William Byron tops teenage battle for win in Camping World Truck Series race at Iowa Speedway

NEWTON — The youth movement has been strong in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series this season — and the last few, for that matter — and Saturday night, the Speediatrics 200 at Iowa Speedway was proof positive.

Over a frantic final 13 laps following a late caution flag, 18-year-old William Byron, 18-year-old Cole Custer and 19-year-old Ben Rhodes put on a display for everyone at the 7/8-mile oval in Newton. The three young guns raced three-wide and side-by-side over the course of eight laps before Byron emerged.

After a restart with three to go, Byron pulled away from Custer to secure his third win of the season — and his young and promising career.

'I try to enjoy (battles like that). It's like playing video games. You're not enjoying it (in the moment); you're focused,' Byron said. 'I think, when I'm out there, it's such a thrill. Those restarts and everything were so intense. I think it's fun. Hopefully it's fun from TV (perspective). It seems like it's been intense the last couple weeks on restarts.'

Byron's win made it two in a row after his win at Texas Motor Speedway last week, and came after he restarted 10th with 30 laps to go. The lead lap trucks pitted under that caution period, and the combination of the top five taking two tires — including Custer — and his stalling the truck when leaving his pit stall left him with a lot of ground to cover.

The ensuing closing segments of the race offered him plenty of opportunities to make it up.

Those two cautions and favorable restart positions in the outside line allowed him to pass multiple trucks in both restarts, and put him in position to race with Custer and Rhodes for the win.

'I thought I was in a bad position leaving pit road when I counted all those trucks in front of me,' Byron said. 'Once I apologized and kind of got it off my chest, it is what it is. You have to deal with the circumstances. Once you're back there, it's time to figure out how to make it happen and how to make it work.'

With an 18-year-old driver in the seat, it would be easy to assume Byron might press a bit or try a little too hard to make up for the mistake. But crew chief Rudy Fugle said after the race that was never a worry.

In fact, he had to keep himself off the mic so as not to say something he'd regret. They could laugh about it after the race, but having trust in each other is a huge part of what's carried the Kyle Busch Motorsports team to their three wins in just nine starts in the NCWTS.

'He's pretty levelheaded. I'm usually the most wound-up one during the race,' Fugle said. 'I use a different radio or don't press the button. I'm better at that than, say, my boss (Kyle Busch) is.

'I add little things here and there. I really thought we were still going to be OK (after the mistake). I was just a little frustrated. But whatever. It worked out.'

Custer briefly took the lead in the eight laps before the final caution, and said after the race his focus was on finding Victory Lane by any means necessary. He even called his tactics 'dirty' in the post-race news conference.

And as much fun as it was for fans to watch the three trucks swap paint and positions, the fun part of it certainly wasn't on their minds.

'I was driving as hard as I could,' Custer said. 'I drove a little bit dirty, I think, to some people. But we've got to win. I tried to make it as hard as possible for him to get by me, but he was definitely a little bit better than me.

'You're not focusing on having fun at all. I was just trying to win. I just didn't have enough for them tonight. They were a tick better than us. We're happy with second place after how this year has been.'

Byron had already secured himself in the Camping World Truck Series Chase for the Championship, but moved atop the wins list for the series this season — ahead of Matt Crafton, who won back-to-back races before Byron's pair of victories.

Byron and Custer finished ahead of Cameron Hayley in third, Rhodes in fourth and Tyler Reddick in fifth.

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