TOOELE, Utah — Todd Souza won a wild scramble to the finish on the road course at Miller Motorsports Park on Saturday to capture his first-career victory in the NASCAR Camping World Series West.
Souza took the lead on the final lap from Jim Inglebright, who suddenly ran out of fuel and slowed going around the back portion of the winding 3.06-mile course.
Inglebright stopped early for fuel, but his plan of making it to the finish came up short as a late-race caution led to the race distance being extended for a green-white-checkered finish. Inglebright was not the only leader to suffer misfortune late in the race, however, as the first and second-place cars of Jason Bowles and David Mayhew both had to pit with flat tires just a few laps from the finish. The final lap also featured several cars spinning off track and a couple of drivers limping to the finish line with flat tires.
“With the green, white, checkered there at the end, I had a couple of cars in front of me and a fast car behind me,” Souza said. “It could have gone any way. That first turn was huge, getting in there and trying to get track position.”
Souza crossed the finish line with a margin of victory of 1.460 second, at an average speed of 71.364 mph, to net $15,050 in prize money and posted awards. “This feels awesome,” the 43-year-old driver from Aromas, Calif., said of his first win. “We’ve been waiting a long time. You start thinking it’s never going to come. We’ve been working so hard the last year or so. I haven’t raced a whole lot, but I’ve had a crew working on the cars to maintain them and get them ready to go.”
Mike David was able to avoid trouble late in the race to take the runner-up spot, followed by Austin Cameron. Cameron’s teammate, Moses Smith had a career-best fourth-place finish ahead of Daryl Harr in fifth.
The race featured 10 lead changes among five drivers — Inglebright, Mayhew, Bowles, Harr and Souza. The pace of the event was slowed by five cautions for 12 laps.
The finish:
Showing driver, car, laps completed and money won: 1. Todd Souza, Chevrolet, 44, $10,050; 2. Mike David, Ford, 44, $9,100; 3. Austin Cameron, Toyota, 44, $8,500; 4. Moses Smith, Toyota, 44, $6,500; 5. Daryl Harr, Chevrolet, 44, $5,500; 6. Jeff Jefferson, Chevrolet, 44, $5,000; 7. Jim Warn, Chevrolet, 44, $4,815; 8. David Mayhew, Chevrolet, 44, $3,500; 9. Tony Toste, Chevrolet, 44, $2,900; 10. Jason Bowles, Ford, 44, $4,800; 11. Jeff Barkshire, Dodge, 44, $3,250; 12. Jason Patison, Chevrolet, 44, $3,200; 13. Jim Inglebright, Chevrolet, 44, $3,100; 14. Brian Wong, Chevrolet, 44, $2,500; 15. Wes Banks, Dodge, 44, $2,400; 16. Eric Holmes, Toyota, 44, $2,800; 17. Johnny Borneman, Ford, 43, $2,750; 18. Jamie Dick, Chevrolet, 43, $2,700; 19. Jack Sellers, Chevrolet, 43, $2,150; 20. Shane Hubbard, Ford, 41, $2,100; 21. Brian Jackson, Chevrolet, 36, $2,000; 22. Luis Martinez, Jr., Chevrolet, 30, $1,950; 23. Jonathan Hale, Chevrolet, 25, $1,925; 24. Kyle Kelley, Dodge, 19, $1,900; 25. Garland Self, Ford, 4, $1,850; 26. Paulie Harraka, Chevrolet, 2, $1,925; 27. Mike Gallegos, Chevrolet, 0, $2,300; 28. Travis Milburn, Ford, 0, $1,750.