Christopher Bell leads final Truck practice at Eldora

Christopher Bell, who won last year’s race at Eldora Speedway, paced the field in Tuesday night’s final Camping World Truck Series practice at the half-time dirt track.

Bell led the way with a lap of 82.369 mph heading into Wednesday night’s Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby 150.

Bell was followed by Cameron Hayley(81.893 mph), Rico Abreu (81.685), Kyle Larson (80.718) and Ben Rhodes (80.645).

Fire at ThorSport Racing shop ruled accidental

The June 13 fire at ThorSport Racing’s shop was accidental and started outside the building in mulch underneath a stairway, according to a report by the Ohio State Fire Marshal.

About 40 percent of the building was lost because of the fire. The report listed fire damage as $10 million. The team fields entries in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series for Matt Crafton, Ben Rhodes, Cameron Hayley and Rico Abreu. Fifteen of the team’s trucks were saved, but the suspension room and fab shop were destroyed. Fire units from four communities were called to the fire.

The report did not list an exact cause of the fire. The investigator wrote: “I was unable to eliminate careless smoking material discarded into the mulch bed on the exterior of the building as the heat source for this fire.”

The report noted that automatic sprinkler and fire alarms in the building did not activate because “the fire spread from the exterior into the roofline and walls. This was above and beyond the sensors and sprinkler heads. The interior alarms did activate once fire crews arrived and began to ventilate the interior rooms.”

The report also noted that “several sprinkler heads on the east side of the building activated once the roof collapsed and fire spread to interior portions of the building.”

The investigator detailed fire damage found in the patio area. After removing metal siding, the investigator reported that “fire damage was visible from the ground level into the void space between the metal wall covering and the original building. … Both the composite wood and wood framing was heavily damaged at ground level and evenly damaged on the interior facing side indicating fire spreading from the ground level upward.”

The report also included interviews with those who worked at the shop. They noted the patio area was often a place for employees to take lunch breaks during weekdays. No one reported seeing anyone smoke in that area that weekend before the fire.

“Copious amounts of water used during the fire attack washed a large portion of the mulch and other ground cover away from the building,” the investigator stated in the report. “I was unable to identify smoking materials in the area of origin but did see smoking materials on the grounds of the brick patio. The area of origin was the east side exterior of the building below the stairs. The mulch bed and ground cover is the specific area of origin.”

The report states the case is closed with no further investigate actions to be performed.

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Ben Rhodes sweeps Camping World Truck practices at Gateway

Ben Rhodes posted the fastest lap in Saturday’s final practice session for the Camping World Truck Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park with a lap of 135.755 mph. Rhodes also was the fastest in the opening session Saturday at 135.738 mph.

Johnny Sauter was second in Saturday’s final practice at 135.510 mph with John Hunter Nemechek third at 135.054 mph.

Rico Abreu, who crashed in the first practice session, did not make it on the track for the final session. His team was busy preparing the backup. He will have no laps on that vehicle at Gateway when he qualifies at 5:45 p.m. ET today. The race is at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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BYRON WINS SECOND CONSECUTIVE TRUCK SERIES RACE

RELATED: Complete race results | Updated Chase Grid

NEWTON, Iowa -- Following his second NASCAR Camping World Truck Series win of the season last weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender William Byron used a late race restart and three-wide pass to charge from fourth to first to win Saturday night's Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway.

Byron, driving the No. 9 Liberty University Toyota Tundra, swiped the lead from Cole Custer on a restart with nine laps remaining, but a caution six laps from the finish saw the Charlotte, North Carolina, native have to defend his presence at the front.

In a two-lap shootout, the 18-year-old Byron fended off challengers Custer and Cameron Hayley for a series-high third win in just his ninth Truck Series start.

"My gosh, it's awesome just to be a part of Kyle Busch Motorsports and to have the group of guys I do," said Byron from Victory Lane. "It's amazing. I'm so fortunate to be in this position.

"We had a couple setbacks there. I stalled it on pit road and I had a few setbacks on some restarts, but we kept after it until that last restart. It's awesome."

