The 2011 NextEra Energy Resources 250 was a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Camping World Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock cars. The series i ...

race held at

Daytona International Speedway Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, about north of Orlando, Florida, Orlando. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race ...

Daytona Beach Daytona Beach is a coastal resort city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. Located on the East Coast of the United States, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropo ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

on February 18, 2011. The race was the first of the

2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series The 2011 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series was the seventeenth season of the third highest stock car racing in the United States. The season included twenty-five races, beginning with the NextEra Energy Resources 250 at Daytona Internationa ...

Austin Dillon Austin Reed Dillon (born April 27, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ZL1 and part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 3 Chevrolet ...

Richard Childress Racing Richard Childress Racing (RCR) is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. The team is based in Welcome, North Carolina, and is owned and operated by Richard C ...

won the

pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...

, while

Michael Waltrip Michael Curtis Waltrip (born April 30, 1963) is an American former professional stock car racing driver, racing commentator, racing team owner, amateur ballroom dancing competitor and published author. He is the younger brother of three-time NASC ...

of Vision Aviation Racing won.

Qualifying

46 trucks entered the race.

Todd Bodine Todd Martin Bodine (born February 27, 1964) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 62 Toyota Tundra for Halmar Friesen Racing, and is curre ...

led the first practice session with a top speed of , while

Cole Whitt Cole Daniel Whitt (born June 22, 1991) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. After advancing his way through Kart racing, Whitt moved up to sprint cars and became a development driver for Team Red Bull (NASCAR team), Team Red ...

led the second and final with a speed of . Qualifying was held on February 17.

clinched the

with a lap speed of , his eighth-career Truck Series pole. Following Dillon was

James Buescher James Howard Buescher (born March 26, 1990) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He is the 2012 NASCAR Truck Series champion. After parting ways with NTS Motorsports in 2015, Buescher became a real estate agent. He ...

Ron Hornaday Jr. Ronald Lee Hornaday Jr. (born June 20, 1958) is an American former professional stock car racing driver and businessman. He currently owns Team Hornaday Development, a driver development program, as well as Hornaday Race Cars, a Modified racing, D ...

Ricky Carmichael Richard Joseph Carmichael (born November 27, 1979) is an American former professional motocross and supercross racer. Carmichael won 15 AMA Motocross Championship, AMA Motocross and AMA Supercross Championship, Supercross championships, includ ...

and rookie

Johanna Long Johanna Robbins (; born May 26, 1992) is an American professional stock car racing driver. She last competed part-time in Asphalt Super Late Model competition in 2023 in the No. 10 Toyota Camry for Jett Motorsports. Racing career Background Lo ...

, while the top ten closed with

Elliott Sadler Elliott William Barnes Sadler (born April 30, 1975) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for Kaulig Racing. Sadler is one of 36 dr ...

Matt Crafton Matthew Justin Crafton (born June 11, 1976) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 88 Ford F-Series (fourteenth generation), Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing ...

Joey Coulter Joseph Coulter IV (born June 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes in the SMART Modified Tour, driving the No. 02 for his own team. Racing career Early career A native of Miami Springs, Florida, Cou ...

Johnny Sauter Jonathan Joseph Sauter (born May 1, 1978) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 66 Ford F-150 for ThorSport Racing. He has also driven in the NASCAR Cup ...

and

Brad Sweet Bradley Kirk Sweet (born December 31, 1985) is an American professional race car driver and a veteran of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, driving the No. 49 for Kasey Kahne Racing, where he has earned the nickname 'The Big Cat'. Sweet was ...

. Nelson Piquet Jr. initially qualified fourth, but, along with

Aric Almirola Aric Michael Almirola (born March 14, 1984) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 19 Toyota GR Supra for Joe Gibbs Racing. Almirola previously compete ...

, were disqualified after post-qualifying inspection when it was revealed that their trucks were too low, and were forced to start from the rear. Rick Crawford, Cole Whitt, Tayler Malsam, Chris Eggleston, Alli Owens, Mike Skinner,

Jamie Dick James A. Dick V (born February 5, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. A veteran of the NASCAR Camping World West Series, he last competed in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a part-time basis, driving the No. 55 Chevrolet for V ...

, Brent Raymer,

Grant Enfinger Grant McArthur Enfinger (born January 22, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 9 Chevrolet Silverado#Fourth-generation Silverado / fifth-generation S ...

and

Clay Greenfield Clayton Michael Greenfield (born June 3, 1984) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 95 Tundra for GK Racing. Racing career A graduate of ...

failed to qualify. Although Skinner was eligible for the past champion's provisional, due to being the 1995 series champion, his team,

Eddie Sharp Racing Sharp Gallaher Racing (formerly known as Eddie Sharp Racing) is a disbanded NASCAR team based in Mooresville, North Carolina, Mooresville, North Carolina that competed in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, ARCA Racing Series and the NAS ...

, failed to enter the race in time.

Race

led the first 55 laps, and on lap 37, rookie

cut down a tire and crashed into the turn 2 wall, bringing out the first caution of the race. On the second caution for

Donnie Neuenberger Donnie Neuenberger (born August 10, 1962) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career NASCAR Nationwide Series Neuenberger made his Busch Series debut at Lowe's Motor Speedway in fall 2002. With his alma mater, the U ...

's bed cover falling off the truck in turn 4,

Timothy Peters Timothy Jason Peters (born August 29, 1980) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 25 Chevrolet Silverado for Rackley W.A.R.. He was a member of t ...

took the lead after taking only fuel on lap 56, followed by

and Buescher. On lap 66,

Justin Marks Justin Marks (born March 25, 1981) is an American semi-retired racing driver, entrepreneur, and owner of Trackhouse Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro for ...

