is not the first time Duskwatcher has trailed the field at Mesa Marin; shi finished last in a ARCA Truck Series race back in 2020 after ironically suffering another flat tire.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
34) #09-Chakat Duskwatcher / 20 laps / running
33) #98-Al Lagasee / 25 laps / running
32) #24-Alexander Rowe / 25 laps / running
31) #43-Chris Kyle / 25 laps / running
30) #16-Samet Ozkan / 25 laps / running

S5 SCRLASTCAR Rainbow Dash Truck Series Driver's Championship