Catchfence

It wasn’t a matter of if. It was a matter of when.

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, Brian Scott, reached another milestone Saturday night as the Boise, Idaho native used pit strategy, and a good handling TOYOTA Tundra to rocket to his first career win in the AAA Insurance 200 at Dover International Speedway.

The win wasn’t surprising to many but the cheers, greetings and salutes were enough to make you become a Brian Scott fan if you weren’t already one.

Scott, the 21-year old phenomenon, is in his second year of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series competition, and had been on the brink of storming into victory lane. Strong finishes in the final races of the 2008 season had etched Scott as one of the hottest drivers on the tour.

Scott’s sophomore season of competition kicked off with a 12th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway. An overagression touch from another driver bounced Scott from competition at Auto Club Speedway, with the Xpress Motorsports team bouncing back with a respectable 10th-place effort at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

From Atlanta, Scott began his roll and what a roll it was. The sluggish Martinsville Speedway netted the team eighth on the final rundown, with Scott stepping up to an impressive third-place finish at Kansas Speedway.

With the strong finishes also began the climb in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings. Moving up the ladder it was evident that Scott was keeping his name in the championship mix, and many had eyed the No. 16 Albertson’s TOYOTA as a possible victor at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

The race didn’t go as planned for those who kept their eyes on the Joe Scott owned team. The sixth race of the year proved to be another case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and forced a 21st-place performance at LMS.

However, it would be the serious determination and flawless focus that Scott has been known to show over the course of the past two years that kept the former USARacing star in the headlines.

At Dover, Scott had a good truck. That was clear even from the drop of the first practice. Qualifying a season best third, Scott was ready to shove his truck into the lead on Friday, but Mother Nature had other plans. With the postponement of the event until Saturday evening, Scott would have to regroup and wait another 24 hours before being able to tackle the “Monster Mile” for the second time in his NASCAR career.

At the start of the AAA Insurance 200, it was evident that Scott had a truck that handled well and was competitive. Smart moves and using the give-and-take method paid off for the former ARCA RE/MAX Series pole sitter.

Many of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series teams would experience tire problems throughout the 200-lap event, but the conservative setup from crew chief Jeff Hensley would prove to be the winning lotto ticket late in the race.

Closing in on the final 10 laps of the event, a caution flag waived which sent a group of the lead lap trucks down to pit road with Scott’s black TOYOTA Tundra staying on the track with the No. 8 of Dennis Setzer close in toe. Many expected to see Scott as the sitting duck but the talented driver had a surprise for his fellow followers.

On the restart, Scott quickly pulled away to a healthy lead and would prove to have the fastest truck on the track despite the brigade of trucks behind him on fresh rubber. Even a late race charge from the No. 8 of Setzer would prove to be a worthless effort as Scott cruised to the checkered flag, first in his 39th career start.

“It feels great,” a jubilant Scott said in Victory Lane after the event. “It’s been a long time coming. I gotta thank everybody in Idaho. I gotta thank my Dad. Thank you Dad. Thanks Mom. Thanks everybody. This is awesome. Thank the fans for coming out. God, that was awesome. I’m so happy to win with this team. These guys are like my brothers. I love it. They’ve been so supportive. It’s been so great. I wish my family and everybody could be here because this is just an awesome feeling.”

“I can’t take any credit,” Scott added during the melee in Victory Lane. “It’s all these guys. Everybody standing behind me. All the support — Albertson’s, Toyota — oh man it’s great. Man, it’s awesome. I can’t thank everybody for sticking with me through the years. Everybody who’s now my fan, thank you. I watched all those tires blow. It’s kind of scary. My crew chief Jeff Hensley kept me calm and kept saying that we were getting really good tire wear. Track position at the end — we played the game perfectly. I commend him. At times I didn’t think it was the right call or we were going to be in position, but it all worked out and now we are in victory lane.”

Indeed, some of the credit should go to Hensley and his Xpress Motorsports soldiers, who pulled this team together just several weeks before the drop of speedweeks. The team never missed a beat.

For the record, seven races into the 2008 season, Scott had only notched one top-10 finish in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway. This year, Scott’s average has climbed ten-fold including two top-fives, four top-10s and five top-12 runs which only shows the maturity that the Mooresville, North Carolina resident has established from his rookie season.

And in case you are wondering, Scott finished a dismal 32nd place finish in his “White Lighting” debut last May.

The triumph, this past weekend, propelled Scott to fifth in the championship standings. And, Scott will start this Friday’s event at Texas Motor Speedway in the fourth position with the absence of Kyle Busch in the field. Currently, Scott sits just 107 markers from the top spot with much of the season still on the horizon.

I published a feature earlier this year and named Scott the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion. I also stated that Scott would visit victory lane on several occasions this year. He’s living up to his expectations and then some. My predictions remain the same, and I couldn’t be more confident in this young-gun’s ability and talent.

Oh and don’t be surprise if the “Scott” name becomes a more frequent and popular name in the NASCAR household. With his never give-up attitude, his appreciation of his fans, family and sponsors and the desire to win – Brian Scott has shown that he is a true definition of a NASCAR driver.

Cheers to you Brian Scott.

Live it. Enjoy it. Remember it.

The second one is always easier than the first!

Brian Scott Online: www.xms16.com

Editor’s Note: Brian Scott will visit the Thunder Crew at racetalkradio.com on Tuesday night, June 2, 2009 at 8:45 p.m. Eastern. The group will talk to the first time winner about Dover and his thoughts on Texas Motor Speedway and the remainder of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule.