TRUCKS: Hilda Pierson receives damage at Portland that leads to her series leading third last-place finish in just her 11th start

TRUCKS: Broken camshaft gives Samet Ozkan last-place finish at Texas; now tied with Greg Lee and Riley Spurlytube for most in series history

Samet Ozkan picked up the 4th last place finish of his SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the Pronto Auto Parts 400K at the Texas Motor Speedway when his #16 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet fell out with camshaft problems after completing 11 of the 17 laps.

The finish, which came in his 63rd career series start, was his first on the circuit since the Season 4 Loadhandler 200 at the Bristol Motor Speedway when his #3 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet fell out with engine issues without completing any of the 52 laps; 28 races ago. In the Truck Series's last-place rankings, it was the 13th for camshaft issues and 2nd for the #16. Across SCRL's top three series, it was the 18th for camshaft issues and the 4th for #16.

After trailing at Bristol, Ozkan would go the remainder of the season without finishing last again, but would also fail to visit victory lane, finishing a disappointing 26th in points. After a lackluster season, Ozkan would be moved from the Richard Childress Racing entry to the Dale Earnhardt, Inc. team in hopes the driver would fare better. It seemed the move was the right one as Ozkan would quickly earn a 12th place finish at Homestead in his debut for the team but the very next race it was back to disappointment as he'd finish 29th. In the series 100th race, Ozkan would be making his 56th career start and it would result in a 22nd place at Evergreen. Staying on the short tracks, Ozkan would finish a 30th at Mesa Marin, his worst showing all season, but the next event, Ozkan would rebound with his first Top 10 of the season, a 7th, at Martinsville. A 12th at Memphis would keep the team in high spirits and it would be followed with a season best 3rd at Pikes Peak and a 11th at I-70 before Ozkan would struggle once again with a 26th at Bristol in the last round.

The entry list for only the third time this season would be bumped up to 37 as Jamie Timber would attempt to make his third start of the season, after finishing 19th in his previous start at Martinsville. No drivers would have to worry about not making the race as all thirty-seven drivers would be able to fit around the 1.500 mile speedway. In qualifying, Tyler Kepman would score his first career series and league pole, posting a time of 28.832 seconds. Ozkan would struggle in qualifying, posting a time of 28.936 seconds, 0.104 seconds behind Kepman's time, placing him 21st on the starting line up. The #83 Gwaltney / FW Siebert Construction Ford of Max Anderson would be the last to get in on speed, posting a time of 29.059 seconds, who was 0.227 seconds behind Kepman's lap time.

On race day, Whitelion was determined to not finish last for the fourth time in his career as shi would quickly knock the #44 Federated Auto Parts Ford of Mitchell Hodack into last in Turn 1 as Hodack would trail for the first circuit before knocking the #2 Team ASE Racing Ford of Dilan Ebrahimian into the final spot as Ebrahimian would trail for the next two laps before knocking the #34 Sprint Prepaid Phonecard Dodge of Brian Fox into last on Lap 4. Fox would trail the field for the next five laps before he passed and knocked the #29 Mopar Performance Dodge of Skyler Taylor into last on Lap 10 when the battle for last would come to a sudden end. At this point in the race, Ozkan had fought he way up through the field and had taken the lead and led Lap 10, when entering the backstretch, his engine let go, blowing up. Ozkan would pull to the inside of the track as the rest of the field would drive by, Ozkan would coast back to pit road before pulling behind the wall. It would take his team a few laps, but they knew the battle would be pointless, as Ozkan's truck was listed as "out" by Lap 15, with a broken camshaft being the cause for the sudden exit.

The remaining Bottom Five were; 36th was the aforementioned #29 of Skyler Taylor, 35th was the aforementioned #34 of Brian Fox, 34th was the #60 CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet of Christian Russel and 33rd was the #98 Porter-Cable Power Tools Ford of Al Lagasee.

SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #16 has finished last in a Truck Series race at Texas.
*The only other time the #16 has trailed the field was in the Season 1 Sears Auto Center 125 at the Milwaukee Mile when Morgan McPherson's #16 Papa John's Pizza Chevrolet fell out with camshaft problems after completing 11 of the 20 laps; 97 races ago.
*The last time a driver has trailed the field due to camshaft issues was the NAPA 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when Derrick Edison's #26 Mittler Brothers / American Trucking Ford fell out after completing 5 of the 34 laps; 5 races ago.

THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #16-Samet Ozkan / 11 laps / camshaft led 1 lap
36) #29-Skyler Taylor / 17 laps / running
35) #34-Brian Fox / 17 laps / running
34) #60-Christian Russel / 17 laps / running
33) #98-Al Lagasee / 17 laps / running

S5 SCRLASTCAR Rainbow Dash Truck Series Driver's Championship