Custer, with new crew chief Marcus Richmond, led three dramatic laps following a Lap 188 restart which saw the race lead exchange several times before Byron sailed away permanently on Lap 191.

"For the first 10 laps or so, the others were probably better than us on four tires," said Custer, who recorded his season best finish. "After that it kind of equaled out. I thought I had them there when I took the lead.

"I can't thank Marcus and everyone enough. They worked their tails off all weekend. I really appreciate that. I think we're going in the right direction."

Byron, who led a race-high 107 laps, took the lead from pole sitter John Hunter Nemechek on a Lap 54 restart and led until the event's third caution.

The running order changed dramatically following a caution on Lap 146 when five teams elected to take two tires during the final pit stop, handing the lead to Tyler Reddick.

During the stop, Byron stalled his truck leaving pit road putting him 10th on the restart. Using four tires to combat his mistake, the NASCAR NEXT alumnus began carving his path through the field and found himself back in contention when the fourth yellow of the night waved just 24 laps from the checkered flag.

The event was red flagged for five minutes, 46 seconds for track cleanup after an incident involving Caleb Holman and Derek Scott Jr. on Lap 174 .

Next up for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series is a stop at Gateway Motorsports Park for the running of the third annual Drivin' for Linemen 200 on Jun. 25.

Christopher Bell fastest in final Truck practice at Iowa

The final Camping World Truck Series practice at Iowa Speedway was led by rookieChristopher Bell.

Bell put up a speed of 135.292 mph in the session as he recorded 35 laps around the short track.

The top five was filled out by Cameron Hayley, Ben Kennedy, Kaz Grala and Tyler Reddick.

John Hunter Nemechek had the best 10-lap average at 131.415 mph.

The first session was led by Ben Rhodes. The ThorSport Racing rookie was 19th fastest in the second session.

Speed chart

UPDATE: ThorSport Racing haulers and some Trucks survive fire

A ThorSport Racing spokesperson confirmed to NBC Sports that the team’s four haulers, along with some tool and pit boxes, were removed from the shop before a pre-dawn fire spread.

Some of the team’s trucks also survived, but a team spokesperson was unsure of the exact number.

The spokesperson told NBC Sports that as of nearly 2 p.m. ET the fire was contained but firefighters were battling some smaller issues.

The fire at the team’s Sandusky, Ohio, race shop was reported at 12:12 a.m. ET. Fire crews from Perkins Township responded along with a unit from Sandusky, Ohio.

The team stated that no one was injured. The team also reported that the fire started in the basement of the 100,000-square foot shop.

A spokesperson for Kyle Busch Motorsports, a fellow Toyota team, stated that they had reached out to ThorSport Racing officials and offered whatever assistance is needed from parts and pieces to a place to work.

A Toyota spokesperson told NBC Sports that many teams, including those from competing manufacturers, were offering their assistance to ThorSport Racing.

The four-truck ThorSport team — the longest tenured in the Camping World Truck Series — raced last Friday at Texas Motor Speedway with two-time series champion and current points leader Matt Crafton, Rico Abreu, Ben Rhodes and Cameron Hayley.

The Truck series races Saturday at Iowa Speedway. The team stated it plans to compete.

Check back for more details as they become available.

John Wes Townley leads final Truck practice in Texas

FORT WORTH – The final Camping World Truck Series practice for the Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway was led by John Wes Townley.

While recording 28 laps in the 90-minute session, Townley put up a top speed of 179.420 mph. William Byron followed Townley at 178.950 mph. The rookie also navigated the 1.5-mile track with a session-high 51 laps.

The top five was filled out by Spencer Gallagher, Ben Rhodes, and Matt Crafton. Crafton, who has won the past two June races at Texas, was fastest in the first practice session.

Crafton recorded the best 10-lap average at 175.797 mph.

Matt Crafton takes first win of year in first Dover victory

With a Daniel Suarez behind him and hungry for his first-career win, Matt Crafton stayed perfect in the final 78 laps of the JACOB Companies 200 to win his first Camping World Truck Series race of 2016.

Crafton, a two-time series champion, hadn’t won at Dover International Speedway in his first 15 starts at the 1-mile track. Now Crafton is eligible for the Truck series’ Chase playoff.

