Anderson outruns truck field at Desoto Speedway

Former Q Auto and Injury Desoto Pro Trucks champion Danny Anderson has been fighting through some bad luck over the last couple of years at Desoto Speedway.

The Bradenton driver’s fortunes finally changed in Saturday night’s Triple Crown Race 1 for the Pro Trucks. Anderson survived a rough-and-tumble 50-lap main event and drove on to his first win on his home track in over a year.

On the opening lap of the Pro Truck feature, polesitter Rodney Haddock and Todd Bontrager got together coming out of turn two which allowed Jason Lester to take the lead. As the leaders completed the opening lap a multi-truck accident in turn four brought out the caution flag.

A side-by-side battle between Bontrager and Devin Kyle allowed Lester to open a bit of the lead on the first few laps after the restart. Danny Anderson joined the battle and eventually fought his way into second place. Anderson was closing quickly on Lester when another caution flew on lap 10.

Anderson got by Lester a lap after the restart and was pulling away when another caution flew for crash involving Duane Best and Austin Pickens. Lester got back by Anderson for the top spot on the restart and stayed there until another caution came out for a spin by Best just prior to the halfway point.

Anderson fought off a series of challenges by Lester on several subsequent restarts after a rash of cautions and drove away for the victory. Lester, held off Brent Huber for second, while Haddock finished fourth. Jimmie Best and Chad Chastain got together fighting for fifth and spun, allowing Jeff Gilbault to get by for the spot.

The Enduro series was on hand for a set of three different feature races. The 30-lap Enduro feature was a two-man battle between Bill Osborne and Kyle Case at the front of the field. The pair ran side-by-side for the top spot with Osborne getting the advantage just prior to the halfway point. Case got back to Osborne’s rear bumper on the final lap, but Osborne was able to use a lapped car as a pick to slow Case’s momentum and take the win. Duane Campbell finished third.

Matt Owens looked like he was on his way to the victory in the 15-lap road course race until he encountered the lapped car of Justin Abbott on the final lap. Owens got stuck behind Abbott coming on to the speedway portion of the track and that allowed Campbell to get to Owens’ rear bumper. The trio went three-wide going back into the infield section of the course, and Campbell came out of the scrum with the lead and beat Owens to the stripe by less than a car length.

Owens got his shot at redemption later in the evening when he nearly lapped the entire field on his way to a win in the Flag Pole race.

In other action Saturday night, Darrin Ellis charged from third to first on the opening lap and went on to win the 15-lap Pure Stock feature. Sherry Best and Dennis Koselak rounded out the podium.

Next week Desoto Speedway will have a 50-lap race for the Take Aim Gun Range Street Stocks, a 35-lap feature for the Desoto Bombers, Modified Minis, Outlaw Modifieds and Mini Stocks.

This story was originally published May 14, 2017 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Anderson outruns truck field at Desoto Speedway."