He was wrong, as he held off a furious late-race charge by Joey Logano to earn the first NASCAR Camping World Truck Series of his career in a green-white-checkered finish. Logano, a NASCAR Sprint Cup regular who had much fresher tires on his truck, had to settle for finishing second after spinning his tires on the final restart and permitting Larson to slip away.

“I was pretty nervous on that last restart because Joey was on a lot newer tires than me, and I’m not normally the best on restarts. But I was able to beat him into (Turn 1) and then hold him off for the win,” said Larson, the first Drive for Diversity graduate to reach Victory Lane in one of NASCAR’s three national touring series.

Larson, 20, won in only his fifth career start in the Truck Series and clearly had the fastest truck in the field all day, leading 187 of the race’s 200 laps.

“It’s not often that you get to drive a car that dominant, so I know you’ve got to take advantage of it,” Larson said.

Logano did not make it easy, as saving a set of fresh sticker tires for the end of the race nearly paid off for him.  The only Sprint Cup driver in the field, Logano arrived at the track in time to qualify seventh after racing at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night and finishing fifth in the Cup race there. His pit crew dropped the jack prematurely on his first pit stop, costing him track position, but he rallied from there and bided his time until he could get the set of tires he needed to make his run toward the front.

Logano was one of only two drivers whose teams saved a set of sticker tires for the end of the race, with defending series champion James Buescher being the other. Logano actually fell one lap down before the fifth caution came out and afforded him the chance to pit for the fresh tires. He subsequently restarted in 18th and nearly got caught up in a wreck when Todd Bodine spun in front of him, but then began a frenzied, determined charge through the field over the final 20 laps.

It took Logano just six laps to gain 11 spots, and by Lap 193, with seven laps remaining, he was riding in second and right on Larson’s bumper. But after an accident involving Timothy Peters brought out the final caution, Larson beat Logano on the green-white-checkered restart and then held him off for the win.

“I was passing a ton of cars on the newer tires,” Logano said. “That’s Rockingham for you. That’s what makes this race track so cool, because you can play a strategy like that. When we got the last caution, I thought it was playing out perfect for us.

“I just got beat (on the restart). I spun my tires, so it was all my fault. I was so mad at myself. I felt like we should have won this race. We might not have had the truck to win, but we had the strategy to win.”

Johnny Sauter, who was attempting to make history by becoming the first driver to win three consecutive races at the start of a Truck Series season, qualified 11th and ran as high as second before settling for a fourth-place finish. Brendan Gaughan finished third behind Larson and Logano, and Chase Elliott rounded out the top five.

Gaughan and Sauter provided much of the mid-race entertainment after a poor pit stop forced Sauter back to 10th. From there, Sauter worked his way back toward the front, passing ThorSport Racing teammate Matt Crafton for third after a spirited battle on Lap 154.

Then Sauter set his sights on Gaughan’s truck. But as Sauter and Gaughan battled lap after lap for second as the laps wound down, Larson began pulling away from them and the rest of the pack.  Two late cautions bunched up the field again, and allowed Logano the opportunity he needed to get fresh tires on his truck, setting up the duel at the finish.

Sauter maintained his lead in the series standings by 16 points over rookie Jeb Burton, who won the pole during Sunday morning qualifying and finished seventh in the race.

Sauter led the final 17 laps of the NextEra Energy Resources 250, and was leading when the a caution for a last-lap wreck came out, ending the race.

Defending Truck Series champion James Buescher spun Jeff Agnew on the final lap, which caused the caution that prevented Sprint Cup Series regular Kyle Busch from making a move for the victory. Buescher finished 13th.

Sauter said, “I was having flashbacks of last year,” when he was turned by race-winner John King. They always say you want to be second going into the last lap. It just didn’t work out that way. … I’m not going to lie, I was happy to see that caution come out at the end. Just a wild race. Speedway racing is just crazy. … I’m just ecstatic to be in Victory Lane.”

Busch finished in the runner-up position for the third time. Ron Hornaday, Justin Lofton, Jeb Burton, and Ty Dillon rounded out the top 5.

The race was pretty uneventful until the caution came when Scott Riggs lost an engine.

The next caution came when Brendan Gaughan attempted to squeeze between pole-sitter Brennan Newberry and German Quiroga in Turn 3. The trucks made contact and hit the outside wall, causing an accident that collected 13 trucks. Burton, Tim George Jr., John Wes Townley, Ryan Truex, and Jason White were among those involved.

Kahne — who finished seventh in the Sprint Cup Series on Saturday and third in the Nationwide Series on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway — surged to the front in the 155th lap of 200 to notch his fourth win in five starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

James Buescher finished second with Matt Crafton third and Johnny Sauter fourth. Timothy Peters jumped into the series’ points lead with a combination of a fifth-place finish and an early wreck for teammate John King, the Daytona winner who led the points coming in.

