Brian Scott has solid Nationwide finish that did not reflect his efforts

October 3, 7:00 PMNASCAR Truck Series ExaminerJanelle Jalbert

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  (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

Brain Scott normally drives the number 16 truck in the Camping World Truck Series, but he took the wheel of the number 11 Rainmakerz Toyota this weekend in Nationwide racing at Kansas Speedway. Scott was second in the Friday practice and qualified eighth Saturday morning. Much of the day he hovered around his starting position and caught the attention of ESPN commentators a couple of times for a ‘shout out’ regarding his efforts.

By lap 25, Scott had dropped from eighth to 13th, but within five more laps he was only 0.2 of a second out of the top-ten. A caution flag came out for the 09, and after Scott was one of ten cars to get the wave around for the restart, he was running behind Kevin Harvick by only half of a second for the 11th spot.

At halfway (lap 100), Scott was running in 8th again, but soon moved to his highest position of the day in sixth on a lap 113 for a restart for a debris caution in turn two. When another yellow flag for debris flew at lap 138, Scott lost a six second advantage over Carl Edwards, who was running in a distance seventh to the 11 car. A visit to the pits then dropped Scott three positions to ninth.

At lap 150, Scott had regained a spot for eighth, continuing to be one of 23 cars on the lead lap. With 25 laps to go, Scott was only 0.4 seconds behind Scott Speed for seventh. At the 17 laps to go mark, Brendan Gaughan got into Michael Annett, sending the 15 into the inside wall. The resulting restart came with 12 laps to go, and Scott restarted in seventh.

It was looking like Scott was a serious threat for a top-five finish when he got incredibly loose through turn four, with only 11 to go. Scott kept it out of the wall but dropped to the 14th spot. A lap later Brendan Gaughan once again “ran out of talent” (in his own words) and got into Brian Vickers, who had been challenging for the lead with Kyle Busch earlier. Both the 62 and 32 went into the outside wall, with Eric Darnell also spinning but avoiding any contact. Scott was one of the very few who pitted under the yellow, which put him in 20th and the second to last car on the lead lap.

The final restart came with 6 laps to go. The final laps went all green, and Scott was able to drive from 20th up to a top-15 finish of 14th. Scott was impressive in making up six positions in an equal number of laps. Though a solid finish, it was not quite representative of the eye-catching performance that had him challenging for a top-five just 11 laps earlier in the race.

For more information on NASCAR Truck Series racing, check out:

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NASCAR truck racing increases as Cup racing declines

What do the red mist and Disney's Goofy have to do with NASCAR and the CWTS?

Johnny Benson's return to CWTS thanks to Kyle Busch?

Janelle is a native of Southern California who follows a variety of racing formats. She finds the competition between hard-driving veterans and rising stars in the NASCAR Truck Series some of the best in the top tier racing. Janelle has been published in print and online, covering topics in both sports and academics. She also serves as the Southern California Motorsports Examiner. Send Janelle an e-mail, and follow her on Twitter. Join the discussion at the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner Facebook page as well.