Derrick Edison picked up the 3rd last place finish of his SCRL Rainbow Dash Truck Series career in the The Orleans 250 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway when his #26 Mittler Brothers / American Trucking Ford completed all 17 laps under power.
The finish, which came in his 92nd career series start, was his first on the circuit since the NAPA 250 at the Martinsville Speedway when he fell out with camshaft problems after completing 5 of the 34 laps; 17 races ago. In the Truck Series's last-place rankings, it was the 39th for running at the finish and 3rd for the #26. Across SCRL's top three series, it was the 129th for running at the finish and the 3rd for #26.
After trailing the field at Martinsville, Edison would finish 23rd in the next round at Memphis, back-to-back finishes of 32nd at Pikes Peak and I-70 before scoring his second career truck series victory by winning at Bristol. A 16th at Texas would be followed by a 36th at Portland, 35th at Watkins Glen, 26th at the Milwaukee Mile, a runner up finish at Nashville to rookie Jamie Timber before scoring back-to-back 9th place finishes at Nazareth and the series first ever race at Michigan. A 12th at Loudon would be followed by a 22nd at IRP, a 6th at Gateway, 35th at Heartland Park before leading 11 laps and finishing 3rd at Richmond in the last round. Entering Las Vegas, Edison sits 26th in the driver standings, 521 points behind Zachary Fitzwater.
The entry list for the ninth time this season would be bumped up to 37 as Team 23 Racing made their sixth appearance of the season, the last being at Richmond. In qualifying, Michael Hoaks would score his first career series pole, posting a time of 31.950 seconds. Edison would truck struggle in qualifying around the 1.500 mile track, posting a time of 32.172 seconds, 0.222 seconds behind Hoaks's time, placing him 33rd on the starting line up. Two time last-place finisher the #45 Acxiom Ford of Matthew Hubert would be the last to get in on speed, posting a time of 32.226 seconds, who was 0.276 seconds behind Hoaks's lap time.
On race day, Hubert would trail in the final spot for only the first two turns before knocking Mesa Marin last-place finisher the #09 AT&T Chevrolet of Chakat Duskwatcher into last as Duskwatcher would trail the first lap. Duskwatcher however was determined to not finish last again as shi knocked the #17 Hollandia Sunroofs Chevrolet of Lucien Bianchi into last on Lap 2. Bianchi would trail for just one lap as well before he knocked the #60 CAT Rental Stores Chevrolet of Christian Russel to last on Lap 3. Russel would trail for two laps before he would pass and knock two-time last-place finisher the Dodge Motorsports Dodge of Chris Kyle into last on Lap 6, as Kyle would trail for only one lap himself before he knocked Michigan last-place finisher the #8 GM Goodwrench Service Plus Chevrolet of Riley Spurlytube into last on Lap 7, a position he would hold for just one lap before knocking Chakat Duskwatcher back into last for the second time of the race on Lap 8.
Duskwatcher would trail the tail end of the field for four laps before shi would knock points leader the #51 unsponsored Chevrolet of Zachary Fitzwater into last on Lap 12. Fitzwatcher, looking to keep his season long streak of no last-place finishes would remain in last just for one lap before he knocked Matthew Hubert back into the final spot on Lap 13. Hubert would remain in last for only one circuit before knocking Edison, who had been riding around in the low 20s all race, had finally falling back to the tail end of the field with four laps to go, would drop back to last on Lap 14, and despite trying his best to make position, he would run out of time and would trail the leaders by three seconds when the checkered flag waved.
The remaining Bottom Five were: 36th was the aforementioned #51 of Zachary Fitzwater, 35th was the #45 of Matthew Hubert, 34th was the #0 Buyers Choice Chevrolet of Rogal Doran and 33rd was the #09 of Chakat Duskwatcher.
SCRLASTCAR STATISTICS
*This is the first time the #26 has finished last in a Truck Series race at Las Vegas.
*This is the first time the #26 has finished last in a Truck Series race at Las Vegas.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
37) #26-Derrick Edison / 17 laps / running
36) #51-Zachary Fitzwater / 17 laps / running
35) #45-Matthew Hubert / 17 laps / running
34) #0-Rogal Doran / 17 laps / running
33) #09-Chakat Duskwatcher / 17 laps / running
37) #26-Derrick Edison / 17 laps / running
36) #51-Zachary Fitzwater / 17 laps / running
35) #45-Matthew Hubert / 17 laps / running
34) #0-Rogal Doran / 17 laps / running
33) #09-Chakat Duskwatcher / 17 laps / running
S5 SCRLASTCAR Rainbow Dash Truck Series Driver's Championship