Brad Sweet qualified the No. 4 truck fifth, but Kahne had to start at the rear of the field because of the driver change. Even with traveling from Fort Worth overnight, getting approximately 4 1/2 hours of sleep and having no track time in preparation for the race, Kahne was poised to pounce in the late stages.

“This is probably the best weekend I’ve had in a long time,” Kahne said. “I got out of that truck and I’ve got three clean race cars and I ran three hard races this weekend, and everything’s clean — not a dent on ‘em. . . . It was a good weekend, tons of energy, and I’ll sleep good tonight when I finally decide to go to bed.”

Kahne played a prominent part in NASCAR’s last race here, when Matt Kenseth edged him at the line for a Sprint Cup Series victory. The memory of that race was on his mind when he returned to the mile oval.

“I’ve watched it on video and I can run it through my head and remember so many things about how that race finished,” Kahne said. “Those are kind of the memories that I have.”

Until now. Kahne withstood Buescher’s last-ditch effort on a restart with 20 laps left and had nowhere near as close a finish as last time around. Kahne was a comfortable 1.478 seconds ahead at the checkered flag.

Pole-starter Nelson Piquet Jr. — Kahne’s next-closest competition — dominated the early stages of the race, leading 85 of the race’s first 100 laps. But Piquet became mired in traffic after a lengthy pit stop shuffled him back to fifth during the third of the race’s four cautions.

He worked his way back to second place until incurring a pit-road speeding penalty during the final caution period. He rallied to finish seventh.

John King’s grasp on the series’ points lead fizzled early in the race, when he spun and nosed into the inside wall on the backstretch on Lap 4 to bring out the race’s first caution. King returned to the track after repairs, but wound up completing 56 laps and finishing 33rd, dropping him seven spots to eighth in the standings.

Post-race inspection of the No. 13 team at Pocono Raceway revealed that the truck was in violation of 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-12.8.1D (truck failed to meet maximum right rear bed panel height) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book.

Crew chief Joel Shear has been fined $5,000 while driver Johnny Sauter and owner Mike Curb have been penalized with the loss of six championship driver and owner points, respectively.

During pre-qualifying inspection for the U.S. Cellular 250 race at Iowa Speedway, the No. 6 and 14 teams were found to be in violation of Sections 12-1; 12-4-J; and 20A-10.7G (lug nuts were less than the minimum specified thickness) of the 2011 NASCAR rule book.

Michael Kelley, crew chief for the No. 6 and driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Gary Cogswell, crew chief for the No. 14 and driver Eric McClure, have each been fined $2,500 and placed on NASCAR probation until Sept. 21.

On the green-white-checkered restart on lap 167, Johnny Sauter led the field to its final laps.  He pulled to the inside lane before he crossed the finish line.  NASCAR made it clear to the drivers in the driver’s meeting that any driver who did that would be black flagged.

NASCAR kept it’s promise and black flagged Sauter with one lap to go.  This handed the win to four-time champion, Ron Hornaday Jr.  The victory was Hornaday’s first of the season and his 48th career Truck series win.

Afterwards, Sauter said:

He’s got a lane to race down there. We both spun the tires.

Hornaday said that the issue was addressed by series director Wayne Auton in the driver’s meeting. Hornaday said:

[Auton] said, “This is your last warning.” I think he said it three times. “You go into another guy’s lane, better give it back before you get to Turn 1.” Sticky call. But you can’t change lanes until you pass the start/finish line. And I hate that rule.

Sauter, who had passed Hornaday for the lead with a powerful run through Turn 4 on Lap 130, was penalized for moving from the outside lane to in front of Hornaday before crossing the start/finish line on a green-white-checkered restart on Lap 167. The race went 168 laps, one beyond its scheduled distance.

“Good way to steal one,” Hornaday said. “I think we had a third- or a fifth-place truck, but it worked out for us. On that restart, he was the leader, but he kind of blocked, basically.”

Asked at what point he realized Sauter had broken the restart rule, Hornaday said, “Soon as the green dropped he turned in my lane, and I was yelling, ‘He’s in my lane!’ At that time we had a second-place truck, but it was a (good) call. I spun my tires, he spun his tires, and his spotter must have said, ‘Clear.’ ”

The black flag call was made by series director Wayne Auton, who Hornaday said specifically addressed the issue during Friday’s driver’s meeting.

“He said, ‘This is your last warning.’ I think he said it three times,” Hornaday said. “ ‘You go into another guy’s lane, better give it back before you get to Turn 1.’ Sticky call. But you can’t change lanes until you pass the start/finish line. And I hate that rule.”

Sauter, the series points leader, was scored 22nd, the last vehicle on the lead lap.

“He’s got a lane to race down there,” Sauter said as he walked to his hauler. “We both spun the tires.”

Asked if he would confront NASCAR officials over the decision, Sauter said, “It’s official, isn’t it?”

Hornaday, a four-time series champion, earned his 48th career victory and first of the season. It was his third victory on Texas’ 1.5-mile quadoval. Parker Kligerman finished second for his third top 10 of the season. He is the second-highest rookie, eighth in the standings.

David Mayhew’s third-place run easily eclipsed his previous best series finish of 14th. Brian Ickler and rookie Joey Coulter rounded out the top five.

Contact between Austin Dillon and Matt Crafton—fourth and fifth in the point standings, respectively—ended Crafton’s night after a grinding crash into the outside and infield retaining walls on Lap 90. The two were entering the quadoval off Turn 4 when Dillon hooked the right rear quarter panel of Crafton’s truck and sent it spinning.

Crafton exited uninjured, but rather than head for the ambulance, he proceeded to walk toward Turn 4 to “confront” Dillon as he cycled around. Crafton raised his arms in a “What were you thinking?” pose as Dillon drove past. After reviewing the replay, Crafton was considerably cooler.

“I was a little bit loose and trying to get out of the throttle and turn back to the left,” Crafton said. “But when you get hooked in the rear on the front straight, that’s a tough way to go out at Texas Motor Speedway.”

Earlier, Todd Bodine saw his shot at a seventh victory at Texas end via contact and a crash with David Starr. Their crash on Lap 68 in Turn 2 was the second of the night involving Bodine, who was caught up in another Turn 2 incident with Ickler on Lap 52. Bodine won this event in 2009 and 2010.

The win is the first time a black No. 3 has won in any series since Dale Earnhardt Sr’s death in 2001.

Top 5: Dillon, Sauter, Matt Crafton, Ken Schrader, and James Buescher. 

Stacey Compton, Mike Skinner, Greg Pursley, Ricky Carmichael, and David Starr rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Brian Ickler (13th), Todd Bodine (17th), Carl Long (20th), Ron Hornaday (24th), Timothy Peters (27th), Aric Almirola (28th), Steve Wallace (30th), and Chad McCumbee (31st).

The top four drivers in the points standings each experience trouble in the race. Ron Hornaday was involved in an accident about half way through the race and suffered heavy damage. He finished 24th. In that same accident, Todd Bodine suffered damage that would end his hopes for a victory. He finished 17th. Aric Almirola appeared to blow a tire. He hit the wall and suffered heavy damage to his right side. He finished 28th. And Timothy Peters lost his engine around lap 104. He finished 27th.

Aric Almirola, who rallied back from being two laps down after cutting a tire early in the race, passed Busch for the lead. Busch fell to third before the caution came out for Austin Dillon’s engine problems. As the field took the green for the green-white-checkered finish, Busch headed to pit road. He was out of gas.

Almirola took off, but Todd Bodine, who was to his inside, didn’t get going as he too may have had vapor lock. Bodine’s problems allowed Almirola to pull away, winning his first career Camping World Truck Series victory.

Top 5: Almirola, James Buescher, Justin Lofton, Ricky Carmichael, and Bodine.

David Starr, Matt Crafton, Mike Skinner, Ryan Sieg, and Johhny Benson rounded out the top 10.  

Notables: Carl Long (11th), Ron Hornaday (12th), Stacy Compton (13th), Johhny Sauter (15th), Kyle Busch (16th), Tayler Malsam (20th), Elliott Sadler (24th), and Max Papis (29th).

As Hornaday got along side Sauter, Mario Gosselin moved to the outside to pass the slower truck of Norm Benning. Sauter and Hornaday were rapidly approaching Gosselin’s and Benning’s slower trucks. Hornaday and Sauter moved up to avoid the slower trucks.

As they did, Hornaday appeared to get a little loose and he made contact with Sauter’s truck. Both slid, but avoided spinning out. Sauter lightly brushed the wall before correcting and continuing on in the lead. Hornaday did not make contact with the wall, he was able to save it as well.

Sauter went on to win the race with Hornaday finishing second.

Top 5: Sauter, Hornaday, Todd Bodine, Brian Ickler, and Johhny Benson.

Austin Dillon, Aric Almirola, Mike Skinner, Ken Schrader, and David Starr rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Ricky Carmichael (12th), James Buescher (16th), Tayler Malsam (22nd), Timothy Peters (23rd), Matt Crafton (25th), Rick Crawford and (31st).

Earlier in the race, Sauter passed Rick Crawford for second. As he did, Crawford got loose and slid up into Tayler Malsam. Malsam hit the wall, and Crawford hit him again. The contact turned Crawford head-first into the wall.

The two trucks slid along the wall for a few hundred feet before slowly coasting down the track. Truck passed the accident low on the apron. But, Brian Rose was a litte too high on the race track as he approached Crawford and Malsam.

He tried to go low, but trucks on the apron prevented him from getting low enough to clear the accident. Crawford’s truck hit the right rear quarter panel of Rose’s truck, turning him into the outside wall. Rose suffered a good bit of damage. Malsam recovered to finish 22nd while Crawford and Rose finished 31st and 32nd respectively.

The race was also stopped at lap 114 for 90 minutes due to rain and hail.