' hood loosened and covered the windshield, causing him to crash into turn 1. The green flag flew from lap 70 to 75, when

Travis Kvapil Travis Wade Kvapil ( ; born March 1, 1976) is an American former professional stock car driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Chevrolet Silverado for Beaver Motorsports. He was the 2003 ...

's tire blew and hit five trucks, while Neuenberger, who was running in the back, failed to slow down in time and collided with other trucks; altogether, 14 trucks (Kvapil, Neuenberger,

Max Papis Massimiliano "Max" Papis (born 3 October 1969) is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the ...

Justin Lofton Justin William Lofton (born February 18, 1986) is an American professional off-road racing driver. He has also competed in stock car racing, last driving part-time in the ARCA Menards Series West in the No. 30 Ford for Rette Jones Racing. Lofton ...

Brendan Gaughan William Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975) is an American former professional racing driver who has competed in off-road racing, off-road and stock car racing, stock cars. He is the grandson of Las Vegas Valley, Vegas gaming pioneer Jackie Gaug ...

, T. J. Bell, Jason White, Craig Goess and

Jennifer Jo Cobb Jennifer Jo Cobb (born June 12, 1973) is an American professional stock car racing driver and team owner. She competes part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 10 truck for her own team, Jennifer Jo Cobb Racing. She has als ...

) were involved. On lap 85, the caution was flown after Lofton crashed into David Starr. The green flag flew from lap 89 to 97, when

collided with

, creating a nine-truck crash also involving

, Papis,

Kyle Busch Kyle Thomas Busch (born May 2, 1985) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 8 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, Chevrolet ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing and par ...

Parker Kligerman Parker Lindsley Kligerman (born August 8, 1990) is an American professional stock car racing driver, color commentator for ''NASCAR on The CW'', studio talent for ''NASCAR on TNT Sports'', and pit reporter for ''NASCAR on NBC''. He competes part-t ...

, Bodine,

Chris Fontaine Christopher Fontaine (born December 1, 1981) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He has competed in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving in 59 races, most notably for Glenden Enterprises. He is known for ...

and Buescher. As a result, officials stopped the race for ten minutes to clean up, and the 100-lap race was extended to initiate a green-white-checker finish. Sometime during the lap under caution before the final restart, the right half of Waltrip's rear spoiler collapsed and fell flat, greatly reducing the aerodynamic drag on his truck that the spoiler is designed to do at Daytona, to limit top speed and encourage drafting. This suddenly gave his truck a prohibitive advantage. On the final lap, Waltrip pushed

far ahead of the pack, and with his illegally advantaged truck, easily passed him on his outside in the final yards to claim his first Truck Series win, becoming the 22nd driver to win in all three of NASCAR's top series (

Sprint Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...

Nationwide Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

and Trucks). The win was on the ten-year anniversary of Waltrip's first career NASCAR Cup Series win in the

2001 Daytona 500 The 2001 Daytona 500, the 43rd running of the event, was the first race of the 2001 NASCAR Winston Cup Series schedule. It was held on February 18, 2001, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida, consisting of 200 laps ...

, which was also the site of Waltrip's

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interdependent with respect to in ...

owner

Dale Earnhardt Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

. Clay Rogers,

Miguel Paludo Miguel Paludo (born July 26, 1983) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes full-time in the Porsche GT3 Cup Brasil, Porsche GT3 Carrera Cup Series. Paludo formerly competed in NASCAR full-time in the Camping World Truck Series, driv ...

and Kyle Busch rounded out the top five, followed by Cobb (the highest finish by a

woman A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or Adolescence, adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functi ...

in the Truck Series, and the first top 10 by a female in NASCAR's top three series),

Jeffrey Earnhardt Jeffrey Lynn Earnhardt (born June 22, 1989) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 24 Toyota GR Supra for Sam Hunt Racing. He is the son of Kerry Earnhardt, grandson ...

, Carmichael, Buescher and Crafton.

Post-race

In victory lane, Waltrip stated: Afterwards, NASCAR confiscated Waltrip's rear spoiler, half of it having fallen; NASCAR reported it to be a failure, but continued to examine it. NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp stated, "It appeared to be a failed part. The spoiler broke on the green-white-checkered finish. Our typical procedure is, instead of having an immediate reaction, we'll take a look and, if necessary, we'll have whatever reaction is appropriate the first of the week." Eventually, the team was revealed to have "violated Sections 12–1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing), 12-4-J (any determination by NASCAR officials that the race equipment used in the event does not conform to NASCAR rules), and 20B-3.1.2E (rear spoiler did not meet specifications in post-race inspection)". Vision Aviation Racing owner Billy Ballew was penalized 25 owner points, while crew chief Doug Howe was fined $25,000, and was placed on probation for the remainder of the year. As Waltrip was not competing for Truck Series points, he was not penalized any drivers points.

Results

Qualifying

Race results

Standings after the race

References

{{Reflist 2011 in sports in Florida

NextEra Energy Resources 250 The Fresh From Florida 250 is the first race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season at Daytona International Speedway and as of 2004 has been held under the lights. It is the Truck Series event of Speedweeks – the series of races leading up ...

NASCAR races at Daytona International Speedway

Qualifying

Race

Post-race

Results

Qualifying

Race results

Standings after the race

See also

References