“I always wanted Miles (Dover’s trophy),” Crafton told Fox Sports 1. “We’ve came close and ran second (in 2013). This Menards Toyota Tundra was fast today. It’s all about these guys behind me, I can’t say enough about them – they never give up because we were not very good in the last practice.”

Crafton started fifth after Friday’s qualifying session was rained out.

“Last night (crew chief) Junior (Joiner) sat down and they worked on it all day and made a little headway and finally made progress,” said Crafton, who took the lead on Lap 123. His closest challenger was Suarez, who wasn’t able to get close enough to Crafton’s rear-bumper during the last 27 lap green-flag run.

“I was trying to run the wheels off this thing to try and complete the pass,” Suarez told Fox Sports 1. “We were a little faster than (Crafton) but clean air is a big difference here.”

Suarez’ runner-up result was his best finish in four Truck starts this season. He had failed to finish in the top 15 in his first three races.

HOW MATT CRAFTON WON: After taking the lead on Lap 123, Crafton held off all challengers through two restarts to lead the final 78 laps.

WHO HAD A GOOD RACE: Daniel Suarez was in the top five all afternoon, but couldn’t catch Crafton in the final stretch, finishing second for the fourth time in his Truck career … A week after crashing on the last lap at Kansas, Johnny Sauter kept his truck out of trouble, finishing fourth for his second top five of the year … Cole Custer bounced back from a penalty for jumping a restart to finish fifth, his best finish of the year.

WHO HAD A BAD RACE: Pole-sitter William Byron led the first 80 laps, but lost the lead during pit stops. The rookie pit under caution with 30 to go and was penalized for his crew going over the wall too soon before finishing 11th … ThorSport teammates Ben Rhodes and Rico Abreu were in the top 10 on a Lap 61 restart when Rhodes got loose in Turn 3 and made contact with Abreu, sending them both into the wall. It was the second accident in as many races for both drivers… With 69 laps left and right after making a green-flag stop, John Wes Townley got loose in Turn 3, overcorrected and hit the outside wall in Turn 4. Townley finished 29th.

NOTABLE: All five races this season have been won by a different driver, four of them by series regulars.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I’ve been telling Junior (Joiner) all year, to get out of the box and he said we have to win a race first. Now we can get out of the box.” – Matt Crafton after his first win of 2016.

NEXT: N.C. Education Lottery 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway; May 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1.

Johnny Sauter changes his tune on Ben Rhodes’ move at end of Kansas race

Johnny Sauter called Ben Rhodes a “bozo,” and wondered if the 19-year-old was “brain dead or can’t see” Friday night, but Sauter had a different tone Tuesday on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Sauter led on the last lap of last weekend’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway when Rhodes made contact from behind, sending Sauter into the wall. The incident allowed William Byron, who was running third, to pass both and score his first career series victory.

Sauter, who finished 16th, wasn’t happy after the race and expressed his displeasure in an interview on FS1. Rhodes took the blame after the race, calling his action a “rookie mistake.”

Tuesday, Sauter was contrite.

“Up until I had done that interview, I hadn’t seen any replays,’’ said Sauter, who has a win and is in position to make the Truck Series’ Chase. “I was under the assumption that he just drove straight into the back of me and that wasn’t necessarily the case. I called Ben and told him that all the things that I said I take them back and I hate that I said that.’’

So what happened on the track? Sauter explained:

“I came off Turn 2 and I had a pretty good lead, and I went down the backstretch and I swerved, obviously to try to just break their draft as much as you possibly can. When I did that, the floats in the carburetor or something happened and actually the motor started missing there a little bit a couple of times going down the backstretch. That’s ultimately what enabled him to get close to me.’’

Sauter also went on to say: “I just put us both in precarious positions. My motor was missing. I must have starved it for fuel and it enabled him to close on me. I saw the position it put him in. I saw how fast he had closed on me. He probably didn’t expect it, nor did I. It was just a racing incident. It’s unfortunate. I think it’s obviously something we’re going to address on our end so that it doesn’t happen again.’’